We just recently took a four hour drive South East from our home to Moab, Utah to spend some the weekend camping and hiking around Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park.
*This is a picture heavy post…I apologize in advance…unless you enjoy that sort of thing :)!
Camping is one of our favorite things to do as a family. I grew up backpacking in the High Uintah Mountains east of Salt Lake City and LOVED every minute of it. So, it has been nice to keep that going in my own little family.
It had been several years since both my husband and I had been to Arches and the kids have never been, so we knew we had to get down there before the kids started moving out (which is coming faster than I ever imagined it would.
We camped in the Devil’s Garden Campground which is right in Arches National Park. It was absolutely gorgeous here. Probably our family’s favorite campground as far as scenery goes. They also had really clean flush toilets…which is always a plus in my book.
We got there about 5:00 Friday evening and had a quick bite to eat in downtown Moab and then we headed straight to our campground. We set up camp and then spent the evening exploring the area all around our camp.
There was even an arch right by us up on a little hillside. My brother and his kids were able to join us (my sister-in-law, who we missed, unfortunately ended up having to go in to work at the last minute).
We sat around the campfire and chatted while roasting marshmallows and eating smores. One of my favorite parts of camping is the campfire time. There is just something so relaxing and bonding about sitting around a campfire with your friends and family.
The next morning we got up and headed over to Sand Arch so we could be there before the crowds of people. We had it all to ourselves for quite a while. This can tend to get a bit crowded because it is a cool arch surrounded with great sand that the kids loved playing in.
There is also a pretty easy access for getting on top of Sand Arch for anyone who dares. A few of us were more daring than others…and I was the official photographer…so of course I had to stay down and take the picture :)!
There were some fun narrows in this area that we spent some time climbing through and exploring.
After thoroughly exploring Sand Arch we headed over to Delicate Arch. Delicate Arch is one of the most breathtaking arches in the park. It is by far my favorite must see. It is a bit of a strenuous hike (3 miles round-trip) but up you gain some serious elevation. But it is so worth it.
On our way up we saw a boy in a climbing wheelchair going up to see the arch with a group of people helping him to the top. It was an amazing site. We also saw a cute little grandmother with cane making her way slowly to the top with the help of her two granddaughters.
Tired and hungry we headed back to camp for a late lunch. We took a nice break and then headed over to go hiking in Devil’s Garden to see a few different arches.
The scenery here was so amazing. Blue skies as far as the eye could see and red rock formations all around us.
The first arch we came to was Landscape Arch.
Then we continued on to see the Double Arch. This hike was a bit more technical in few areas and had some amazing panoramic views of the La Sal Mountains by Moab (the snow capped ones).
If you look closely you can see there are two arches on top of one another below.
All in all, we hiked about 7 miles on Saturday and in total over 9 miles. The kids were such good sports. I think it helped that they had some fun cousins with them to hike and chat with along with way. It also helped that we brought along the child carrier backpack with us so our youngest (5 years) could ride in it when her little legs were tired. But she ended up hiking on her own for quite a bit of it. There is so much more of Arches we want to come back and explore that we were not able to see.
The next morning (Sunday) we had to be out of the camp at 10:00 am. So we ate breakfast and packed up. Then we headed over to Canyonlands National Park which is just about 10 miles away from Arches. We didn’t spend a lot of time here but we did hike to Mesa Arch.
Mesa Arch is absolutely amazing. It overlooks a HUGE canyon and you can see for miles. This arch made my feet tingle peering over the edge.
We hiked to a crater which could possibly have been where a meteorite hit and finally we stopped by the Green River Overlook.
We didn’t even make a dent in seeing all the amazing things there is to do in this area. We will be coming back for sure.
If you are still reading along…
Have you ever been to Arches or Canyonlands?
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Kimberly says
Beautiful! Looks like you all really enjoyed yourselves!
Amy says
We really did have a great time. Thanks so much for taking the time to comment. I always appreciate it! xo
We love going to the National Parks for our get aways! Arches has been on my list for a while! There are so many awesome parks in Utah. Can’t wait to make it out that way at some point! Glad you all had a good time! =)
We definitely need to do it more often especially since we live right here and they are so close. I hope you can make your list happen too!
Arches is my absolute favorite. I’ve only been their once back in the late 60’s early 70’s but it remains my favorite to this day. I remember taking lots of photos and even did a few chalk renditions in high school.
Thanks for sharing that. I would love to be able to draw some of these beautiful images in chalk. I will have to settle for the camera since that is not one of my talents. It is definitely a place one remembers!
Canyonlands when I was young. My parents spent several years taking us to almost every National park, and several state parks. It was great to get to know the state I lived in.
That is really great for your parents to have done that. It takes a lot of effort. We are hoping to do the same with our kids!
Wow…breathtaking! Thank you so much for sharing!
Thanks Kim. I really appreciate that. Sometimes I wonder how much personal stuff to share on here. Glad to hear you enjoyed seeing the pics. Heaven knows there were a lot of them. haha!
No, I’ve never been, but have always wanted to. Just amazing!
It really is. Gorgeous scenery! Thanks for stopping by!
Thanks for sharing all of those gorgeous pictures! My husband and I love to hike and camp and after seeing this–Utah is on our “to go to” list!
brittany @ La Vita DiBella
vitadibella.blogspot.com
It really is. Gorgeous scenery! Thanks for stopping by!
