curlypie

Hello,

I am surprising my Husband with a trip to Moab for his 30th birthday. He has always wanted to visit so he will love his surprise!
I have booked our 5 night stay at a bed and breakfast in town and am now questioning my decision. The Sorrell River Ranch looks to be in an amazing location and I am wondering if it is worth the price they charge.
The price is what detered me from this hotel to begin with.
Would it be a mistake to split the trip into two different hotels? 2 nights in town and 3 nights at Sorrell or vice versa?
We will really only have 4 full days to explore and I already have on the agenda:
Hike around Arches
Drive to Canyonlands
Rent a 4 wheeler to climb trails in Arches
Do a half day kayaking trip down the Colorado
Would we have enough time for these activities if we split our stay?

Also, does anyone have any recommendations for an off-road truck rental company that has trucks with all the necessary equipment to allow my Husband to fulfill his fantasy of 4-wheeling in Moab?
I will be the best wife in the world if I can make this happen.

Thanks for the help!

Tosha

utahtea

We camp so I can't help with lodging.

We have rented 4 x 4 Jeep Wranglers from Farabee Jeep Rentals in Moab twice and we have had excellent service. http://www.moabjeeprentals.com/

I would recommend renting a jeep with a smaller wheel base for 4 wheeling in the Moab Area. I would also suggest splurging and renting the jeep for more than one day.

I'd spend one day hiking in Arches.
I'd take the jeep and drive the Potash road to the 4 x 4 Shafer Trail with a short side trip on the White Rim Trail to Mussellman arch and then up into Canyonlands National Park, Island in the Sky Distric. Spend time in Canyonlands. Make sure you go to the Green River Overlook and Grand View Overlooks. Stop at Dead Horse State Park and then drive back to Moab on the 4 x 4 Long Canyon trail back. The people at Farabee's will help you with maps and routes.

The 4 x 4 trails in Arches are a lot tougher than the Shafter Trail. We did the Salt Valley which was sandy but very easy. We also did the section to Tower Arch and we watched as two suburbans from a local tour company couldn't make the first hill, we flew through that section in our jeep! These were professional drivers and they couldn't make it with the long wheel base! This is a pretty rough section and it's a real slow drive. The drive the Eye of the Whale Arch took a good half day to drive. Other than the orginial park entrance road, I don't think there are any other 4 x 4 roads in Arches. There are plenty of 4 x 4 roads in the Moab area and we've done a few other.

We've done the half day river trip from Moab and it was a lot of fun.

Utahtea

BLYVAIL

We camp as well, but I think the Sorrel Ranch is on the Colorado about 15-20 miles out of town. The activities you have planned are pretty much based right in town and Canyonlands is the opposite direction. Check the location, but if its the ranch I think it is, I'd stay in town the entire time and save the drive.

wtm003

I haven't stayed at the Sorrell River Ranch, but I'm having the same memory as BLYVAIL - 15 to 20 minutes outside of town. It appears that you have your 4 days pretty well planned, so I would go ahead and stay in town and save the dollars. Plus, I enjoyed walking around the town. There are a lot of little shops and a good selection of restaurants. I had the best margarita ever at Miguel's Baja Grill. If you stay in town you can have a couple and walk home. What a great birthday surprise. Have fun!

TAW

another place to consider staying is Aarches Motel...altho not a B&B. It's on the edge of town towards Arches NP. You need to drive a mile or so to go into town center. I stayed there last May 4 nts and it was very nice. Good luck. Enjoy your trip! That's a wonderful area to explore!

kureiff

My husband and I also enjoyed staying in town. We liked being able to walk around town after hiking and biking during the day.

