March 2016 – Moab, Utah, is at the heart of some of the most majestic scenery that Utah has to offer. Situated between Canyonlands National Park and Arches National Park, it is surrounded by fabulous, rugged red rocks and towering mountains.
Moab Utah in Spring is a dazzling mix of red rocks and snow-capped mountains
When we left the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park and Newspaper Rock to the south and drove up to Moab, our views were filled with stunning snow capped mountains framed by red rocks.
Everywhere we turned, we saw those magical snow-capped peaks with red rocks out front.
What a gorgeous mix!!
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Moab is the starting point for several scenic drives that fan out in every direction from town. It seems that any road you take is a Scenic Drive or Scenic Byway or Backway, and the views never quit.
There are scenic drives in every direction from Moab like this one near Canyonlands.
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One day we chose a dirt road at random for exploring, and before we knew it we were high in the mountains, surrounded by evergreens, with the snowy summits right in front of us.
A ten minute drive into the mountains and we were in the evergreens with snow on the ground
We just happened to arrive in town during Moab Jeep Safari Week. This is a wild week in March when Jeeps from far and wide descend on the town in the hundreds. Jeeps were crawling all over the place.
During the Jeep Safari Week Moab is inundated with Jeeps!
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They had a tradeshow going on at a huge outdoor venue, and we found all kinds of interesting things for sale. Jeepers have really clever camping goodies, and there were several vendors selling absolutely wonderful popup style campers that pop up, out and over a Jeep. We climbed the ladder into one built by Turtleback Trailers and laid down on the big bed with a 360 degree view around us. We were totally sold. What a fun way to get out on the back roads and into nature!!
Turtleback Trailers are super cute popup campers that give you a room with a view over your Jeep
We also bumped into the guys from Edge Products who sell the engine tuners we’ve installed in our trucks.
At the Edge Products booth Mark gets the skinny on the Edge Juice with Attitude diesel engine tuner.
Lots of familiar RV goodies were for sale too, and I suddenly got caught up in a conversation with a fellow at the Dometic booth about RV refrigerators. He showed me a very slick portable Dometic fridge that can be operated as a freezer too. He mentioned in passing that his name was Jeff and he was a seasonal RVer, with a blog called Rolling Recess. Jeff’s wife, Deb, came over, and we suddenly discovered we have mutual RVing friends in common, Mike and Donna, whose blog is Flying the Koop. How fun!!
What a surprise to meet RVing friends-of-friends at the Dometic booth at a Jeep show.
We hadn’t been to Moab in years, and one of the highlights I remember from our previous visit was the coffee kiosk called Wicked Brew. Well, lo and behold, it’s still there. For coffee lovers out there, these guys make an awesome latte, and they top it off with a chocolate covered coffee bean. Yum!
Wicked Brew — Wake up and smell the coffee!
Since Moab is in the heart of so much great outdoor country, it is inundated with vacationers every spring and fall. So, it has its touristy side. We came across a wonderful old west style tourist spot that happened to be closed and we had great fun getting pics of their props.
We had fun playing with a collection of western tourist props.
“Boot Hill” where the bad guys got buried with their boots on.
While driving around one day, we noticed a waterfall far in the distance. How could there be a waterfall in the desert? It turns out that this one is a fake. There’s a big pipe sticking out of the side of the mountain with water pouring out, so it’s called “Faux Falls.” But the waterfall it created as the water crashed over the red rocks below was very real and very beautiful!!
“Faux Falls” is man-made, but the waterfall is very real.
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One afternoon we drove the Colorado River Scenic Drive which goes along Route 128 from Moab out to the northeast. This was a lovely drive between steep canyon walls that eventually gave way to the open air at Castle Valley.
The scenic drive on Route 128 along the Colorado River to Castle Valley is gorgeous.
The beautiful snow-capped mountains peeked out at us from behind the red rocks, and we just had to stop and take pics.
Ooh… Look at that view and cool dirt road… Quick, grab the camera!!
It was selfie time, for sure. But with that kind of backdrop, who can resist??
Happy campers at Castle Valley
That afternoon was absolutely ideal, with warm air and bright sunshine. But our little flirtation with summertime didn’t last long. A wild storm front blew in, and we woke up in the morning to a whiteout of thickly falling snow!
It can’t be perfect and sunny ALL the time…!
The cold weather stuck around for a few days and we huddled indoors waiting for it to warm up. When the sun finally came out again, our little world around us seemed unfazed. Wildflowers showed their faces…
After the snow, the wildflowers heralded the arrival of Spring.
…and the grounds squirrels did too.
“I’m all right… nobody worry ’bout me…”
(sung by this guy’s buddy in the movie Caddyshack)
The stormy skies gave us some pretty sunsets as well.
A Moab Sunset
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Moab is a terrific place for RVers, with a wide variety of campgrounds and RV parks to choose from and loads of fun outdoor activities to take part in. No sooner did the Jeep people leave than a mountain bike festival set up shop at the opposite end of town. Like most visitors, we stuck around for a while to soak up all we could and spend some time in the National Parks!
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More info:
- Moab Utah Tourism Website
- Colorado River Scenic Byway (Route 128) and other scenic drives
- Moab Jeep Safari Week
- Location of Moab and the Colorado River Scenic Drive to Castle Valley
Other blog posts from our RV travels to southeastern Utah:
- Heavenly Theatrics in Utah’s Red Rocks 10/04/19
- Mexican Hat, Utah – A Special Hoodoo in the Red Rocks 04/05/19
- Traces of Antiquity and the Not-So-Ancient in Utah! 03/29/19
- SE Utah – A Mars Colony, Wide-Angle Photography & Snowy Mountains! 03/22/19
- Monument Valley & Hite Scenic Overlook – Stone Towers from Below & Above! 03/15/19
- Canyon Country Highlights – Lake Powell, Horseshoe Bend & More! 02/01/19
- Goblin Valley State Park Utah – One Gigantic Playground! 04/20/18
- Utah Scenic Byway 24 RV Trip – Capitol Reef National Park 04/16/18
- Canyonlands National Park UT – Island in the Sky (and Night Skies!) 04/28/16
- Dead Horse Point State Park, Utah – Magical Sunrises! 04/23/16
- Arches National Park Utah – A Playground of Soaring Red Rock Bridges! 04/21/16
- Canyonlands National Park Utah – Hiking in the Needles District! 04/12/16
- Newspaper Rock Utah – Petroglyphs and Rock Art from the Ancients 04/06/16
- Valley of the Gods & Goosenecks State Park, Utah – Beautiful! 04/04/16
- Paria Rimrocks “Toadstools” Hike to A Hidden Canyon! 05/25/14
- Wire Pass Trail – Slot Canyon Hiking! 05/22/14
- Natural Bridges National Monument & Utah’s Bicentennial Highway 06/15/12
- Goblin Valley, UT – Where the Ghosts Are 10/16/07
- San Rafael Swell, UT – Pictographs & Dinosaur Prints 10/12/07
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Beautiful pics. Thanks for sharing.
You are welcome, Mary. They’re fun to take!
yes we certainly need to return to that area soon!
Yes, indeed… enjoy!!
Moab is awesome as is Wicked Brew. Beautiful pictures!
Thank you!!