Moab

Why go

BLM describes its Moab holdings plainly: 1.8 million acres of canyon country carved by the Colorado and Green rivers, with a vast array of arches, natural bridges, mesas and spires.

The driving is the draw. Sand Flats alone holds almost 30 miles of jeep trails on slickrock domes and fins, under the La Sal Mountains. Beyond it, BLM roads follow the Colorado River, climb Kane Springs Road toward Lockhart Basin and cross the mesas north and west of town. Canyonlands adds hundreds of miles of backcountry road.

All of it is reachable from a town with fuel, tires, mechanics and a hospital, which makes Moab a base rather than somewhere you pass through.

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When to go

NPS describes southeast Utah as high desert, with temperature swings of more than 40 degrees in a single day. It calls spring, April through May, and fall, mid-September through October, the temperate and most popular seasons, with daytime highs averaging 60 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit and lows of 30 to 50.

Summer often exceeds 100 degrees, which NPS says makes strenuous exercise difficult, and the late summer monsoon brings violent storm cells that often cause flash floods. Winter highs average 30 to 50 degrees and lows 0 to 20. Large snowfalls are uncommon, but NPS says even small amounts of snow or ice can make local roads impassable, and that roads can close after rain or snow.

The temperate seasons are the crowded ones. NPS says visitation at Arches is extremely high from March through October, that many trailhead lots fill by 7:30 a.m. in summer, and that when they fill, staff may delay vehicles from entering for three to five hours. Sand Flats reports campgrounds typically full Thursday through Saturday nights in spring and fall, and says arriving before noon is your best chance of a site. In summer its campgrounds do not fill, and daytime temperatures run from the mid-90s past 105 degrees.

Do not skipFlash floods are the hazard that kills people here. NPS says to seek shelter during inclement weather, and BLM asks visitors to stay away from floodwater and avoid travel on flooded roads.

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The land and the roads

Three managers share the ground, and their rules are not the same. BLM runs the land between and around the parks. Sand Flats, immediately east of town, is run by Grand County with BLM and has its own fee and regulations. Arches and Canyonlands are park service land.

In the parks the paved roads do the sightseeing: NPS describes a 34-mile round-trip scenic drive on the Island in the Sky mesa top, about two to three hours with stops.

Off the pavement, NPS is specific. The Shafer Trail descends 1,500 feet from the mesa and reaches the White Rim and Potash road junction after 5.2 miles; NPS recommends high-clearance four-wheel drive or all-wheel drive there. The Needles backcountry roads all require high-clearance, low-range four-wheel drive, with Elephant Hill among the most technical in the park and a maximum vehicle length of 21 feet including racks and trailers.

Permits are the dividing line. NPS requires a day-use permit for every vehicle, motorcycle and bicycle on the White Rim, Elephant Hill, Lavender Canyon and Peekaboo and Horse Canyon roads, and none on Potash Road or the Shafer Trail.

On BLM land and at Sand Flats the trails need no permit, but one rule holds everywhere: stay on designated routes. Grand County states the penalty, a class A misdemeanor punishable by fine, imprisonment or forfeiture of the vehicle, and says there are no open play areas at all.

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What your vehicle needs

For the park backcountry NPS sets a requirement, not a recommendation: high clearance and four-wheel drive with a low range gear (4LO) on the White Rim Road and on all Needles and Maze backcountry roads. All-wheel-drive and two-wheel-drive vehicles, at any clearance, cannot manage the slickrock, loose rock, deep sand and switchbacks, it says.

Off-highway vehicles are the common mistake. ATVs, UTVs and OHVs are not permitted in either park, street legal or not, and motorbikes must be equipped and licensed for interstate travel. They are allowed on the Sand Flats Road and some Sand Flats trails, though the county says Hell’s Revenge is not recommended for ATVs.

Rentals are the other one. NPS warns that most rental agreements restrict vehicles to paved roads, and that the company can charge you for damage outside the contract. It asks every backcountry driver in Canyonlands to carry the same short list and be ready to self-rescue: rangers do not winch vehicles out, and towing from the backcountry is expensive.

