If you are just getting started on what we lovingly call our “Epic Trip Out West,” where our family of four drove from Yellowstone to the Grand Canyon, hitting all the parks we could in between, start with our FAQs and full itinerary here. Otherwise, here’s the low down on what we learned on a family visit to Arches National Park and Moab, UT…
DAY FIVE: Park City to Moab
Drive Park City to Moab
Arches National Park
Lodging: Moab Under Canvas
This was it: the leg of the trip we were most excited for. Precious rock precipices and bucolic, dusty Moab. To top it off, we’d be glamping for the first time. We left Park City and began an excited, loud drive.
It turns out, Utah gave everything to the outer rim. The interior is scrubby, dry, and home to large ranches and absolutely no vibrant towns (that we saw anyhow). The roads stretch out limitless. You can drive 100 miles an hour yet it doesn’t get you to the spot you see on the horizon any faster. When lunchtime hit, we luckily found ourselves near civilization. A billboard advertised a brewery! It was family friendly! It has microbrews! It had a patio! We were sold.
We routed back and pulled over to be let down by a billboard that wasn’t quite as big as the empty promises it made. Grogg’s did not make their own beer; they had a patio but it was tiny and without tables; the food was not good. But it was food and it was local.
We tore on down the interminable highway and eventually made it to our tent spot: Moab Under Canvas. We were immediately taken with its charm, albeit feeling some trepidation over the high wind whipping and the cold night forecast, we immediately took off for Arches National Park.
We made it to the Visitors Center ten minutes before it closed and while that meant we didn’t receive any good information, we did get our cancellations and stickers.
Arches NPS was much smaller than we anticipated but still required some time. The road going to the back of the park took 45 minutes to drive without stops. Of course, we wanted to stop all the time. The unique rock formations glowed in the setting sunlight and we were enamored.
We skipped the Balanced Rock pullout due to lack of parking and instead went straight over to the Windows Trail. This was a quick and easy trail that took us to see both the North and South Windows as well as Turrett. We saw the signs for the Primitive Trail that went behind the South Window and, in retrospect, wish we would have taken it.
We crossed the parking lot over to the Double Arches.
After this, we got back in our cars and continued back to the Delicate Arch pullout. The lower view is where you just pop out of your car and snap photos. We are overachievers so we dragged our children up a relatively steep, albeit fairly short, incline so we could get the upper view of the Delicate Arch.
We were still *so* far away. For a moment, we were saddened by how blocked and crowded the view still was. But then, looking around, we felt proud of the National Park Service for making the decision to keep tourists as far from this iconic landscape piece as possible. (It ain’t on the state license plate for nothin’.) Tour buses dropped off a gaggle of foreign tourists who walked all over the delicate landscape, ignoring signs, using the selfie sticks as weapons. The sheer number of people craning their necks to see this combined with the amount of tourists who ignored the requests and disrespected the fragile ecosystem was astounding. Many times we showed our displeasure about this.  Are we old curmudgeons? Sure. But do we want these natural beauties to be around for our children to take their children to see? Yes, and for that to happen it means we have to learn how to respect the landscape today.
We went down to Moab, hit Jake’s Deli & Market for the salad bar and sandwiches to go, then returned to our tent to eat by lantern. As the sun set, a full moon rose and the staff started a large campfire complete with s’mores.
We snuggled up in our comfortable tent for a chilly night, warmed with a fire in the wood stove.The wood stove ended up being so efficient that we found ourselves sweating through the desert night.
DAY SIX: Moab and Arches NPS again
Museum of Moab, Rock Shop, Arches National Park
Lodging: Moab Under Canvas
This day, Dad went out on an all-day mountain bike trip, as planned. He biked The Whole Enchilada and came back wrecked yet satiated. While he was out, the boys and I had the day to play.
After a delicious and completely affordable breakfast at Jailhouse Cafe, I took the boys to the Museum of Moab. For a mere $5 all 3 of us entered and had a grand time touring the small yet mighty museum.
From there, we went to the Rock & Fossils shop/showcase. I didn’t understand the place, but my children thought it was phenomenal. The only issue we had was they wanted to touch and buy everything.
We drove down Potash Road, taking in the mighty Colorado River on our left and the rock climbers heading up the cliff on our right. We found the turnoff for the Dinosaur Bones and Petroglyphs but, upon reading the information at the trailhead, realized we were not prepared. Although it was a quarter mile, it was still up and in the sun on a rough trail. No need to risk it as danger can set in quickly around the desert regions. And, with kids, life is different.
We went back to the tent where we grazed on leftovers and laid our heads down for naps and quiet time.
We went back in to Arches to drive to the Devil’s Garden. The kids were so excited and helped me out by navigating, reminding me where landmarks were (although, truly, its so easy a 5-year-old could do it).
We drove straight to the trailhead and started the easy walk to Landscape Arch. Then, on the walk back, right when we were stuck and there wasn’t a bailout and the only option was to come back from whence we came by foot, one of the kids lost it, angry at his brother for some unseen slight . We still had a mile or so to hike out, his tantrum echoing off the high red walls. I share this to remind everyone that we are human: a living, breathing family with two young kids who are susceptible to all the neurotic behavior changes kids have. But does that mean that I regret it? Do tough moments like these make me wish we hadn’t tried it, that we had stayed home instead? Never. Why play it safe when the Devils Garden and other world wonders exist to be seen?
We met Dad for dinner at Moab Brewery (which is only useful and good if you like beer and finished a day of tough biking – neither of which applied to me) and tears stung my eyes. Tired? Frustrated? Unmet expectations? Feeling like a mom failure? My Thai food craving was unfulfilled? Maybe all of those things a little.
We went back to the tent, the kids were in bed by 7 pm. I got hot peppermint tea from reception, and we watched the full moon rise behind our tent and over the mesas while the yoga retreat girls giggled in the distance.
I woke up in the morning to snuggles with all my boys, not quite ready to hit the road yet. It felt like there was so much more of Moab to drink in, radium and all.
Learn more about Arches National Park at nps.org/arch.