If you are not a serious adventurer a hiker or you simply don’t
live in the area, than you might not know of the natural landscape beauty
that the southwest offers. It is well worth it to explore and see at least
once. So let me guide you to Utah’s Arches and Canyonlands National
Parks.
Arches, much like its name, is made up of red rock cliffs that have formed
into natural arches. Over time water, frost, and tension of the rock starts
to chip and then get a thin lining. Over more time, the rock cliff will
start to form a hole that will keep increasing over time, hence a beautiful
arch.
In a stunning landscape of red rock Cliff Mountains over desert, you
find Arches it is absolutely breath taking. There are 1600 arches known
in the national park. The park is located in Utah about 5-6 hours away
from Salt Lake City, near a town called Moab.
Where to stay: This really depends, if you are looking
for a romantic getaway, camping with or without an RV, or simply just
want to stay in a hotel. Moab is quite a festive little town and offers
many hotels, bed and breakfast, and hundreds of campgrounds. The best
place to find all of your info is on this website www.moab-utah.com. Toward
the top of this page, it will give you all of the hotels and bed and breakfasts.
I have stayed in many of these hotels and investigated the best ones for
your money, the best atmosphere, best location and the best scenery. Try
these:
Bed and Breakfast:The Mayor’s House, offers south
western charm and warm hospitality. It of course gets its name from the
former Mayor of the town Tom Stocks who runs the bed and breakfast. The
food is to die for, there is also a hot tub and a swimming pool, and the
prices are moderately high. To get more info go to there website; www.mayorshouse.com.
Lodges: the Red Cliffs Adventure Lodge sits on the bend
of the White Rapids and is not to far from Arches. It also has a winery,
beautiful scenery, a museum, and lots of space. You can book a package
with the lodge to go white water rafting, horse back riding or even soar
in a helicopter for a scenic flight over Arches and The Canyonlands.
Website; www.redcliffslodge.com.
Condos: To rent a condo visit Anasazi Realty Property
Management’s website at
www.moabcondorentals.com.
Hotels and Motels: The Best Western Greenwell is a nice
hotel with friendly staff and good prices, and they always run internet
specials. It is also conviently located in downtown Moab. Visit www.bestwesternmoab.com.
Note: Between March-September it is peak season. The
biggest thing to watch out for in March is spring break. Because it is
peak season it is almost double to stay in a hotel. If you want to stay
during peak season and want to stay in a more inexpensive motel but a
nice motel I would suggest the Red Rock Lodge and Suites; it generally
stays in the 50-high 60 dollar range.
Campgrounds: Since there are so many campgrounds, and
it depends on where you want to camp (toward Arches, The Canyonlands,
or Dead Horse Point), it is best to go to
http:/www.nps.gov/arch/index.htm. This is the national parks and recreation
website. Go to plan your visit, at the bottom of the website there will
be a link to click the BML website. Go there to get an adobe map of all
the campgrounds available. Also there is a link to go to Reserve USA.
If you are going to stay through peak season you might want to go here
to reserve a campground in advance (I would suggest two weeks to be on
the safe side).
Fun things to do: What is there to do in Moab and these
wonderful national parks? EVERYTHING!!! Besides the beautiful scenery
to see, which can be seen by foot by car, you can go white water rafting,
horseback riding, take a helicopter ride, go back packing on foot off
the trails ( to do this you will need to get a permit which you can purchase
at the visitor information center at the front of the park). There are
also stores to rent 4 wheelers. Some tour companies have packages where
you can white water raft the Colorado River and horse back ride through
the canyon as a combination package. There is also a camel trekking, and
bicycling to do.
Visit these websites for more information: www.adrift.net,
www.camelotlodge.com (this is
where you would book to camel trek). There are many more tour companies
so explore them on www.moab-utah.com.
Suggested Tours:
Day One: Visit Arches National Park and don’t miss
the petrified dunes, the balanced rock, the delicate arch, and the fiery
furnace. The park requires that you get a permit to hike the fiery furnace
without a ranger guided tour. This costs $2.00, however if you want to
take the guided tour with the ranger it costs $8.00. It is somewhat strenuous
and takes about 3 hours but you don’t want to pass it up. Also don’t
miss the Anasazi cliff dwellings and the broken arch.
Day Two: Visit Dead Horse Point and at least the upper
section of the Canyonlands which is the Island district. The Canyonlands
are only approximately 36 miles away with Dead horse point being approximately
5 miles away. Dead horse point was used by the old western cowboys as
a corral for wild horses. The legend states that they left a band of horses
there, and they died of thirst, however the Colorado river, which makes
a big U shape, was within sight 2000 feet below. Why the horses died of
thirst is still a mystery to this day.
Day Three: Explore Needles, the second district of the
Canyonlands.
The best websites are the national parks and recreation websites, the
one for Arches was given above, Dead Horse Point and Canyonlands links
can be found on www.moab-utah.com. The recreation websites give fee info,
maps and all the information you could possibly need. Also when you first
get to the parks, the visitor’s center provides you with maps and
explains where to go on foot and by car.
Below is a map of Arches, Dead Horse Point, and Canyonlands.
Things to Remember:
- Bing in Southern Utah is very hot during the summer, in July and August
it can get up to 110 degrees!
- If it is your first time going through the fiery mountains it is
best to take a ranger guided tour as it is a big maze and easy to get
lost.
- Take plenty of money if you plan to take any of the voyage tours
such as horse back riding, water-rafting, and skydiving, as these adventures
are worth it but can be costly.
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