Do not skipA 15 mph limit applies on the Sand Flats four-wheel-drive trails, and Grand County says driving off designated roads and trails is a class A misdemeanor.

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Camping on BLM land

Assume nothing about dispersed camping here. BLM says that because of high visitation, many areas near developed campgrounds and the city of Moab are closed to it, and its visitor guide map shows three kinds of zone: camp only in campgrounds, camp only in designated sites, and open to dispersed camping. A designated site is marked with a tent symbol on a brown post, and camping must stay inside it.

Where it is allowed, BLM asks you to use ground already disturbed by camping, choose hard rock surfaces, and not expand or create sites. Do not build new fire rings, and do not gather or cut wood.

The stay limit is 14 days at a single location, after which BLM says to move at least 30 miles from the last camp.

Human waste is the rule people miss. BLM says portable toilet systems are required throughout Grand County wherever no toilet is available, and for all dispersed camping. Bags must not go in BLM dumpsters; BLM directs them to the Moab Transfer Station on Highway 191.

BLM also runs developed campgrounds along State Routes 128, 279 and 313, Kane Creek Road and the Needles Overlook Road. Individual sites are first-come and not reservable, apart from Ken’s Lake Loop A and Courthouse Rock sites 5 and 6. None has water or electricity.

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Sand Flats Recreation Area

Sand Flats is the exception to most Moab generalizations, because Grand County runs it with BLM. BLM describes 9,000 acres of slickrock domes, bowls and fins, almost 30 miles of jeep trails and about 250,000 visitors a year.

Camping is in designated sites only. The county lists more than 140 individual sites across eight campgrounds, first-come and not reservable, plus six group sites on Recreation.gov. Sites have tables, metal fire rings and nearby vault toilets, and no drinking water. Each takes up to 10 people and two vehicles, and the stay limit is 14 days within a 28-day period.

As of September 2026, BLM lists a $10 seven-day pass for a private vehicle, $5 for a bicycle or motorcycle and a $35 annual pass, and the county charges $20 per night per vehicle to camp, which it notes is per vehicle rather than per campsite. National park and Utah state passes are not accepted, with the exception of the federal Access Pass.

Read the county’s other rules first: fires in the metal rings only with wood you brought in, quiet hours from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., no generators between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m., and human waste packed out of the backcountry.

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Camping in the two parks

Arches has one campground. NPS lists Devils Garden at 51 sites, 18 miles inside the park, with drinking water, tables, grills and toilets. Sites are reservable for nights from March 1 to October 31, when NPS says the campground is usually full every night, and first-come from November 1 to February 28.

Canyonlands has a campground in each district near Moab. Willow Flat, at Island in the Sky, has 12 first-come sites with toilets, tables and fire rings, no water, and a 28-foot limit on RVs and trailers. The Needles campground has 26 individual sites, some reservable spring through fall. Backcountry camping in either district takes an overnight permit.

Camping is not allowed off any unpaved road within Arches, and NPS says parking for RVs and trailers there is extremely limited, so leave them in town. Entrance fees, passes and any reservation requirement are published on each park’s fees and permits pages; read them the week you travel.

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Fuel, water, services and who to check with

Moab is a full-service town and the only one for a long way. NPS says there is no gas in Arches and none anywhere in Canyonlands, along with no food and no lodging in either park, and advises filling the tank before you reach the entrance. Confirm hours and supplies before you count on them.

Water is worth planning around. NPS lists it year-round at the Arches visitor center and Devils Garden campground, seasonally at the Devils Garden trailhead, outside the Island in the Sky visitor center spring through fall, and year-round at The Needles Visitor Center, with none at Willow Flat. BLM says water runs seasonally at Lion’s Park north of Moab and that its campgrounds have none. Its desert minimum is one gallon per person per day.

Do not count on a phone. NPS says coverage at Arches is spotty and strongest where the La Sal Mountains are visible, that it diminishes greatly inside Canyonlands, and that The Needles has little to none even at the visitor center.

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Questions people ask