Tips and Tricks from my Moab Road Trip-2020
I will provide information about Moab from my two feature blog posts when I went in October 2020. I hope this helps in your next travels. Please note when visiting new places, please be mindful, clean up after yourself, and respect nature.
Parks in Moab:
The first thing you need to get is a National Park Pass. I highly recommend getting it before going to any National Park; it will save you time! This pass is good for one year for $80 and allows you to enter all parks for free. Most parks will be either 30 or 35 dollars to enter if you don't have a pass, valid for seven days. You can buy the pass at the National Park, their website, or REI. I have their links below.
When I went to Arches National Park, I could go to the park without a time entry pass. The park is now on a pilot time entry ticket from 3 April to 3 Oct. To get your time entry ticket, you can go to: Recreation.gov.
They are testing a time entry because the park has become so crowded, and they want to control how many people are in the park so they can protect the park and the people. When I was there, the Rangers closed down the park at 9 am when they reached full capacity, and they reopened the park once people started to leave, which was usually around 2-5 in the afternoon.
Every National Park has a website you can visit to plan your trip. I visited Canyonlands and Arches websites to get intel on what I should pack, wear, incredible hikes, tips, and tricks. I also LOVE calling the National Park I am going to and talking to different Rangers to get even more information. I love asking them what their favorite hikes are, what they recommend, etc. Below are the links to Canyonland and Arches National Parks to help you plan your trip.
I would recommend doing Canyonlands and Arches on separate days. I did a day at each park, which was not enough time to do them, but don’t try to fit both parks in one day. I would also recommend planning what you want to see and do before coming just because it gets packed. Go early, hike early, be patient, and enjoy the outdoors.
Dead Horse State Park: It is on your way to Canyonlands; it’s on the same road. If you make a left on that road, you will enter Dead Horse. If you stay straight, you will enter Canyonlands. Dead Horse is a state park, so you need a state park pass or a day past. See below for the breakdown.
Day Permits
Regular: $20.00 (up to eight people)
Utah Senior (Utah residents 65 or older): $15.00
Motorcycles: $10.00 per motorcycle
Bike-In and Walk-In Fees: $10.00 per person
Annual Permits:
Utah residents under the age of 65: $100.00
Utah residents age 65 or older: $50.00
Out-of-state customer: $150.00
You can camp or rent a Yurt, which I didn’t get a chance to do since I planned a sunrise hike. This park is popular, and it gets crowded from sunrise to sunset, so get there early! Plus you can enjoy your breakfast or dinner, which I have done! I have linked their page below.
Places I stayed in Moab: Lazy Lizard Hostel and Goose Island Campground.
I stayed at Lazy Lizard Hostel on my first night in a cabin. I knew I was getting in late, and I didn’t want to deal with finding a camping spot, so I booked this a few days before I drove out. I had the whole cabin to myself, probably because it was Covid times. I believe I paid 40 bucks for the cabin. You have different choices; you can stay in a cabin, pitch a tent, dorms, rooms, or houses. Below is the link to Lazy Lizard for more information. The cool part is if you are camping in Moab and need a shower, you can come here and pay 3 dollars. They accept credit cards, but it’s cheaper to use cash!
Like I mentioned in my post, I camped at Goose Island, along the Colorado River, heading east of our Moab on Highway 127. This area has different places you can camp, such as Hal Canyon, Oak Grove Campground, Granstaff Campground, Big Bend Campground, to name a few. These campgrounds are all operated by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and the sites are first-come, first-served, so you need to get there early! There is a nightly fee of 20 dollars. They have bathrooms and a fire ring, but you must bring everything else.
Around here you can enjoy the river, or you can go hiking. You can find many free places around Moab, but I never camped alone until this trip, so I wanted somewhere near humans. And it was super close to Arches making the 5 am wake-up call a little less painful! You can also camp inside Arches, but I was late doing that. Below are the links for BLM and Arches Camping, where you can camp at Arches.
Please feel free to reach out to me anytime by going to my “Stay Connected” page and signing up for personal emails from me. And check out my “Pictures from my Blog” to check out my pictures from this trip! Happy adventures!