We drove past the turn off once- I really wanted to go but the detour wasn’t in the travel plans. Some day we will get there. I love photographing landscapes & that park certainly has some of the most beautiful I have seen. What an amazing adventure.
You would love photographing out here. Everywhere I looked there was something I wanted to take a photo of. LOL. I wish I would have brought my tri-pod though!
I haven’t been to Arches since I was in young women’s and I don’t even want to say how long ago that was and the last time I went to Canyonland’s I think I was six. It’s definitely time to get down there. Last week my family (my husband and kids, my parents , my brothers family and my other brother and his wife) all went to see Bryce and Zion and they were beautiful. I love seeing our National Parks! I’m thinking my family will be spending our spring breaks in a different park each year.
I bet you had an amazing trip to Zions and Bryce. Those are next on our list. I have been to Zions fairly recently though…but it has been since I was 10 or so that I have been to Bryce. What were your favorites at those parks?
Our family is planning on going there in a few weeks, but only for a couple days. my youngest is 2, what would you say is your top MUST see/do while were there?
First must do is to take a child backpack. Some areas on the trails were hard for our 5 year old to do so the backpack was a great way to go. My very first must would be delicate arch. It is steep and tiring but SOOO worth going. I literally gasped when I came around the corner and saw it again (after 25 years the first time). I had forgotten just how breath-taking it was. Devils Garden was also amazing scenery and hiking.
We did a lot of research before we went and tried to hit the top areas to see there. You can google it. So we picked the must see items.
Ah, Moab! Arches! We love this area of Utah so much. It has definitely become one of our Memorial Day Weekend favorites. We don’t get to go every year but we try too. We have been there 3 times in the last 5 years. One of our favorite arches is Sand Arch. There is nothing else that even compares to driving up the canyon in Arches National Park. The magnificence of this place can not be described. There is a little park in the middle of town. It is our other most favorite place. It has all of these musical instruments made out of industrial supplies. Amazing! Moab is one of those places you can’t do in one trip. And the weather is always unpredictable. the first year we watched a flash flood rip through a low lying campground. That was incredibly scary!!! the 3rd year we had wind storms for the first 2 days. After that we finally were able to enjoy Moab and the Arches. These are a few of my blog posts about Moab. One of them has pictures of that really cool park.
http://www.holeykneesanddragonflies.blogspot.com/2012/06/may-photos-of-month.html
http://www.holeykneesanddragonflies.blogspot.com/2010/06/more-pics-from-moab-utah.html
http://www.holeykneesanddragonflies.blogspot.com/2010/06/moab-utah.html
Thank you so much for sharing Stacey. It sounds like you have had some exciting trips to Moab. And the weather can be completely unpredictable. Luckily we had good weather. Once when we were in Zions to hike the narrows when I was about 12, we had horrible flash floods too. There were waterfalls flowing off all the amazing rocks. It was gorgeous and scary at the same time. We were unable to do the Narrows hike though. I am heading over to read your posts! Thanks!!
This is amazing! I grew up camping, but we always went to Sequoia Kings Canyon in Northern Cal. I’m going to put this on my wish list of places to visit with my boys! Thanks for sharing your trip :)
That sounds like a great place. I am going to google it ;). Your boys will LOVE it!!
Amy, it was fun to see you with your little family. We did the same things with our kids when we had our tent trailer. We visited a lot of the parks whenever we had a spring break or a UEA weekend. Those are wonderful memories for our children and I am so glad we did it as they grow up and gone before you know it. Seeing your pictures was like going back in time as we stood in those same places and hiked to the same arches. Utah is a great place to enjoy the great outdoors! Plan on a trip to Goblin Valley as that is a fun place to take kids also. I actually miss those days!
Thanks Neola! I am going to have to talk to you about some more fun camping spots and areas to explore. We are sure enjoying the tent trailer with the kids. We will definitely look into Goblin Valley. I was there years ago as a kid and don’t remember much!
Moab was my hometown, I have been gone for over 28 years, but I grew up there, hiked all the places you posted. I took it for granted, It is a beautiful area and I miss it a lot. Thanks for sharing your trip, it brought back great memories..
I bet you spent a lot of time hiking in and around that area. We really wanted to spend time on the river…but didn’t have time. Next time for sure. We spent a lot of time there when I was a kid and even took a river trip all the way down it to Lake Powell.
My parents took us to southern Utah every spring when I was growing up, and I am continuing the tradition with my kids. We don’t make it every year, but we have already been quite a bit. I already have a campsite reserved for the first weekend in May next year at Arches. You gotta be on top of things, especially if you want to visit Arches in the spring or fall.
That is a great tradition and one that I am sure the whole family looks forward too!
Wow, these photos look fantastic. What a great trip – makes me want to go back!
Thanks so much Kat!
Love the photos and your lovely family. Great time together, so much beauty and joy. Thank you I really want to go there, now even more than ever before. Thanks for the great blog and inspiration.
Jackie
Thanks so much for your kind words. I hope you do get to go! xo
We lived in Moab for a little over a year a few years ago. I never got anything done at home because we were NEVER home! There was always so much to go see and do and hike and explore. It was so much fun!!! We go back every couple years because we loved it so much.
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