Published
Travel Log 14: Moab Rocks
Dinosaurs, arches, and goblins, oh my!
As it turns out, there are a lot of rocks in Moab, Utah. Much of our short stay there involved hiking to see these rocks. When you put it that way it really diminishes the experience. Yes, they were just some random rocks, but they were really interesting random rocks.
Table of contents
Moab Giants
Our first stop in Moab, was the Moab Giants dinosaur park. The outdoor portion of the park is walk through of various dinosaur statues and fossilized footprints that were found in the area. We opted not to do the indoor part, but they do have a 3D movie theater and a 5D aquarium (not a really aquarium, more of a 3D movie you walk around).
After walking around the dinosaurs we returned to our Airbnb and jumped in the community pool. It was a really nice day for swimming (a welcome change to the cold snow we had in Flagstaff, AZ!). There was also a small park there that the kids enjoyed as well.
The Valley of the Goblins
Our next visit was to Goblin Valley State Park. It was an hour-and-a-half drive from Moab to this state park. The main attraction of this park is a shallow valley filled with various rocks, or “goblins”. We had a nice picnic above the valley and then descended to wander between the rocks. In the valley, there aren’t really any marked trails, you are just free to explore at your leisure.
Copying the National Parks, Goblin Valley has a Junior Ranger program that the kids participated in. While hiking around the goblin rocks they drew pictures of some and observed the local flora. Afterwards they got another wooden badge to add to their collection.
After exploring the valley some we did a short hike to the “Three Sisters” rocks. So of course, I had to get a picture of our 3 girls in front of the 3 rocks (get it? 😅).
Dino Tracks
On our way back from Goblin Valley we briefly stopped at the Mill Canyon dinosaur track site. It is back a bumpy dirt road that is likely impassible after it rains. But it is just a quarter of a mile walk from the Courthouse Rock Campground to the track site. The tracks were hard to make out and it wasn’t quite as good as the ones we saw in Canyon Lake, Texas. We didn’t make it ourselves, but there is another dinosaur site further down the road that has fossils as well.
Arches National Park
Hiking around Arches National Park was a lot of fun. We got in for free with our 4th-grader national parks pass. And after stopping at the visitor center to get our Junior Ranger booklets, we proceeded up the cliff-side road to the actual park area.
Our first stop was the Balanced Rock. There is a short trail leading around the rock to get views from all around. After that, we proceeded to the windows section of the park. We did another short hike, this time visiting the North Window and the Turret Arch.
After hiking we had a picnic lunch at Panorama Point with a great view of the beautiful landscape. Once we finished up lunch we proceeded to the famous arch, the Delicate Arch. Instead of hiking the trail up to the Delicate Arch itself, we opted to go to the shorter “Upper Delicate Arch Viewpoint” trail. It was a bit of a climb up a hill, but we made it to see “just another small arch” (according to the kids). It was a bit far in the distance to fully appreciate the arch, but it was a much shorter hike than the trail up to the arch itself.
Headed back to PA
It was a short week in Moab. Next stop will be Pennsylvania again. Since Katie is pregnant we wanted to get back for doctor appointments and to lay low for a while while the first trimester morning sickness kicks into high gear for her (its a nasty trend with her pregnancies).
We hope to return to Moab and Utah some day, it was a great experience with lots of things to do an beautiful landscapes.
