Of all the places we visited last year, Moab, Utah was by far one of our favorite. Yes, even with Utah’s watered-down grocery store beer, we still loved it here. We spent more time in Moab than anywhere else—10 full days—and could’ve easily stayed a month or more. The most striking thing about the area is the land, but the city also offers tons of activities and a laid-back creative atmosphere. Imagine a colorful busy little city set in a…
Arches National Park may just be the most iconic place in all of Utah. Delicate Arch particularly gets a lot of limelight. It’s even featured on the state’s license plates. This is just one of the astounding formations in this surreal park that boasts the highest concentration of arches in the world. I’ve seen a bunch of 1-day itineraries for Arches. While it’s a small park compared to some of the giants like Glacier or Yellowstone we think that you…
15 Awesome Things for Living in a Van Down by the River (or really anywhere outside) It’s been a few months since we shared our outdoor and van life gear lists. We’ve recently added some awesome items to our rolling home so it’s time for an update. You don’t need to live in a van down by the river to appreciate these things though. Many of them are perfect for any outdoor adventure. We’ve found that outdoor products aren’t always…
Sand and snow are the themes of our next two National Parks. No, I’m not talking about children born out-of-wedlock in Westeros. After spending a warm long weekend in Cortez, CO and Mesa Verde, the next stop on our eastern journey was Great Sand Dunes National Park. Wolf Creek Pass The Great Sand Dunes are located in southern Colorado about smack-dab in the middle of the state. To reach them, we must cross the Great Divide. We get a tad…
The main attraction in Utah’s Mighty 5 national parks are natural rock formations. After visiting Canyonlands and Natural Bridges it was time to start exploring some human created formations. We headed to Hovenweep National Monument and Mesa Verde National Park. These sites (along with many others in the four corners region) contain the ruins of ancient civilizations. Specifically, Ancestral Puebloan communities that built large elaborate villages near canyons and cliffs. Hovenweep National Monument Hovenweep includes six different villages spanning the…
Canyonlands is the last Utah National Park that we visited. It’s Utah’s largest park and has some of the most challenging and remote terrain in the nation. Canyonlands is part of the Colorado Plateau—a large region known for canyons, buttes, mesas, and other dramatic rock formations that have been carved by water and erosion over millions of years. It wins the award for best named park. There’s even a formation called Paul Bunyan’s Potty. How’s that for descriptive? Pin this…
Our last few posts have been informational about Utah’s national parks so we thought it was time for a travel story. This is a tale of a series of bad decisions and what not to do if you find yourself stuck in a thunderstorm. Learn from our mistakes friends. We hope you enjoy this story about our unexpectedly eventful hike to Delicate Arch in Arches National Park. The Iconic Arches Arches NP is one of the most iconic places in Utah….
We weren’t sure what to expect at Capitol Reef National Park. It’s quite literally Utah’s middle child of National Parks. Zion and Bryce are found in the west, while Arches and Canyonlands lie to the east. Many people pass over this park in favor of the more visited ones but we think they’re missing out. And that’s not just middle child syndrome talking. Pin this post for later > While some of Utah’s parks have an abundance of a specific formation…
If Salvador Dali and Dr. Seuss created a place together, it would look like Bryce Canyon National Park. We think that everyone should experience it at least once in their life. Bryce is part whimsy, part eerie, and part stop-you-in-your-tracks stunning. Plus you get to say hoodoos a lot, which is just fun. What the Heck are Hoodoos? The native inhabitants of the area thought that hoodoos were people who had been turned to stone by the trickster coyote. It’s…
Compared to Nevada’s muted color palette, Utah is shockingly bright. Zion National Park is the most vibrant park we’ve visited yet! It’s like a kaleidoscope of color. The rocky peaks and cliffs are bright red and orange with bands of black and white stripes. The sky is pretty much the exact color of the sky blue crayon. And lush green vegetation grows near the water sources. Even the sand at Zion is brilliant. Pin this post for later > There are myriads…