Magic in Moab: Arches and Canyonlands
Delicate Arch, as seen through another arch
Arches, canyons, and a surprise reunion
October 23-27, 2025
Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Dead Horse State Park
“My heart cries out for Moab…” - Isaiah 15:5
Following Salt Lake City, our next stop in Utah was the outdoor adventure mecca of Moab. The Moab area is home to two national parks, Arches and Canyonlands, and an assortment of equally amazing state parks and recreation areas.
Arches National Park
We visited Arches NP for two days, hiked/climbed, and learned much about the different rock layers and unique environmental conditions that conspired to create the amazing arches. One of the most striking aspects of the rock features in the park is their size. From a distance, everything looks mildly interesting until you have something to give them scale, then they become truly incredible.
This balanced rock is the size of three school buses!
That’s a big arch and a big western blue sky!
With a span of 306’ Landscape Arch is the longest in North America
Canyonlands National Park
After Arches, we visited Canyonlands, did a driving tour of the park, a few cool hikes, and then a wild drive into the canyon on the 4x4 Shafer Trail.
Let’s see where this road goes…
The sign for the trail says: “The road below you hugs the walls of Shafer Canyon as it quickly drops 1,400 feet (427 meters). Today the Shafer Trail provides access to Canyonlands' backcountry and the 100-mile White Rim Road. Travelers who descend these switchbacks continue a legacy of exploration and survival as they follow historic pathways through the desert canyons.
“Long ago, native people likely used this route to travel from the mesa to the Colorado River. In the early 1900s, ranchers drove livestock on it. Back then, the route was narrower (!) and much more rugged. Animals sometimes slipped to their deaths. Imagine coaxing several hundred sheep along this path to find shelter in the canyons below or to graze in the grasslands above.
”The uranium boom in the 1950s changed the face of canyon country forever, beginning with the roads. The Shafer Trail was upgraded to accommodate trucks hauling mining equipment and ore. Abandoned mining roads can still be seen in narrow scars across the desert floor.
“After the establishment of Canyonlands National Park in 1964, the era of ranching and mining came to a close, but today's backcountry travelers owe their thanks to the pioneers of the Shafer Trail.”
From the overlook near the visitor center, we watched several vehicles ascending and descending on Shafer Trail, and we decided to go for it.
It was definitely an extremely adventurous drive, as there are no guardrails (!) and it is quite steep. Peyton and Nate weren’t thrilled but were good sports. Sadie and I thought it was awesome! Here is some dashcam footage from our perspective.
Dead Horse State Park
Peyton, Nate, and I went mountain biking at Dead Horse Point State Park. We had a blast doing a fun and rocky 8-mile loop with great views. Dead Horse is adjacent to Canyonlands, and the feature scenic overlook has a 270-degree view of the Colorado River that is just as stunning as the national park.
Shredding the gnar
Homeschool classroom
A Small World
One of the most fun parts of this trip has been coming to expect the unexpected. I wanted to check out some rock climbing along a stretch of cliffs beside a road in Moab. I turned off at roadside pullout, found a few bolted top-rope anchors, and scrambled up to set a rope. As I was belaying Nate, Peyton said, “That truck has a SEAL Trident on the license plate!”
Random truck, at a random pullout, that just happened to have a SEAL Trident license plate…
Peyton set off to investigate further and returned a few minutes later with a guy who introduced himself as Josh. Nate finished his climb and I lowered him to the ground. I then turned around to properly introduce myself to Josh. It was at this point that we realized that we already knew each other and had gone through basic SEAL training together almost 20 years ago! To be clear, there were less than 50 people who completed training in our class, so the chances of randomly meeting at a roadside pullout in Utah are infinitesimally small!
That evening, we had Josh and his girlfriend over to the trailer to catch up over a few beers and tell some stories. Josh is out of the Navy and is a certified mountain guide who founded the non-profit Veterans’ Outdoor Adventure Group that promotes the power of outdoor therapy as an adjunct treatment to traditional approaches around mental health.
Josh is also a world-record holder—the first person to climb and ski/ride all 54 of Colorado’s mountains over 14,000 feet in a single ski season, breaking the previous record of 361 days and accomplishing his feat in only 138!
There are 345 million people in America. Super fun to find this ONE!
Nate crushing a climb
There was so much to do in Moab, we pushed our future reservations back so we could stay an extra day—and easily could have stayed another week!
Roberts on the Road
For those just finding us, hello! Inspired by the Year of Jubilee in Leviticus 25, our family is on a yearlong RV road trip in 2025-2026 to celebrate my husband’s retirement after 20 years in Naval Special Warfare, as well as our 24 years together during the ups and downs of it all.
With our 12-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son in tow, this trip to explore America’s national parks and beautiful places is intended to help our family reflect and reset as civilian life begins.
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For background info on who we are and where we’re traveling, we’d love for you to read the intro post. The full list of road trip blog posts can be found here. Thanks for stopping by!
