Portal RV Resort, Moab UT
We’ve been in Moab before and I love the area, I was really looking forward to our stay there. The trip to Moab from Grand Valley is simple, just I-70 West. Then you turn south and in about 30 minutes you are crossing the Colorado River bridge just north of town. Our campground was a short distance south of the bridge and entrance to Arches National Park. It was another Resort, with pickleball courts and two pools, but oddly it also had some buildings sprinkled in. We had a nice pull-through site with views of the surrounding cliffs, very scenic.
We went to town after we settled in to arrange for some activities. On our last visit, Tom, Paul and Kyle did Hell’s Revenge trail in Sand Flats Recreation Area, Tom was eager to do something similar. We went to Moab Tour Company and chatted with John to set things up.
Arches National Park requires entrance reservations and our was for next day at noon. We used the app “Just Ahead”, same one we used in Yellowstone, to explore the park. We stopped few times to hike around, my favorite was the Balanced Rock and Garden of Eden. Lots of fun exploring, though the wind was very strong. Tom, given his knee, was not up to hiking to Delicate Arch, so we went to the Delicate Arch overlook and I hiked up to Upper viewpoint. It’s interesting how the geology changes in the area of Wolfe Ranch and Delicate Arch Viewpoint, there’s more blue-green rocks, more colors overall not just the red sandstone. It’s a stunning area, with Arches and Pillars and even Petrified Dunes.
Next day started early on our adventure. We decided to rent a jeep Moab Tour Company and drive the Shafer Trail. I recall when we were in Canyonlands last time seeing cars on the mesa ledge below us. And now we will be driving that road! It’s 18 miles long, mostly dirt and gravel, though once you leave the Potash plant and pools, it gets rough. We drove to Thelma and Louis Point, that’s where the last scene of that movie was filmed (not Grand Canyon). It was stunning, with steep drop into the Colorado River. The road continues and gets progressively rougher, with tight spots and drop offs to the side. The final stretch was the most difficult, it’s a series of switchbacks with steep drop-offs. View are great but you need to keep focused on the road, we had traffic coming from the top of the canyon and limited room for passing. I don’t think a lot of people realized how difficult that road will get, driving down in their Subarus and Explorers. We even encountered mountain biking group going down the switch-backs, good luck with those breaks!
What is harder to convey is where you are driving within the canyon. You’re on a ledge with high cliff above and big drop below. At one point, we realized that Dead Horse Point was above up, of course, you could not see anyone but our map confirmed it. The scenery was amazing, driving that road though requires steady nerves and hands and Tom did a fantastic job. I was very nervous along the way, especially on the switchbacks.
We made it to the top of the Canyon and explored Canyonlands Island in the Sky district. I remember some of the views from our first visit. We stopped at Shafer Point Overlook (of course!), you can see the switchbacks and cars going down. Plenty of discussion from the onlookers about the traffic below, some folks took that route and shared their impressions. It felt like a spectator sport. We had our lunch at another overlook, with views of the canyons. Then onto Dead Horse State Park and Dead Horse Point (what a name!). From there, we clearly saw Thelma and Louise overlook, and the Colorado River beyond. There’s a nice little hike along the rim, beautiful views of Canyonlands.
Next day was another adventure with Moab Tours, this time we did guided OHV tour called Chicken Corners. Our guide’s name was Tom, there was only one other vehicle so we had a nice, small group. We were prepared for dust, with face gaiter and goggles, long sleeves and hats. Still, I was literally covered with red dust at the end of the ride. They call it “Moab rouge”.
We followed the Colorado River for some time, there were so many campgrounds along the way, no facilities aside from restrooms. Lots of people camping, so pretty by the river.
Our first stop was Birthing Scene Petroglyphs, then onto the Hurrah Pass (apparently some folks were happy to reach it). This was tough driving along the ledge of the mesa with serious drop on the side. Tom loved it, I white-knuckled it. We continued to Catacomb Rocks, which is a series of caves formed by huge boulders. It was fun exploring it.
Our guide mentioned that just few years ago you were able to find a lot of artifacts in the area, arrowheads and such, but now the place got very popular and these things are no longer easy to find.
On our return we stopped on Anticline Overlook, with expansive views of the river and Canyonlands. What a place! What a ride!
I recalled from our last visit, and was reminded of it by our friend Nancy Mac, a great hike on Grandstaff trail to Morning Glory Arch. What a beautiful canyon, with stream running through and greenery all around. The stream created a challenge, we had lots of stream crossings, at least a dozen, and at the end my boots were wet and muddy. Once we got to Morning Glory Arch, we had another surprise. Group of climbers were descending into the canyon. The trip started in Sand Flats Recreation Area, the home of Hell’s Revenge. It was cool watching them belay down, Tom and I immediately thought of Dave and Pat, and how much they would have enjoyed an excursion like this.
We did pay a quick visit to Sand Flats, just to see part of Hell’s Revenge. Definitely place for big toys.
Moab has a nice downtown with restaurants and shops. We ate at Trailhead Public House and Eatery, it was recommended to us, great sandwiches and beer. We had ice cream at Bonjour Cafe twice and Moab Brewery had nice beer and decent food.
Proper Brewing and Burger, right next to our campground had excellent beer and nice veggie burger for me. Plenty of good choices in town.
Moab area has lots to offer if you enjoy outdoors. I would certainly return.
