Spend a Weekend in Moab, Utah

A Technicolor spectacle in any season, Utah’s red rock canyons emerge from winter even more vivid, as wildflowers splash the crimson and ochre sandstone with a palette of glowing yellow beeplant, violet rimrock milkvetch, neon-pink prickly pear, and glimmering white moonflower. 

In the midst of this colorfest sits the high desert hamlet of Moab, which has grown from a scruffy slickrock destination for mountain bikers to a bustling hub for outdoor adventures of all kinds and gateway to Arches and Canyonlands national parks. Casual is the watchword in this historic ranching and mining town, where sandals and hiking boots are appropriate whether you’re basking on a sunny patio or clinking glasses in a candlelit dining room. Days spent wandering among sculpted rock formations can finish with watching for meteors and charting constellations against some of the continent’s darkest skies.

Things to Do

First things first: Arches National Park lives up to its name, with the densest concentration of natural rock arches, windows, and bridges anywhere in the world. Just be sure to reserve your timed entry in advance on recreation.gov. Most of the signature formations are accessible via short strolls from the park’s main road; Delicate Arch and Landscape Arch, in particular, are well worth their respective hikes. 

Over at nearby Canyonlands National Park, dramatic rim-top views abound in the Island in the Sky section. Catch the sunset from Grand View Point, then stay to watch the stars blanket skies so dark that DarkSky International awarded the park its highest gold-tier designation. Canyonlands stays open overnight to accommodate stargazers and occasionally offers astronomy programming at the new moon. If you opt to head back to town, you can stop for sunset at Dead Horse Point in the eponymous state park.

While serious mountain bikers challenge themselves on Moab’s famed Slickrock Trail, those preferring a more relaxed ride will find plenty of choices in the maze of trails that make up the Moab Brands network. You’ll find rental bikes—including e-bikes and kids’ rides—at Moab Cyclery and Poison Spider Bicycles or (with a reservation from Bighorn Mountain Biking) at the trailhead in Dead Horse Point State Park.

For something more otherworldly, you can time-travel to the Jurassic with a visit to the dinosaur footprints preserved in stone at the Poison Spider Dinosaur Tracksite on Potash Road. Along the way, keep an eye out for sheer panels of ancestral Puebloan petroglyphs, which date back as far as 5500 B.C. (Remember to view them respectfully and avoid touching them.)

Around Town

Strolling past the 19th-century adobe brick buildings of Moab’s compact downtown, it’s easy to imagine these dusty, high-desert streets as they were when Utah’s most famous outlaw, Butch Cassidy and his Wild Bunch were hanging out at nearby Robbers Roost. But Moab was mainly a ranching community until the discovery of uranium quadrupled the population in the 1950s. The subsequent bust triggered Moab’s current transformation into a center for outdoor recreation, as former mining roads became the bike tracks and hiking trails of Canyonlands and other surrounding parks and preserves. You can learn all about the many layers of history at the Moab Museum. 

While you’re in town, stock up on supplies for your next adventure at GearHeads and Moab Gear Trader or browse locally owned shops like Back of Beyond Books and Desert Wild. The latter, located in the Maxwell House, features comfortable, movement-friendly clothing designed in house, featuring work from local artists. As the name suggests, Moab Made presents locally produced paintings, drawings, prints, and even musical instruments; Arteesian also highlights clothes, jewelry, and aromatherapy products from local designers. 

Where to Eat

At first glance, you might think Moab’s food scene was all breakfast burritos and protein smoothies. But you can actually find everything from chef-curated fare at Desert Bistro to crispy fried chicken and waffle fries at Doughbird Moab. Head for Spitfire Smokehouse for Texas-style pulled pork and brisket platters with sides like beer-battered fries and poppy seed coleslaw. Can’t get your group to agree on one cuisine? Look for the twinkle lights surrounding Moab’s expansive food truck park, where taco lovers can line up at El Gordo, and fans of pan-Asian sautes can appreciate the veggie-oriented fare from Red Wok Kitchen. 

For breakfasts, Love Muffin Cafe is a local favorite. Bonjour Bakery Cafe and Cafe & Lounge Italiano take a more international approach, serving up aromatic European-style coffee, hearty breakfast options, and light lunch fare. 

Places to Stay

Make like the Hollywood cowboys who once filmed on this former ranch property and base your visit at Red Cliffs Lodge. Choose one of the riverfront cabins and finish your days soaking in a private hot tub or gazing through your in-room telescope. Also overlooking the river, with a large deck and floor-to-ceiling windows, the resort’s Cowboy Grill is best known for its rib-eye steaks, though it has plenty of vegetarian alternatives as well. 

South of town, on the way to Canyonlands’ Needles District, Ulum Moab takes glamping to new heights with oversized tent cabins equipped with full bathrooms, wood-burning stoves, and air coolers, and a resort-style lodge, restaurant, and pool. 

Aimed squarely at budget-minded adventurers, the new Field Station Moab (part of the AutoCamp brand) is surprisingly rich in amenities, including a pristine pool, outdoor fire pits, and a cafe. True to its mission, Field Station Moab also offers sites for van lifers, complete with electrical hookups, pool access, and shared bathroom and shower facilities.