Moab in Spring

We took a spring trip to Moab the last week in March. There are a series of primitive BLM campgrounds along the Colorado River, near Moab. I say primitive because there are no hookups and no water; they provide a firepit, a picnic table, and pit toilets. They do not take reservations, and are first come / first served. 

I wanted the Goose Island Campground, which is the one closest to Moab, for two reasons. One, it is supposed to be really nice, and two, it is right on the bike path. We left SLC early and arrived around 11.30 AM. The sign said Campground Full. 

We drove thru the campground anyway, and lo and behold, there was a guy hitching up his trailer and getting ready to leave. So we scored a beautiful campsite right on the river. The campsite was really nice.

The area was gorgeous, with rock walls lining the river.

There is a protected bike path adjacent to the campground. Our first afternoon we decided to ride it to into Moab. I had a flat tire, but I had a spare inner tube. I told Susan that I wanted to find a bike shop to get a tube and said “Are there any bike shops in Moab?” Uh, Moab is the mecca of mountain biking in the US. No trouble finding a bike shop.

Two miles west of the campground the bike path meets US 191 and then forks. We took the trail south, into Moab. The trail north goes across the Colorado River and continues for another 9 miles, including past the entrance to Arches NP. The bridge across the Colorado River for bikes and pedestrians is beautiful, and at each of the bridge piers there are wonderful sculptures of rock and steel.

Campfire by the river, as it gets dark.

We went to Arches National Park the next morning, and hiked the trail to Delicate Arch. The middle part of the trail is over smooth rock, and it is easy to get a little lost. Trails are traditionally marked by a cairn, a stack of 3 or 4 rocks. But in the past two years the NPS has improved the trail with signs, so no one gets lost. But the cairns persist….

The destination of our hike, the iconic Delicate Arch.

We have been to Arches enough times that we know about the secluded (secret?) picnic area near Balanced Rock. I say secret because they no longer have a sign for the picnic area on the main park road. 

The ravens were waiting to clean up our picnic area. 

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View of Balanced Rock, with the La Sal Mountains in the distance, from our picnic spot. 

Instead of cooking on our camp stove, that evening we went out to dinner at a wonderful restaurant in Moab called the Desert Bistro. It was sooooo good.

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The next day we went to Canyonlands National Park. We were in the northern part of the park, in the Islands in the Sky district.

Which way is the trail?

Local wildlife.

And finally, a panorama.