Visit four famous Utah parks with this 4-day Moab itinerary
- Apr 25, 2022
- 9 min read
Two National Parks and two State Parks, totally doable in just one long weekend.
Despite being an avid skier and lover of winter sports, the spontaneous spring snowstorms have me absolutely ready for summer. In trying to soak up all spring has to offer in Utah (and maybe get a little base tan,) I decided to plan a long weekend trip to somewhere that would absolutely tease summer, offer up several national parks, multiple nearby state parks, gorgeous views, and plenty of relaxation.
Thus: enter Moab, stage right. I had heard amazing things about the area and was seriously craving a drive-able adventure. Not to mention, spring and fall beckon gorgeous weekends without the mid-summer scorching heat, and at least for us, crowds that really weren’t so bad. That being said, we did go over Easter weekend, when many folks may have been staying at home to celebrate!
Better yet, you can hit at least four gorgeous (and famous) Utah parks from Moab’s downtown donut shops. Without further ado, here’s what became the most perfect 4-day itinerary in and around Moab, Utah:
Thursday evening
At around 5 p.m. on Thursday, we began the 4-ish hour drive from Salt Lake City to Moab. Pro tip? Fill up your tank and nab a few snacks, because your next best stopping point once you head into the canyon south of Spanish Fork will be two hours from downtown SLC in Price, Utah. If you’re in need of a mid-point break, Price is your place to pull off.
We arrived in Moab around 9 p.m., and driving through downtown we were already in awe of all the jeeps for off-roading, restaurants, and surrounding canyons. It was safe to say the downtown portion of Moab itself had WAY more to do than we anticipated.
While there are so many great hotel options around downtown Moab offering hot tubs and cozy king beds, we decided to follow a recommendation from a friend and find a fun “glamping” spot. We ended up utilizing this FunStays AirBnB, which featured a super cute canvas tent, a private fire pit and grill, a fridge, and even heated blankets.
The super budget-friendly tent sits in its own private, fenced space, all while surrounded by other cute places to stay like teepees, massive RV campers, and other canvas tents.
The views of the stars and the surrounding canyons from here were absolutely breathtaking, and we would 100% stay here again. The tent is a closer fit for 2-ish people, so a more family-friendly option might be nabbing a group of the tents (or teepees) close to one another.
Our camping spot was way more equipped than we anticipated, with an outside dining table and four chairs, a tree swing, AC and heaters, running water, power strips, and even the wine bottle opener we knew we’d forget to bring.
The property itself offers up live music in the evening, laundry facilities, a general store, showers, and even the option to buy a quick homemade breakfast on your way out in the morning. Long story short, we were totally impressed.
We settled in for the evening with a bottle of wine and some snacks to prepare for a long day of hiking on Friday!
Friday morning
Prepare for a day at Arches National Park.
Friday morning we made some bacon and eggs in a skillet over the grill next to our canvas tent (too convenient to pass up on), and even brought along a toaster so we could plug it in and fix up a breakfast sandwich!
We then headed downtown and swung by Moab Coffee Roasters, where we each grabbed a coffee (though I definitely was drooling over the breakfast sandwiches and pastries in the display cases.) This was a super cute, local coffee shop with plenty of tables if you’d like to sit down and actually enjoy a breakfast here. As for us, we were headed off for Arches!
Moab Coffee Roasters has raving reviews for its super friendly staff (we agree), custom coffee beans, scoops of gelato flavored with coconut and pineapple, hearty breakfast burritos, and simply a place to sit and watch the world go by. Other popular breakfast spots we eyed were Moab Diner for your classic all-American fare, Gloria’s for a gorgeous outdoor patio, and Jailhouse Café for its homey vibes and omelettes, but we’d recommend arriving early given the lengthy waitlists (as these spots are popular for a reason!)
Friday afternoon
Arches National Park is around 10 minutes from Moab, which is absurdly convenient. Pro tip: pack TONS of water.
Note that currently Arches is operating by timed entry reservations, which requires you to book a time slot to enter in advance. We booked ours several weeks in advance, though they open up some more spots for each day the evening before at 6 p.m. Though we already had a reservation, we ended up nabbing an earlier slot at 6 p.m. the night before with no problem. Each timed entry (per vehicle) is just $2. All in all, the system worked out quite well as we waited in a line to the entrance for just about 15 minutes.
We knew we’d be traveling a lot this year, so when we pulled up to the entry window we decided to purchase an annual pass for $80. Ordinarily, entry to Arches is $30 per vehicle, so $80 seemed like a bargain to us.
There were so many things we wanted to see in Arches, and based on the trails I’ll share below, we ended up hiking a total of about eight miles for the day, all while stopping about halfway through for lunch.
First, we went to the Delicate Arch Viewpoint, which was a quick half-ish mile walk for a glimpse at the license plate-famed arch. You can hike the actual Delicate Arch trail, but this is quite a bit longer (and truthfully the crowds we could see at the Delicate Arch from afar was a bit of a turnoff.)
We then headed over to the Devil’s Garden area. This would definitely be our can’t-miss recommendation while at Arches. For this, you can walk however far you’d like and simply turn around when you’re ready to head back to the car. About half a mile in, we got a look at the Pinetree and Tunnel arches, and then headed up another mile or so to see the Landscape Arch – which was too photogenic! We hiked up a little rock scramble and walked another mile or so to the Navajo and Partition arches – these were totally worth the extra push!
Afterwards, we turned around and enjoyed some sandwiches at one of the picnic tables near the entrance of Devil’s Garden. We had brought along a cooler with lettuce, deli meat, and bread, so this also made the day significantly more comfortable!
