Moab: Arches & Canyonlands National Parks

Written By Lauren Chapman
Looking East from the Grand View Point Overlook in Canyonlands National Park

Looking East from the Grand View Point Overlook in Canyonlands National Park

Moab is an outdoor wonderland. We were excited to experience both Arches and Canyonlands National Parks from the same campsite. Both are well known for their distinctive geologic features, but really the entire area is filled with striking landscapes and tons of opportunities for outdoor adventure.

Where we stayed in Moab: Lone Mesa BLM

Pros: Unbelievable sunsets, between Arches and Canyonlands, solid internet, safe for kids to play

Cons: 1mi+ of rough dirt road, far from nearest water/dump sites, relatively tight campsites, lots of dust from popular dirt roads nearby

Moab in the fall is mobbed with people, many of whom chose to camp. Because of extremely limited commercial campgrounds but yet plentiful BLM campgrounds, most RVers boondocked or dry camped in any one of what had to be hundreds of such off-grid sites. One spot that had great views and good connectivity was Lone Mesa. It is a dispersed campground, meaning no defined sites, but most people gave one another wide berth and quite a few did drive-by’s and moved on to other options when Lone Mesa was more full.

Getting to Lone Mesa is pretty straightforward. 11 miles North of Moab, turn onto UT-313 (the road that leads to Canyonlands) then after 8.5mi, turn right onto BLM-137, a dusty, rutted road for 1.3mi and Lone Mesa will be off to the right. We were lucky to find one of the larger, more level sites open when we arrived. The only downside is that it was also the closest to the road and although perched high above it on a bluff, we were enveloped by a dust cloud every time a vehicle would go too fast down the BLM road

Most folks stayed only a night or two, but this was our endurance boondock test; we were trying to see how long we could go in one spot with water and waste tanks, now that we felt comfortable that our renewed electrical system would have no problems keeping us supplied with power. As it ended up, a front moved through and we got to test our cold-weather capabilities too, with overnight lows in the teens. In the end, we did 10 nights with a little over 110 gallons of water used. Not bad, and definitely gave us the confidence to keep boondocking primarily as we move forward.

What to do with kids at Arches National Park

In studying the map on our first day, I broke it down by skill level, so you can more easily find the hike best fit for you and your family. You can also see that Arches can be broken down into sections: The Windows section, Delicate Arch/Wolf Ranch section, and Devil’s Garden. We did all of these but I saved the strenuous hikes for when my husband was available. We carry my younger son (2yo) in a hard carrier for more treacherous routes or when he’s tired.

Balanced Rock (Easy 0.3mi)

Balanced rock isn’t exactly a hike, but it’s a really fun stop. Because the park is large and involves a lot of driving it’s nice to stop and stretch little legs along the way. I recommend doing this while coming in or when leaving. It’s a simple loop boardwalk/stair climb around the rock formation. The trail is level, very wide, and not strenuous. This incredible defiance of gravity breaks up the arches scene and left my children quite enamored.

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Balanced Rock

Trying to balance like the rock.

Sand Dune Arch (easy 0.3mi)

I planned our first morning in the park solo with the kids at Balanced Rock then Sand Dune Arch. After walking a little way from the parking lot on a flat trail it opens up into a huge sandbox. We brought sand buckets and shovels as well as some trucks and after hiking in to find the arch I allowed them to play for an hour in the sand. There’s something magnetic about sand for my boys, so I think they appreciated the time spent in it. While they played I practiced a bit of photography, practicing with the large streams of light and shadows that filtered in on the fin walls.

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Sand Dune Arch

nicknamed the “sandbox” by my boys

Delicate Arch (difficult 3mi)

Arguably the most famous natural arch formation in the world. Labeled as a difficult trail, it starts at Wolfe Ranch and traverses steep slickrock. This trail has no shade and some exposure to heights as well as following a narrow rock ledge for about 200 yards. We did not have a chance to do this hike but there have been families who have done it with littles. If you’d still like to see the iconic arch, I’d recommend doing the short hike to the Upper Delicate Arch Viewpoint where you will see this view of the arch.

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Delicate Arch

As seen from the Upper Delicate Arch Viewpoint

The Windows Section

The Windows section of the park is a group of windows and arches about 15 minutes from the entrance and visitor center. I would recommend doing them at sunset and taking dinner to cookout in the parking lot as that was quite memorable for us. They are also a sunrise photographer’s dream as well. These features can easily be seen and enjoyed in one outing. On the north end Double Arch resides and on the Southeast side are the North and South Windows and Turret Arch. You can also hike around the back of the South Window on the Primitive Windows Trail but we didn’t have enough light.