Have a great trip! Moab was one of our best vacations!

christies

As far as lodging is concerned, it depends on what you are looking for. The Sorrell River Ranch is outside of town, yes, but it looks to be much nicer and more relaxing. If you want to spend all day doing stuff then retreat to a nice hotel outside of town, then i'd say go with the SRR, but if you want to walk around the town and hit the different restaurants, then find something different. Note though that Moab isn't your picture perfect little town (at least in my opinion) - the main highway goes right through the middle of it, so it's pretty busy and kind of noisy. I was there this summer and stayed at the La Quinta and loved being able to walk where ever i wanted to go, but hated all the traffic outside my window...

disneynan

We have been to Moab 3 times and every time we have, I would have loved to stay at the Sorrel. They get fabulous reviews at Tripadvisor.com and I bet you would LOVE it. The price is what has detered us too, but one day we will bite the bullet and do it. I say split the trip and do 3days at Sorrel and 2 elsewhere.They are in a great location and I would rather be away from all the t-shirt shops and such and enjoy the beauty & solitude of area. Moab is a main drag and it gets very noisey.Read the reviews!

GJLinda

Hi,

If I had the money, I would base at Sorrel River. Haven't stayed there, but had a wonderful lunch in the second floor dining room overlooking the river. There is a lovely porch/patio on the back overlooking the river as well. I would check to be sure the hot tub and pool were open. It would be a wonderful place to return after a busy day seeing the sites. The cottages look nice as well and there is a small, sweet gift shop.

So I guess it depends on what you like to do. Moab is a nice enough place to wander for an afternoon, but Sorrel River is so relaxing and the setting is grand. Give them a call-they could probably be helpful on the activities end of things, too.

You might check into Red Cliffs Adventure Ranch (I think I have that name right), about two miles east of Sorrel. Same beautiful setting and it looks nice too.

Have fun.

curlypie

Wow! Thank you everyone for your helpful responses. I have booked the Sunflower Hill B&B which has gotten excellent reviews so maybe I will just stay there the whole time and plan a dinner out at Sorrell. I would love to stay there but it's a little pricey to stay for the complete 5 nights. I would break it up if we were staying longer. I don't want to put any stressors on the days we have to explore. We always tend to overbook and overextend ourselves on our trips and end up being exhausted. I have a feeling Moab will be one of those places we'll want to return to again so we'll keep Sorrell in mind for the future. I appreciate the tips on the 4wheel drive trips. My husband is very into off-roading and has a lot of experience so I would imagine he won't be intimidated by the tougher trails and will want to seek those out. Any advice or experience with some rough and tough 4-wheeling adventures is appreciated.
Thanks again everyone!

utahtea

Your husband is going to love the Moab area if he's into 4 x 4 roads! Ask the people at Farabee's...they know the area a lot better than I do. Here are a few links:

http://www.4x4now.com/mu4wd.htm

http://www.discovermoab.com/fourwheel.htm

http://4x4trailhunters.com/trail.php?id=33

http://activities.wildernet.com/page...cord=1&cu_id=1

Utahtea

LoisL

It seems you've already made up your mind, but I would like to add my experience. We stayed at Red Cliffs about a year a a half ago, and we loved it. The location, on the Colorado [just a couple minutes closer to town than Sorrell, I believe] was a wonderful location. The views on the entire drive along Hwt 128 [I believe that's where it's located]were speciatular. It is a scenic hwy, and every bend in the road provides another photo op. It was one of our most memorable stays! The cliffs provided a different view with each passing hr, as the sun moved overhead. Arches was about 15-20 min. from there.

Dayle

Hi Curlypie,

I was going to recommend the Dreamkeeper Inn, a lovely B&B just a couple blocks off Main St. in Moab. I stay there frequently (when I'm not camping). I have also heard from friends that the Sunflower is very good.

Great choice and have fun! Be careful on those 4x4 roads, some are extremely difficult.

Boxer

Husband and I were in Moab in summer of 2004. We stayed at The Gonzo Inn .. sounds kind of weird but we liked the place. Nice pool out back ... it was HOT when we were there.

curlypie

Utahtea- thanks for the 4wheeling links. They will be very helpful.

I would have loved to stay at Red Rocks but unfortunately it was already booked for most of our stay! We are going over Memorial Day weekend so I'm sure that's why it will be so crowded.