Arches and Canyonlands National Parks are near each other in southeastern Utah. The closest big town (relatively speaking) to both parks is Moab. This area is very popular for all kinds of outdoor recreational activities: river rafting, hiking, off-roading, etc. These activities take off during the summer months so it was no surprise that when I try to book a hotel room here, the room rates were very high.
I ended up booking a room for 3 nights at the Motel 6. I don't normally stay at a Motel 6 but in this case I didn't have much of a choice. The room rate was $130 a night! That was with a AAA discount and was almost the cheapest among the available rooms in Moab in May. Now, if you know a little big of history, Motel 6 started out as a motel charging $6 a night although nowadays you can get a room for around $50 a night. Saying it's a two-star hotel would be generous.
Anyway, after driving through some beautiful country and almost hitting deer on the road twice, I arrived in Moab at about 10 pm. Main Street is lined with all the tourist necessities: hotels, restaurants, gift shops, and signs of companies that offer outdoor activities.
In the morning, I drove about 30 minutes north to Arches National Park. The line of cars to the entrance was quite long but it moved fast. Once you enter the park, you can see immediately the beauty of the place. I stopped at the Visitors' Center to get some tips on where to go and how to optimize my visit. I spent about 5-6 hours in the park and took some of these pictures below.
This park has over 2,000 natural sandstone arches plus towering spines, fins, balanced rocks. Some of the popular spots are Balanced Rock, Delicate Arch, Landscape Arch. The best thing is to stop at the Visitors' Center, get a newsletter and ask one of the rangers for recommendations. There are also ranger guided hikes but you have to make advance reservations because they are usually very popular and booked way in advance.
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| Ranger guided hike through the Fiery Furnace |
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| Landscape Arch |
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| Fins |
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| Balanced Rock |
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| Delicate Arch |
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