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MOABArches, Canyons, Red Rocks and a RiverBy Robert Painter
Arches National Park is reason enough to go to Moab, but it isn’t even close to being all there is to do in the area. I once spend five days driving around the back country of neighboring Canyonlands National Park without seeing another solitary soul! Admittedly I was sort of lost for part of that time, but I was having such a great time exploring that I wasn’t going to worry about it. I thought this time I might try something different. As much as I enjoy wandering about on my own, I decided to experience some of the opportunities provided by the local tour operators. I drove to Moab, parked my vehicle at the Greenwell Best Western and spent the next three days hooking up with TagALong Expeditions, High Point Hummer Tours and the local Travel Council.
Exploring Arches National Park with a driver was great. There were a couple of other photographers in the group and Michelle, our driver, was ever so accommodating in stopping for photos. Sometimes we would all pile out of the Excursion 4 x 4 and walk for hundreds of yards to get just the right picture of the arches, balancing rocks and sandstone cliffs and natural sculptures. We even went to a viewpoint below Delicate Arch where I could view my “magnet” from a completely new perspective. There was a short trail here to a nice viewpoint, but by continuing further for another half mile of moderately strenuous hiking (yes, it is allowed and there are cairns marking the way) you can get a much better angle for photos and a more expansive view of the valley in between this ridge and the arch. If you have time be sure to hike the Devils Garden Trail, about 7 miles round trip. Allow three to five hours and be prepared to see eight awe-inspiring arches. You’ll do some scrambling on slickrock and there will be narrow ledges so if the rock is wet or covered with snow you might want to come back at another time. This might be a good time to mention footwear. Leave the heavy boots at home and wear some lightweight walking or hiking shoes - maybe even sturdy sneakers. The key is good traction for the slickrock. And, stay off the cryptobiotic soil crust and on the trail. There are lots of hiking trails both inside the park and around the Moab area. Stop by the Moab Information Center at Center and Main to pick up brochures listing hiking trails, mountain bike trails, 4WD trails, rock art auto tours, historic walking tours of Moab and lots of other info. This new center with a very congenial staff is loaded with free info and brochures and plenty of books for sale to keep you reading as much as you want about the area and its attractions.
At the end of the canyon is a narrow, rock strewn road that leads up to the top of the mesa. This is not a road for the faint hearted, but is relatively easy and smooth compared with the roads we’ll encounter tomorrow on the Hummer tour! On top of the mesa the panoramic vistas from Grand View Point allow you to overlook an area that is larger than several smaller eastern states. If you will walk on this mesa top and absorb the magnificent landscape surrounding you, you will always know that there is beauty in the world even as you return to your crowded cities, congested highways and polluted environments. As Wallace Stegner wrote in his Wilderness Letter: “We simply need the wild country available to us, even if we never do more than drive to its edge and look in.” But how much better it is to really spend time and experience this wonderful “wild country.” After a long day of four wheeling and hiking I was ready for pizza. No formal nights on this trip, thanks. Just down the street from my motel I had the best pizza in town at the Poplar Place. A friend said it was the best pizza he had ever had! I ordered mine with green chile, but it wasn’t quite hot enough for me - but then I’m from New Mexico, so can’t complain. I was lucky they even had green chile as a topping. French toast for breakfast the next morning at the Pancake Haus across the street from my motel and I’m ready to hit the road for a walking tour of Moab, including the Moab Information Center. Afterwards we headed out to visit some wineries and a couple of multi-star resorts on the east side of Moab.
Rio Grande, with John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara, was the first movie filmed here in 1948. Many more movies and lots of commercials have been filmed here since. As for the winery, 4000 cases of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, and others are produced here annually. And, there’s even a special place for spectacular outdoor weddings beside the Colorado River with Red Rocks backgrounds. Just down the road and just a bit more sophisticated and also a bit more expensive is the four diamond Sorrel River Ranch Resort. Here you will enjoy a Health Spa, river view rooms with hydrotherapy bathtubs, gourmet dining and even a kitchenette in every room for those occasions that you don’t want to have yet another gourmet meal! There’s just enough time to visit the Spanish Valley Vineyard and Winery run by an enterprising young couple turning out some very fine wines. Try it. You’ll like it. After all that wine and visiting fine dining resorts I still don’t want to dress up, but I am hungry for a good steak. Eddie McStiffs is my choice for tonight and what a great choice. The house special is a $12 steak that is cooked to perfection. I’ll be back! (That’s my Arnold expression - remember, tomorrow is Hummer day!) My last day and I’m ready to hit the Hummer trail. But first a gigantic cinnamon roll at Smitty’s. Along with a cup of hot chocolate, the perfect way to kick off a day on the back country trails.
