5 days in Utah (Moab Area) (11/14-11/18) (Camping, parks , etc)

Hi all,

It's a last minute trip, but an opportunity arose so here we go. I will be in Utah, Moab Area, this upcoming week (11/14 - 11/18). I plan to be in Moab by Tuesday late morning and leave Sunday early afternoon to make it to Boulder, CO by the evening. So around 5 days max. I have camped out of my truck before and I am able sleep down to around 28 degrees or so comfortably. Goal it to see National Parks, hiking, slot canyons and photography along the way.

I have been to Arches, Zion and Bryce. I have never been to Canyonlands. I will be taking my better half but she has never been to any places in Utah. I was planning to just stick to Arches, Canyonlands and maybe Capitol Reef. I did not include Bryce or Zion as I think those will be too cold overnight. I would love to take her to Zion but temps overnight is a concern.

I would also like to see a slot canyon or too. I have been to Little Wild Horse Canyon (Bell Canyon Loop) but never to Goblin Valley.

Ideally it would be nice to be near Moab on Sunday morning to have our drive to Boulder, CO to be as short as possible.

So to keep from driving a lot, I was thinking to Arches, Canyonlands and a slot canyon (Goblin Valley?). Since it is last minute I assume I will be camping / sleeping on any BLM land in the area.

I have put a proposed itinerary below. Might make sense to finish near Moab to maximize my time in Moab Sunday before I need to leave.

Thoughts? Suggestions on itinerary?


11/14/23 Tuesday (12PM) - Arches
11/15/23 Wednesday - Arches
11/16/23 Thursday - Canyonlands
11/17/23 Friday - Canyonlands
11/18/23 Saturday - Goblin Valley
11/18/23 Sunday ? Need to leave by 1PM to make it to Boulder, CO

 

Getting to Goblin valley from Moab and back will be a lot of driving time. But if you do go, check out little wild horse canyon just down the road from goblin valley, it is a very easily accessible slot canyon that is a lot of fun to explore (skip Bell canyon, just do little wild horse). North Temple wash is a fun short little drive through a vehicle sized slot canyon.

You may know this but canyonlands is divided into 3 bits that are not connected, so you are best to pick a section per day. If you want to do any off-roading in Canyonlands you will likely need a permit I would check availability before you go. If you like to combine driving and hiking, in Needles the elephant hill area has some cool stuff, but read about the road first before you go.

Other cool drive and hike options in the Moab area are Hurrah pass (not that difficult 4x4). If you are camping check out the Sand Hill Flats area just outside of Moab it has great camping among the slick rock, much better than some of the other runover BLM in the area. You have to pay a little but it is worth it.

 

Thanks. Reading response via my phone so I didn’t really get a chance to dig into some of your suggestions yet.

I did Little Horse a few years ago during Covid as Goblin Valley was closed. I liked it. I just mentioned Goblin Valley as something different. She would enjoy Little wild horse though as it was pretty easy to do.

Didn’t really know that about canyonlands. Maybe I should consider 3 full days there.

I’m up for off roading. Just nothing crazy as I am running just regular street tires.

Not opposed to paying to camp. Would prefer that as opposed to random BLM spots. I have done it but I’m sure she would prefer the other one. Ideally I would like to stay there all nights and not stress about looking for a random spot each night. Seems like everywhere we want to go is in a reasonable driving distance from there. Have to see if I can reserve ahead a time or if not needed this time of year.

Also, any ideas where you can shower aside from getting a hotel one or two of the nights?

thanks.

 

No worries. As you are are probably aware be careful around Moab when it comes to off road trail difficulty. Even the moderate tracks can be a handful, the grade/scale of difficulty does often catch people off guard and it gets bad fast. If you are running regular tires, I would recommend staying on primary dirt roads and easy 4x4.

Its been a little while since I've been in the area for anything other than a 2-3 day weekend and I did not bother with a shower, but when I did I would go to the Moab city pool, for a few bucks you can get access and shower and swim if you want, not sure what availability might be like in November, but I am sure their website is up to date.

Sand flats is my go to for camping in Moab in the off season, it is great and something like $15-20 a night (cant remember the specifics) its all first come first serve. It should be Ok this time of year especially if you are arriving during a weekday but you never know until you get there. But even if you get skunked you should be able to easily find BLM camping along the Colorado river this time of year.

 

Hope ya all had a kool trip

 

Yes we did. We spent 2.5 days (3 nights) in Arches and 2 days (2 nights) in Canyonlands. We attempted to do Shafer Canyon Road on our way out but turned around about 7 miles in. We were moving way too slow to go another 25+ miles to Moab. Potash Road is a rather rough. I guess that is why it's called off roading. The next day we went to Little Wild Horse Canyon to do some hiking and then went to Goblin Valley to spend the night.

All in all it was a good trip.

 

Appreciate this information, and any updates, as we plan our MOAB trip.