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Moab Utah
We visited Moab in late
September of 2010. The original plan was just an overnight stay on
our way down to New Mexico.
That would have been a real mistake! There's a lot to see and do
here, especially if you're interested in any kind of off road
activity
Moab is loaded with businesses that rent just about any kind of off
road vehicle you could imagine. There are Jeeps, Hummers, 4 wheeler
ATVs, Side-by-Side ATVs, dirt bikes etc. Yeah, that's right, you can
rent a Hummer and take it Off Road! There were a lot of dune
buggy type rigs in the RV parks. If you have the right type of
registration for your off road rig you can drive it on many of the
public streets, even 4 wheeler ATVs. Here's a link for a lot of
information from Utah State Parks, including laws and rules for
driving OHVs on the street:
http://stateparks.utah.gov/ohv
If you don't want to drive one you can go on guided tours in most of
the larger rigs. There's something for just about everybody! You
don't need to be an off road racer to enjoy some type of riding
here. We rented a Yamaha "side by side" and spent a whole day
cruising in the desert and canyons. We took one trail that wound
around the rim of the canyon above the Colorado River. Something
like 20 miles and spectacular doesn't even do it justice.
Take LOTS of water and some food if you go off road. Some of the
trails can get you into remote areas. This is a desert environment.
Even in late fall it can get hot and dry outside. Don't get yourself
in trouble! Most of the rental places provide a cooler and
directions to the nearest store for ice and beverages. Take the
hint, there's a good reason they do this!!
And speaking of canyons, Arches and Canyonlands national parks are
close by and worth the trip. We had hauled our Harley with us in a
trailer and spent a day riding the parks. We wished we were retired
so we could spend a lot more time here. It seemed like there was an
RV park on just about every street corner. Well, not really but you
get the idea. Plenty of places to choose from.
One thing though, the place can get pretty packed at different times
so it might pay to call ahead. We just drove into town on a Thursday
afternoon and were pretty lucky to find an open spot at Slickrock
Campground, just north of town. Since we'd never been to Moab before
we weren't sure if that was where we wanted to stay and asked the
desk clerk what else might be available in town. She said they'd
already checked for a few other people and the 3 spots they had were
all that was available in the whole town. We'd already been turned
away up the road so we grabbed what they had and were glad we did.
Unless you're a serious Jeep enthusiast you might want to avoid the
last week of March-first week of April. The Easter Jeep Safari turns
the place into a Zoo according to the locals.
Sliprock is a decent RV park
with reasonable rates. Not super fancy but that's OK with us. The
people running it were friendly and helpful. When we told them we
wanted to rent a side-by-side they called the owner of the rental
place on Sunday morning at home and set it all up for us! The ATV
rental place they set us up with is called Moab Powersports. They
weren't open on Sundays but the owner came in and got us going
anyway. They told us to spend as much time as we wanted, just get
back before dark, then call them at home when we got close to town
so they could meet us back at the store. The cost was $165 which I
thought was pretty reasonable considering how accommodating they
were. There's a picture of the ATV we rented, parked out in the
desert, in the gallery below.
If you show up at Sliprock early enough in the week try to get a spot in the lower area,
which is pretty flat. The area we stayed in was a little steep and
we had some difficulty getting parked and unloading the motorcycles.
Here's a link to their website with a park map.
http://slickrockcampground.com/maps.html
I think we were in space 19
or so. The spots from 60-71 and 84-87 are pretty big, flat pull
through spots. Not that these are the only good spots but we'd ask
for one if we were making reservations. If you have something like a
26 ft. MH and no trailer most any spot here is OK.
Most of the RV parks are on the outskirts of town, of course, so
you'd probably want some type of transportation. It's just a little
too far to walk for most people. We unloaded our motorcycles and did
quite a bit of street riding before we headed south.
If you have anything to add, comments, questions, pictures, local RV
park or campground reviews, please send to the comments link below.
Here are a few pictures from
our side-by-side ATV ride up the canyon and some from our motorcycle
ride through Arches Nat. Park. Click the thumbnail pics. to see a
larger view.
If you have some pictures of
the downtown area we would greatly appreciate you letting us use
them here. For some unknown reason, we don't have any.
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