To close things off for the day, we started working our way out of the park and pulled over at all of the spots that caught our eye on the drive in. We caught a glimpse of the Broken Arch and Sand Dune Arch (a great place for kids to play if you bring along beach toys.) Then, we drove on to the Fiery Furnace Viewpoint, the North and South Window, and finally, to Double Arch – which was glorious (and featured at the beginning of this article!)
Friday evening
Friday evening we were, of course, exhausted. We swung by Moab Brewery and had the most delicious quesadilla, before heading back to our canvas tent to shower, cook up some burgers over the fire pit, play a few card games, and call it a night.
We definitely didn’t know Moab Brewery distills their own liquor as well, so this was a super cool find! The staff recommended the tequila…
This was a super relaxed location for a quick bite, and we walked right in without a reservation. This was such a fun opportunity for us to try out the beers we had bought from the grocery previously in Salt Lake, and have a menu that offered it all: salads, burgers, flatbreads, even some good ole fish and chips. Like we mentioned though, the quesadilla was loaded with adobo chicken and was the best appetizer.
Saturday morning
Today is the day to check out Canyonlands National Park and Dead Horse Point State Park! Neither of these, at the time of our visit, required a reservation for entry.
We started our day by making breakfast over the grill (again, of course) and headed off directly towards Canyonlands National Park. The park is a little over 30 minutes away, so we decided to take a quick detour on the way up and stop by Dead Horse Point State Park. This was so worth the detour.
We purchased an annual state park’s pass for $100, and headed inside without waiting in any line. We drove to the overlook, took in the most beautiful views (like, I’m talking Christmas card quality views,) and checked out the visitor’s center for a few post cards before officially heading out and into Canyonlands National Park.
Canyonlands was definitely more drive-able for vista views (if you’re traveling with someone who cannot walk eight miles a day!), as opposed to Arches, which, in my opinion, felt more like a “hike to the gorgeous features” kind of park. Each have their own pros and cons.
Once we pulled in, we stopped at the visitor’s center and began driving the perimeter of the park, pulling over when we needed a pic of the views (and let me tell you, they are everywhere!)
One very cool family-friendly hike was that of the Aztec Butte Trail, where you can actually walk right up to preserved historic Aztec stone homes! This was a little over two miles for us.
Saturday evening
After we wrapped up our hiking for the day, we drove back into Moab to grab a drink and play a few games of pool at the World Famous Woody’s Tavern. This local watering hole beckons super affordable beers and cocktails, longtime Moab dwellers, and plenty of good chatter about the best places to go around Moab. Oh, and there’s live music every Friday and Saturday from Spring Break through Halloween!
We then headed into Dewey’s Restaurant for a quick appetizer, where we had some nosh-worthy nachos before heading home. Dewey’s definitely had a ton of space for both large and small parties, and again, we were able to walk in without a reservation. The place was definitely picking up in the evening, so during busy season for Moab (aka summertime,) I’d probably recommend getting your name in somewhere and then shopping around the downtown area while you wait. Dewey’s menu, like Moab Brewery, had a little bit of everything: salads, burgers, pasta, chicken and beef entrees, and some nice looking fish tacos.
Other dinner spots we eyed were Pasta Jay’s (for the longtime pasta, of course,) The Broken Oar for some lodge vibes and hearty steaks, and Antica Forma for wood-fired pizzas. All of these spots are definitely local faves, so get your name in early.
Once we made it back to our canvas tent, we grilled up some hotdogs, read our books, and rested our absolutely worn out feet.
Sunday morning
Today is the day we headed back to Salt Lake City. But first, we took a detour to Goblin Valley State Park, where we stumbled upon a hike that was absolutely the highlight of our trip.
First, we stopped by downtown Moab for some breakfast (yes, no eggs and bacon today.) We stopped by Doughbird, where hundreds of gorgeous donuts beckoned. Is this owned by the same folks behind Pretty Bird? I HAVE to know!
Regardless, it was Easter Sunday, so we drooled over a carrot cake donut, a toasted coconut donut, and a salted caramel “cronut” – yes, a donut made out of croissant dough!
We ate our donuts very close by in the food truck park, which was crazy cute. There were tons of shaded places to sit, and trucks for so many different cuisines. One we’ve heard amazing things about (but were too early to order from,) is Quesadilla Mobilla – we’re definitely trying this truck out next time.
We then started our drive home, but before taking the turn to Price at Green River, we drove an extra 45-ish minutes beyond to Goblin Valley State Park (which is actually pretty close to yet another national park, Capitol Reef!)
We first drove into the park to the overlook point, where you can actually walk down into the most unusual, yet iconic “goblin” stone formations. This was super cool, and definitely unlike anything we had seen before.
To round things out, we found the most incredible hidden gem just outside of the state park as recommended by a ranger inside the state park visitor’s center: Little Wild Horse Canyon. This was, by far, the best way to close out our weekend adventure.
You hike in about half a mile, where you come to a fork. Go right, unless you’re planning to hike the entire loop (as you can technically turn around at any point, though the whole loop is about eight miles.) We didn’t have the time for eight miles, and instead more like three. We took a right at the fork, and stumbled upon the most incredible slot canyons we’ve ever seen.
A little over a mile and a half in and we were super happy with what we had seen. The stone and the colors were unreal, and the slot canyon formations were like canyon waves – unreal! From there, we headed back to our car and finished our journey back to Salt Lake (all while snacking on plenty of Easter candy, of course.)
Have extra time?
We will absolutely be back to Moab in the fall or next spring. If we had more time, we definitely would’ve explored downtown Moab a little more, rented an off-road vehicle, or swung through Capitol Reef. There’s just so much to see in our beautiful state.
Have tips, suggestions, or questions? Email us at saltlakecitysecrets@gmail.com!
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