One thing I almost forgot to mention - I got a chance to visit the actual site where Thelma and Louise took the plunge over the cliff. Apparently they had to send several cars over the edge to get the shot right. There are photos and other memorabilia in the Movie Museum at the Red Cliffs Lodge.
Remember, too, that this is part of dinosaur country and you may get lucky and see dinosaur tracks. I even found huge bones embedded in the rocks. If you visit the Moab area and fall in love with the Arches and the Canyonlands, you might decide you want to come back as a VIP. No, I’m not talking about luxury accommodations with a limo driver and gourmet meals three days a week. Volunteers in Parks (VIPs) work side by side with National Park Service staff. There are all kinds of jobs requiring all kinds of skills. Sometimes there are expense reimbursements, sometimes a special uniform is required, but the important thing is that you have the opportunity to work a few hours a week or month, weekdays or weekends, seasonally or full time, using a skill that you already have or learning a new one and all with the reward of doing something meaningful and rewarding. Check it out. When You Go: Arches National Park -
www.nps.gov/arch. Canyonlands Nat. Park - www.nps.gov/cany. Moab Travel Council - www.discovermoab.com. Best Western – www.bestwesternmoab.com Red Cliffs Lodge - www.RedCliffsLodge.com. Sorrel River Ranch Resort and Spa - http://www.sorrelriver.com. TagALong Expeditions - http://www.tagalong.com/ High Point Hummer - http://highpointhummer.com/. |
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The
hike out to Delicate Arch was not on my schedule for this visit to Moab.
I’ve been there before. It’s a magnet for me. Every time I see a
Utah license plate with the arch I recall one of my hikes to Delicate Arch. I
would have gone again if I’d had more time. It’s a 3 mile round trip that
should take no more than two to three hours. You can do it in less time,
but when you get there you’ll find it so overwhelming that you’ll want to just
sit and enjoy the spectacular views and marvel at the size of this free standing
arch. The Park service lists it as a “strenuous” trail, but there is an
elevation change of only about 480 feet and it seems like a fairly easy hike to
me. It does get pretty hot in the summer though, so be prepared for very
little shade and a couple of narrow spots along the trail.
Moab is a compact little city and almost everything is
within easy walking distance. I had Chile Rellenos at Fiesta Mexicana the first
night and walked to the end of the block for scrambled eggs with “the best green
chile in Utah” the next morning at the Moab Diner.
After leaving Arches, there is a back road into Canyonlands
National Park - the Shafer Canyon road. This road winds its way through the
cattle ranching and mining areas that were important in the local history. Now
the uranium mining is gone and the cattle are few and far between. One of the
best parts of this road is the rock art. There are plenty of petroglyphs
and they are easily accessible. The road follows a high rock wall that is
known as “Wall Street,” an area frequented by many rock climbers. There
were only a few climbers on this day, but it was midweek and midwinter!
First stop was Red Cliffs Lodge which bills itself as
Moab’s Adventure Headquarters. It’s a working horse and cattle ranch and they
have their own trained quarter horses with rides for all abilities. Mountain
biking, whitewater rafting, kayaking, road biking, hiking, tennis, volleyball,
horseshoes, the works! Even a full-size swimming pool, outside jacuzzi and
access to 4x4 back country tours, canyonlands flights, rock climbing, and more.
But aside from the rooms with stunning views of the Colorado River and canyons
and the Cowboy Grill what you’ll find here that other resorts don’t have is a
Movie History Museum and their own Castle Creek Winery.
I’ve
ridden in Hummers before, but never on a serious off-road trail. I can
tell you that I’m impressed - by both the Hummer and by the driver. We
wanted some good photos and encouraged her to take the roughest routes possible
. . . and even some that we thought might be impossible. Try as we might
we could not get her stuck or grounded on any of the boulders we asked her to
drive over. We had to back up a couple of times, but we always got
through, including one narrow passage that we saw a jeep pass up after a brief
inspection.
If you want to do something that none of your friends have
done check out the Tomcar experience. I drove one and what fun! A four point
safety belt, 12 inches of suspension travel, roll bars, enclosed roof and
available only in Moab and Kauai this little rascal will sail along at up to 30
mph along back country trails and slickrock terrain. You can climb to the top
of 7-Mile Rim and explore where few people ever venture on a Tomcar Safari from
the Moab Adventure Center.
And
for something that everyone does, be sure to check out the Hole N The Rock a few
miles south of Moab. If you’re like me and typically bypass these touristy
looking places - don’t! You’ll be surprised and happy you stopped to see
this 5,000 square foot home, blasted into the rock. It looks pretty much
the way it did when it was lived in and the petting zoo will be a nice break for
your kids. The antiques and metal art sculptures alone are worth the stop.
And one suggestion. If you have to use the outhouse here, don’t use the one
downstairs!