Travel: Moab,Utah

Moab, Utah. It’s a busy little tourist hot spot with all the small-town charm and hospitality and an endless outdoor paradise as its backyard. Every time we leave Moab, we are plotting and planning for our return. It’s just one of those towns that steals your heart and leaves you craving more! And the best part… it’s a place that we truly enjoy as a family!

In this blog, we will discuss the family-friendly activities that we recommend in Moab, Utah:

Arches National Park
Canyonlands National Park
Dead Horse Point State Park
Mill Creek Hiking Trail and Waterfall
Moab Giants
Lin Ottinger’s Moab Rock Shop and Fossils
Quesadilla Mobilla … and more!

4×4 Note: There are lots of amazing 4×4 trails in Moab, Utah and many families love to spend their time exploring them, including us, but I did not cover trails in this blog. If you are interested in off-road Moab, here is one of my favorite websites: https://www.alltrails.com/us/utah/moab/off-road-driving.

When to go?

We always visit Moab in early spring, March or April, due to the triple digit temps that limit outdoor activities during the summer and early fall. We also find that visiting in the spring means that the town, national parks, and hiking trails are much less busy. You will still need to carry a lot of water, UV protection clothing, and sunblock and watch for signs of overheating or dehydration, especially in your littles.

Special Note About National Parks with Kids –

If you haven’t done a lot of exploring in National Parks with your kids, I wanted to drop a quick note to fill you in on a fun secret: National Parks have a Junior Ranger Program for kids of all ages. Before you explore the park, drop by the park’s Visitor Center and request a Junior Ranger program packet. Each park has a different packet with different requirements, but typically the child has to fill out 4-5 pages based on things they see and learn during their visit to the park. Then, after meeting with a park ranger to go over their packet, they get sworn in and receive their own Junior Ranger badge for that park! My kid loves it and we have slowly collected several badges over the last couple of years of travel. Want more info? Click Here: https://www.nps.gov/kids/become-a-junior-ranger.htm

In addition to the Junior Ranger Program, we also purchased a National Park Passport last year and when we visit various national parks and national monuments, my kid loves to get his passport stamped and dated. Most national parks have a passport station set up just inside the visitor center. You can also purchase photo stickers for each national park to include in your passport.

Key tips: You can buy the National Park passport on Amazon, but it’s significantly more expensive. If you are able, I recommend that you purchase the passport at the gift shop inside any national park visitor center. If you want to purchase it on Amazon, click here. Also, there is an Ebay shop that offers national park passport stickers that you can order to add stamps for trips that you made prior to getting your passport. You can find the store by clicking here.

Add-Ons:

My favorite itinerary must-do’s are coming up, but If you have any extra time on your hands during your trip, we recommend one of these fun add-ons…..

Moab Giants: My kid loved getting up close and personal with these life-size dinosaur replicas! This place is a true gem and so much fun! If your kid loves dinosaurs, this is a definite must-do add-on for your trip. Squeeze it in…you won’t regret it.

Moab Rock Shop and Fossils: Dinosaurs and rocks! My kid loved exploring this shop and seeing all of the different rocks and fossils. The Rock Shop is huge and spans almost as much outdoor space as indoors! For a rock lover, this is paradise! My husband also enjoyed several finds while visiting this store! It’s definitely worth the stop if you have spare time.

Quesadilla Mobilla: We have yet to visit Moab without making a stop at this amazing food truck in the middle of town. It’s simply a must-do if you love food! They have several outdoor tables and usually plenty of parking in the surrounding neighborhoods. It’s delicious and well-worth putting it on your list!

What to do with only ONE DAY in Moab with kids:

Arches National Park: If you only had one day to explore Moab, I would highly recommend that you visit Arches National Park. It’s just an epic national park with so many incredible trails and views. Inside this park, you can explore over 2,000 natural arches. If your kids are early risers, even better! Hit the park and trails before the heat of the day. Pack a picnic lunch and make sure to bring lots of water. We spent all day in the park and most of the trails that we visited were short and easily accessible. The biggest hurdle, in our experience, has been the line to get into the park and parking, but when we go in March/April, we never have an issue. Some of the trails that we explored in Arches were Balanced Rock, Double Arch, the Windows Section, Landscape Arch, and Sand Dune Arch. In case you are wondering, we DID explore Delicate Arch as well, but that needed it’s own paragraph (below)…

Delicate Arch: On our first trip to Moab, we spent all day exploring Arches National Park and then got up the next morning and hiked Delicate Arch before we headed out of town. This hike was a must-do on my list because it’s the most iconic arch in the entire park. On the national park website, the hike to Delicate Arch is defined as a 3-mile roundtrip “difficult” hike that climbs 480 feet and is often unshaded (full sun exposure). That’s why we opted to hike it in the morning on fresh legs and in cooler temps. At the time, our son was two and I carried him in our hiking backpack/kid carrier most of the trail because 1) we needed to make decent time and 2) some of the hike was simply unsafe for a two-year-old. He tolerated it just fine because we brought his canopy/shade and his favorite snack – apples.

My most notable points about the hike to Delicate Arch:

1) There are steep, slickrock areas on the hike that are challenging, with full sun exposure, and you should be cautious about your fitness level, your child’s age, your water intake, and your sun exposure.