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The North Window

Beautiful.

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The North and South Window

As seen from the Turret Arch

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Turret Arch

Turn around from facing the windows and walk down the stairs and up again. Turret Arch is right behind you!

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Double Arch

Not to be confused with Double O Arch. I thought this arch was magnificent and you could climb right up in it. Look familiar? This served as a backdrop in the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Devils Garden Section

Devil’s Garden is situated at the back of Arches National Park. It’s approximately a 30 minute drive from the Visitor Center (park entrance), but well worth the trek. Devil’s Garden encompasses a network of trails to see 7 arches which is great. The iconic Landscape Arch has one of the longest spans of any natural arch in the world. it’s the most beautiful in my mind due to it’s extremely delicate nature. It is surprisingly easy to access on a sandy path.

You can also take short side trips before Landscape Arch to visit Pine Tree and Lookout Arch. Wonder further past Landscape Arch and you start to get into more primitive hiking. Primitive in that there are less people, less path markers, steeper cliffs, but spectacular views. On the way to Double O, you will pass trails to Partition and Navajo Arches. We knew that 4-5mi was our cap so we skipped these in order to meet our goal of seeing Double O. Our 4.5yo completed Double O, but I would not attempt it on an ill weather day. Our 2.5yo stayed in the pack the entire primitive trail. The mileage below may help plan your route better.

Pine Tree and Lookout Arch = add 0.2mi

Round trip to Landscape Arch = 1.6mi

Partition and Navajo = add 0.8mi

Round trip to Double O Arch = 4.2mi

Do the whole primitive loop = 7.9mi

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Pine Tree Arch

Easy: a 0.2mi detour at the beginning of the trail to Landscape Arch. Downhill, easy route, in sand

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Landscape Arch

Easy: 1.6mi round trip well traveled sandy path

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Devil’s Garden Climbs

Harder Climbs from Landscape Arch to get to Double O Arch, steep drop offs and walking on narrow fins

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Double O Arch

Hard: 4.2mi round trip. We spent a bit of time here allowing the boys to explore and play in the junipers and arches.

What to do with kids at Canyonlands National Park

Canyonlands is a wild and vast landscape. The park is split into three sections due to the Colorado and Green Rivers. Seeing the canyons made me feel incredibly small. I thought them beautiful and a nice and different scene than the Arches. Many of these excursions take you close to canyon cliffs. It was doable with children but going alone made me a bit more on guard. We also only had 2 afternoons to tackle this park. If we came again and had more time and the kids were older, I would have loved to venture into the Needles and do some longer rim hikes.

Island in the Sky is the first section and the closest to the neighboring Arches National Park. It is the easiest to access and most trafficked. This is where we explored.

Mesa Arch Island in the Sky (easy 0.5mi)

I was blown away by this arch. You can get up close and the view through the arch is breathtaking. This is a sunrise photographer’s dream arch. The hike is easy, flat, and non-strenuous. I did keep a tight hold on the boys when close to the arch but there’s plenty of space and sand to let them loose to play.

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Upheaval Dome (Island in the Sky) (easy 1mi)

Upheaval Dome is an uphill hike to the rim of a large crater-like dome. It is theorized that a giant meteor hit the earth here millions of years ago. Thought it’s steep at first keep going! As with most of these hikes I did keep a close hand on the boys once at the top due to the nature of the rim. The boys probably enjoyed the hike down the most searching for places to hide from me! In the parking area there are multiple picnic tables, we loved a picnic lunch there afterwards.

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Grand View Point Overlook (Island in the Sky) (100 yards)

At the end of the road in Island in the Sky (26mi) from the visitor center is an overlook and large parking area. It is arguably the most spectacular vista in all of the park. If it wasn’t sunset I would have loved to do this rim trail hike, but as it was getting late we enjoyed dinner at the Overlook.

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Working from Moab

Given the longer line-of-sight distance to the nearest cell towers at Lone Mesa, it turned out to be a good location to test various antenna/booster setups. Bottom line: solid LTE connection to both networks. Verizon had great upload speeds when using a booster + directional antenna, and AT&T generally had faster download speed but slower upload. AT&T seems to have a few more towers in service to the north just off I-70, so I’m not sure why upload was slower than Verizon. Comparison testing various equipment setups can be found below:

Internet Speed Tests (via OpenSignal iOS app)

Lauren Chapman
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