3 Day Trip in Moab, Utah

We took a trip to Moab for our five-year anniversary this year and we are so glad we did. It was one of our best trips. My husband and I have never been before. I was a bit nervous about how it would go so I did a lot of research and it paid off! We were able to hit everything we planned and then some. Here is the itinerary of what we were able to do while we were there.  

Arches National Park: 

We headed from Salt Lake at 8am and got to Arches National Park around noon. We went straight to the park since our hotel wasn’t ready until later. There was a little bit of a line to get into the park but only about 10-15 minutes. It was fun to look at all the license plates to see where people were from.

 

Visitor’s Center:  

We did stop at the visitor’s center but it wasn’t anything too crazy so if you don’t, I wouldn’t worry about it. It was super busy when we stopped so we didn’t stay long but if you need a souvenir then you might want to check it out. We skipped the Arches sign at the turn in but found the same sign on the visitor's center wall so we got one there! 

Delicate Arch:

This one was a must! We did this hike at noon and finished around 2pm. I would not recommend starting at 2, it had gotten pretty hot by then. Definitely hit this early morning or evening. Not middle of the day.  Take lots of water and know that it is worth it to make it around the corner to see the Arch. It was about three miles round trip. 

Moab Diner: 

We stopped for lunch after our first hike in the park. This was such a cute place. It had the old diner feels but seemed clean and super quick service. I had the French dip and my husband had the chicken grilled sandwich. We did cave and got a scoop of ice cream along with lunch as well. Their ice cream is just from Blue Bunny so not unique to the town but it was good for a hot day. 

Moab Springs Resort:

Our check in time for the hotel was at four but they called us early to let us know it was ready. We headed there after lunch to unpack and rest for a bit. This little cottage was so nice! It had a king size bed, a back porch and a nice big walk in shower. It was updated and clean. We ended up staying in the cottage more than we had planned because we liked it so much! 

Antica Forma: 

We weren’t super hungry for dinner but had heard the pizza here was awesome so we had to try it. In all honesty it wasn’t our favorite. I’m sure if you eat fancy food you would love it but the homemade mozzarella just wasn’t our thing. My husband doesn’t like a lot of cheese and it definitely lets you know it has cheese on it. I did like the crust the best and we even warmed up our leftovers for dinner the next night so it was good just not our top choice.   

Sunset at Dead Horse Point:

Wow, this was so much better than I had seen in pictures. We drove and drove and drove it felt like to get to this park but so worth it. We arrived just before sunset so we could see the view in the sun and then the sunset. It was a bit busy at the lookout point but we managed to find a rock to sit on and once people started heading out we moved closer to the edge to see the view better. It was really peaceful and was a perfect spot to see the sunset.  

Sunrise at Mesa Arch:

Yup, we turned right back around at 5 in the morning to head to Canyonlands. Which was the same drive as Dead Horse Point but instead of turning off you keep going straight. It didn’t feel as long driving to it this time. We got to Mesa Arch parking lot at 5:51 a.m. with the sunrise happening at 5:55 a.m. so we did run the hiking trail but it was only about .5 miles. We got to the arch to find a big group of people all in position to get that perfect picture of the sunrise. Luckily it hadn't quite rose yet when we got to the arch.  It was the prettiest sunrise I have seen. It hits right through the arch making for incredible pictures and just neat to look at. Just know you won't be alone on this one but it is so worth it!

Back to Arches National Park: 

We went back to Arches National Park and hit a few hikes right after Canyonlands. We saw the Landscape Arch hike along with the Pine Tree Arch and Tunnel Arch. You could hike the whole 7 mile loop at the Devil's Garden but we just did the first mile to see those three arches and then turned back. This parking lot was very busy but just keep driving along the loop the parking spots went a ways around and we eventually got a parking spot.  

Then we headed back down the canyon to Double Arch, North and South Windows and Turret Arch. This was a good little loop as well which we did the whole thing and it went pretty quick. This one was a busy trail with lots of kids. Very easy hikes with some good views!

Breakfast at Moab Diner: 

Yup, back to Moab Diner. It was cute okay! I got the potato skillet that had bacon, peppers and cheese along with eggs and an English Muffin. Greg got the bacon, eggs, hashbrown and biscuits and gravy plate. It was a yummy breakfast. It was busy but we were able to get seated straight away with just a little bit of a wait before getting our order taken. 

Gloria's:

Smoothies are our go to when we are doing outdoor things so we were excited to find that they made smoothies at Gloria's. It is a sit down restaurant but you can go to the take out counter inside to order. They are very strong flavored so make sure you like the ingredients in them. I got the mango and coconut and my husband got the cranberry smoothie. 

Greetings from Moab Sign: 

Throughout downtown Moab there are paintings on some of the buildings and this is one of them. It was just on the side of a hotel building and easy to park and take a quick picture by it. This took not even five minutes and it made a fun picture to have.  

Hammocks at the Resort:

Our resort had a pond and an area full of streams to put your feet in, hammocks, fire pits and lawn chairs. We went and saw the frogs and tadpoles in the pond and then spent some time out on the hammocks. It was shaded and was a quiet spot to go hang out at.  We did stay in our room for quite awhile during the afternoon to stay out of the heat. 

Milts Stop and Eat:

Such a fun place to get burgers and shakes. It's just a walk up window where you order and can either sit at their picnic tables or take it to go.  We did get their potato wedge fries which were super crispy but not a must have kind of fry. We each got a shake which tasted just like homemade shakes my grandma would make us. Their burgers were so thick and juicy and delicious. 

Stargazing at Arches National Park: 

We didn’t head up until the sun was setting at the Arches. We went to the Panorama view point which was wide open so you could see the whole sky. We were lucky to even see lightning off in the distance as we star gazed. It was about ten when the sun had gone completely down so it is a late night but so worth it.  Bring a blanket so you can lay down on the sidewalk to see the whole sky. 

 

Corona Arch Sunrise: 

This was our favorite drive. You follow the Green River almost the whole way with green trees and the sun was just trying to peek through. We put Corona Arch into our google maps and found it just fine. There is a parking lot for it and a trail marker. Just know you do have to cross a train track but they have it with signs to double look and to be careful. During the hike there were a few spots that had a rope to help, some steps in the stones and a ladder at the very end. There also were painted blue stripes leading the way so it wasn’t hard to find. We reached the arch about 15 minutes after sunrise and the sun still looked like it was trying to rise above the mountains behind the arch. The sun never really shined straight through the arch like Mesa arch did but it was still a beautiful morning sky. I would suggest bug spray on this one. We saw a few mosquitos and ended up with a few bites. This trail was the least busy out of all of the hikes we had gone on.  

Doughbirds and Gloria's: 

Our last meal before we packed up were donuts from Doughbird for me and an acai bowl from Gloria's for my husband. I would recommend maybe buying only one or two donuts to try if you have never had these ones. We bought a half a dozen thinking we could snack on them on our drive home. The dough is almost like a scone dough which ended up not being my favorite and they are a bit pricey for a donut and didn't keep well for a hot car ride. I am glad we tried them though! It was a cute place and good for pictures! The acai bowl to go from Gloria's gave us a good laugh. They asked us if we were sure we wanted it to go and we didn’t think anything of it until they gave us the acai bowl in a take out container that probably wasn’t the best, but my husband said it still tasted good and it all worked out.  

We will Definitely be back to finish up the hikes we missed and try more of the food options here. Downtown Moab was a cute little street and had lots of shops and food options. We hit all the must do things on our list but would love to come back to explore more and even go back to the places we already went again.   

What are your favorite things to do in Moab?