2) Once you get to the actual arch viewing area, it sits on the edge of a sandstone bowl and is steep and dangerous. Many of the people who take photos under/around the arch are actually standing on the edge and falls have resulted in deaths in the past. Please be cautious and smart. I didn’t even go in that area because having my son on my back made me less stable and one small slip could result in both of us being harmed, so I stayed a safe distance and viewed it from the viewing area up top. It was incredible! Your call, but it’s important to know that when bringing children to the area, it’s not the safest hike in the park. I would not have felt comfortable having my kid in that area if he was running around.

3) There are narrow ledges where you have to pass other hikers on the trail. Just be courteous. There’s no reason to insist on who has the right-of-way. Find the easiest spot to allow for passing and just wait.

4) Be aware of mothers carrying children and help them find extra space to pass. I had one guy on the trail stop four teenagers and tell them to let me pass on a larger area so that I wouldn’t have to pass them on a narrow ledge. We tend to be more nervous when we are carrying our babies.

5) Lastly, communicate. If you feel dizzy, tired, weak, dry, hot…communicate. This is a trail that is beautiful and definitely worth it, but it’s also a trail where you should communicate how you are feeling so that others can help. Small missteps on this trail can be bad news.

I hope I didn’t scare you, but I was surprised at the difficulty and dangers on the Delicate Arch trail. I feel that it’s better to know those things going in, especially with children.

What to do with TWO DAYS in Moab with kids:

Assuming that you plan to spend your first day in Moab at Arches National Park (described above), what would you do with your second day?

Dead Horse Point State Park: I would definitely recommend finding time for both Canyonlands National Park and Dead Horse Point State Park. We took a drive up to Dead Horse Point State Park after returning from Arches (and stopping by the hotel room to shower). We didn’t do any hiking in the area, but the scenery from the truck was enough to make it worth it! We stopped often (there are pullouts and viewing areas) and took lots of pictures of the river and the canyon. It was just beautiful. There is an entrance fee, but this is a nice, relaxing way to end the day. Just drive around the park and take in the majestic views!

Canyonlands National Park: This national park is equally as beautiful as Arches, but where Arches NP focuses on the details (the arches, of course), Canyonlands focuses on the big picture, with sweeping views of the impressive landscape that goes as far as the eye can see in the canyons below. We explored a few small hiking trails to get even better views, but truly, this park can easily be explored from the vehicle, using the park’s loop road and stopping at various overlooks. It is far less crowded than Arches and well worth the stop if you have two days on your visit! Bonus: We stopped at one of their really neat overlook picnic areas and enjoyed our picnic lunch with a view.

What to do with THREE DAYS in Moab with kids:

Assuming that you plan to spend your first day in Moab at Arches National Park (described above), and your second day at Dead Horse Point State Park and Canyonlands National Park (also described above), what would you do with your third day?

You have a lot of options in Moab with kids! You could hike, bike, raft, rent an off-road vehicle, go canyoneering, hang out downtown, and more! To be honest, we tend to lean towards things that are less expensive and suitable for a young child because that’s where we are right now, but if you have three days and a bigger budget or older kids, do a quick google search and explore your options. For us, we would use day #3 to hike a trail outside of one of the National Parks. More recently, we hiked the Mill Creek Waterfall trail…

Mill Creek Waterfall Trail: Before you throw this hike into your GPS and head out, be aware, there are some creek crossings on this trail and one is a bit deep. We visited in March and it was easy to simply pick up our four-year-old and carry him across (the creek was not running fast), but one crossing was up to my mid-thigh (I’m 5’1”) and just above my husband’s knees. So, if you plan to do this hike, consider bringing a change of clothes for your little. Two of the three creek crossings were low, but that middle one is a bit of a doozy and several couples were standing there debating if it was worth it. Ultimately, we decided to go for it and I’m glad that we did. My husband may or may not have blamed me for not adequately warning him so that he wore more appropriate shoes and pants – so this is your warning. 😊 The trail is just over 1.5 miles round trip and you will encounter some side-sloping slick rocks early on, though much of the rest of the trail is much more easily navigated. It’s an adventure, but at the end of the trail, you’ll find a peaceful little swimming hole, complete with a sandy beach and cool water. Because we visited in March, we didn’t find it warm enough for swimming, but it was quiet, beautiful and a nice little place to sit and have a snack before heading back.

Worth Noting:

On one of our trips to Moab, we started the drive a bit late and ended up spending the night at this quaint and very charming little B&B in Monticello, Utah called the Grist Mill Inn. Everything about this place was amazing! The check-in process felt so welcoming, the room was incredibly charming and unique, and the atmosphere made you want to grab a book from their library, pour a cup of coffee, and sit by the fire. Breakfast is served in their dining room every morning and we greatly enjoyed sitting and chatting with other couples and families that were staying at the inn. It was an unexpected find on our trip and I couldn’t write about Moab without mentioning this little gem. If you are coming through this way, spend a night at the Grist Mill Inn. You won’t regret it!

I hope you enjoy your visit to Moab, Utah and please feel free to drop me a note below and let me know what you explored while you were there! Have a happy and healthy trip! Blessings!