Family Travels

Moab —The adventure enthusiast’s paradise!

ARCHES, RAFTING AND GOBLINS… OH MY! Adventure awaits you in Moab, UT and surrounding areas. We recommend packing a tent for this trip, as the remoteness of certain destinations along with the general theme of the voyage make camping the ideal form of lodging on this fall road trip. Plan for day temps in the mid-70s, 40s overnight, and a six-hour drive to your first destination.

Day 1

RISE, SHINE AND HEAD to Arches National Park for the first leg of your adventure. Landscape Arch, the largest arch in the world, is an easy 1.5-mile hike, while Delicate Arch (the park’s most famous) is 3 miles round trip (www.nps.gov/arch/index. htm). Be sure to grab your reservations ahead of time for Moab Adventure Center’s 4x4 Sunset Hummer Tour. The three-hour tour will have you scaling redrock in the Hell’s Revenge area aboard one of the only modes of transportation it’s accessible from (www.moabadventurecenter.com).

Day 2

THE SECOND DAY OF YOUR trip will have you floating along the Colorado River on a peaceful half-day rafting trip, with a BBQ picnic stop along the way (www. moabadventurecenter. com). This excursion requires reservations and is only offered through mid-October, so be sure to have a back-up plan if it doesn’t fit in to your itinerary (such as renting ATVs and exploring Moab on your own). Spend the rest of the day in Moab’s other nearby national park, Canyonlands. We recommend visiting the Island in the Sky region of this much larger park first, where you might hike to Mesa Arch (.5 miles) and Upheaval Dome (1 mile). Afterwards, take the scenic drive through the rest of the park, stopping at overlooks along the way (www.nps.gov/cany/index.htm).

Day 3

DEPART MOAB IN THE WEE HOURS and head west to Little Wild Horse Canyon, where an incredible hike through narrow slot canyons, sometimes requiring a wade through ankle-deep water, awaits you (www.utah. com/destinations/regions/ the-holey-land/little-wildhorse-canyon/). Hike in as far as you like, then it’s back to the car for the short trip to Goblin Valley. The unique rock formations here are breathtaking any time of day, but especially at dusk as they cast shadows across the valley. Travelers of all ages will enjoy climbing the “goblins,” and the park is a perfect place to set up camp for the night (www.stateparks.utah.gov/parks/goblin-valley/).

YOUR FINAL DAY IN UTAH will take you to Capitol Reef National Park where you’ll have the opportunity to view a petroglyph panel, pick apples in a u-pick orchard, visit a one room schoolhouse, and eat fresh fruit pie at a historical farmhouse (www.nps. gov/care/index.htm) before hitting the road back to Colorado.

Day 4