Moab, Utah is an outdoor lover’s dream. There is so much to do and to see you will definately be on sensory overload. There are two National Parks in the area and hundreds if not thousands of trails for walking, hiking and offroading in a 4 wheel drive Jeep or a side by side UTV (utility vehicle). These things are as prevalent in Moab as golf carts are in the Villages!
We have been on numerous Jeep tours through the Las Vegas area and UTV tours in Kauai, Hawaii and in Phoenix, so we didn’t partake in any of those tours this time. We did however go to Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. All I can say is WOW!! The views at these parks are just incredible. It is truly difficult to describe the beauty, and my guess is that the pictures, although gorgeous, will not express the total beauty and definitely will not convey the the internal feelings when you stand in these locations. With that said, let me share the pictures that I took and the names of what you are seeing.
ARCHES NATIONAL PARK
As you enter Arches, just beyond the visitor center, you begin a climb up the mountain, with a wall of red rock that extends seemingly to the sky.
The first area to stop is Park Avenue Viewpoint
The Courthouse Towers area is beautiful. They are even more beautiful on the return trip back to the entrance.
Balanced Rock is a very well known spot in Arches. What I didn’t know was that there once was another smaller ‘balanced rock’ beside the one pictured below, called Chip Off The Old Block. Mother Nature is constantly changing the attributes of the park. Check out this link to see several ‘then and now’ slider pictures to see some of the changes. https://www.nps.gov/arch/learn/photosmultimedia/then-and-now.htm
The next stop was my favorite stop, the Windows Section. Here we saw the North Window, the South Window, the Turret Arch, and my personal favorite, the Double Arch.
North Window
South Window
Turret Arch
Double Arch – My Favorite
Next up is the Devils Garden area. Here we saw the Skyline Arch and I took a nice little hike to see the Tunnel Arch and the Pine Tree Arch.
Skyline Arch
Tunnel Arch
Pine Tree Arch
And of course we saw the most famous arch, the Delicate Arch. This arch was actually featured on the cover of Life magazine and is currently on one of the Utah license plates.
‘Arches National Park has the densest concentration of natural stone arches in the world. There are over 2,000 documented arches in the park, ranging from sliver-thin cracks to spans greater than 300 feet.’1 Clearly we only saw a fraction of the arches, but every one that we saw was just beautiful. Next up Canyonlands NP!
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Enjoy your journey
Stunning pictures!
Beautiful! Can’t wait to see it ourselves I. August.
Beautiful!