We love our Bote SUP boards. We’ve gotten already so much good use out of them! Today, we tried them on the Colorado River, by Moab, UT. After calling a couple of local tour operator companies, we found one that agreed to shuttle us back to the put-in spot after parking the RV. Wild West Voyages agreed to shuttle one of us and also told us where to put in and pull out so we’d avoid any white water rafting. We spent about 2 hours on the river and had a beautiful view of the canyons around us. Highly recommended.
If you don’t have your own SUP boards, there are several outfitters in Moab that offer tours for all levels – ranging from flat water to white water rafting.
Today’s lesson: many small outfitters are flexible and want you to enjoy the area – even if it’s off-the-menu…never hurts to ask!
We left our awesome Discovery Center spot and left for a visit to the Arches National Park.
After entering the park, there is one main, parked road for cars. It stretches for 18 miles and dead ends at the Devils Garden. The scenic drive takes about 30 min by car, without any stops. Along the road are many, many opportunities to stop and take one of the recommended hikes. Make sure you pick up a park map at the entrance – it comes with an organized list of recommended hikes and tours. We decided to hit the Double Arches (very short hike of 0.6 miles) and the Windows Arches Trail (about 1.5 miles). Both trails share the same parking lot, about half way into the park. At the Windows, we took the primitive trail which is a bit longer, a lot more fun – and much, much less crowded. We left the arches to find a BLM spot at the Willow springs Trail. Just 15 min from the park. We returned the following afternoon to drive all the way up to the Devils Garden, a beautiful drive. Unfortunately, we ran out of daylight and only got to hike into the “Garden” for a before turning around and heading up North.
Tips:
– purchase an annual pass for $80 if you plan on visiting multiple National Parks (or plan to return to a park the next day).
– the Arches is not a great park for bicycling. You may ride your bike on the paved, main street but it’s a busy and shared road with no marked bike lane.
– come in the early am or late afternoon. It’s a busy park! Consider taking the “primitive” trails or tackle trails counter-clock wise to beat the crowds.
