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Moab ideas in July

Our family including our 5 year old are taking a four day three night trip to the Moab area. I need ideas for our trip on the following independant travel ideas: 1. can we do a half day canoe/sea kayak trip where they drop you upstream and we can drop off the canoe/sea kayak down river(mostly calm water)? 2. can we rent bikes with a trailer(for the 5 year old) or the tandum for one adult and one kid for a easy ride on one of the rims? 3. Which hotel in the area has a good view and pool? 4. what are some good hikes with views? 5. who has the best pizza in Moab? 6. can you float in inner tubs anywhere on the river? We will be going in early July. thank you

Marc, Check out discoverMoab.com. This site will answer many of your questions. You may have to make some phone calls for your more specific questions. The people of Moab are very helpful! Good luck.

My family (kids 7 and 9 at the time) liked Dead Horse Point State Park, just above Moab. The walking was fun there and views were tremendous. The Fiery Furnace ranger hike at Arches NP was another big winner with all of us (in March). A lot of it is in shadow, but if I did it in July, I'd take the first hike in the morning. All the lodging I know of in Moab is in a strip down a valley, so I don't really think of one place as having the best views. The pool would be the most important point in terms of amenities.

Hi Marc! There are no easy bike rides in Moab, unless you stay on the pavement. All rim rides are pretty long distance, demanding, hard core mountain bikers stuff. No tube floating down the Colorado River, especially with a 5 year old. There are many river companies that do float trips both day & night. They may have kayaks, but I'm not sure - liability issues? Most all motels in Moab have the same views - looking up at the surrounding red cliffs. Many have pools. Lots of great hikes, but watch the little ones like a hawk. Serious cliffs. You'll love Moab! So much to do - 3 days is hardly enough!

There are full and half day water water rafting trips. A couple of kayaks were available and people in the rafts were given the opportunity to use a kayak for a limited period of time. It is a mild white water experience. The Fiery Furnace hike lasts around three hours. Hike is limited to 25 people and you have to sign up in advance A visit to Dead Horse Point State Park is worthwhile. Almost all the motels are located on the road that runs through the center of town. NOne have views better than the others. You can't see Arches or Canyonlands formations from any motel. There is nothing to be seen of either park from Moab. You can see into the Canyonlands from Dead Horse park but it is at least a 20 mile ride from Moab - not a good idea for bikes in July heat. THere are no "rims" to drive in Arches and getting to Arches from Moab is a long uphill (mountain) drive - unless you are accomplished bike riders in excellent copndition it wouldn't be a good idea to try it.

I've vistied Moab about a half dozen times. Always for mountain biking and I camp but I'm familair with the area. Moab in July = hot hot hot Plan your activities for the morning. For rafting: http://www.westernriver.com/oneday/ (I've never rafted there - just found their web site.) Can't think of any hotels with a "view" Arches Nationl Park has hiking trails and the views will be stunning. The best pizza is Poplar Place. There's a "family" style Italian restaurant called Pasta Jays which good, but not as good as Poplar. If you want to try a mtn bike ride, check out Dinasour Tracks on the way out of town. It's an easy ride and you really pass dinasour tracks! So cool!

Ditto on what everyone else has said here. I would agree that Dead Horse Point is worth seeing, but it is a nice drive (approx 40 min or so) from Moab. We stayed in some nice single cabins in Moab--also had campgrounds--but I don't remember a pool or the name of it. It was nicely landscaped and had some areas that a 5 yr old could run and play though. All the hikes in Arches are awesome! If possible (not sure w/ a 5 yr old) try to do the one to Delicate Arch--it is tremendous and breathtaking! Much grander than any picture you will ever see. We did it on the last day and it was the highlight of the trip! I don't remember the distance but it is going up and in my estimation about 2-3 miles or so. Are you taking a sitter??? :-)

The actual increase in elevation of the Delicate Arch hike is 480 feet. The round trip hike is 3 miles, but feels more like 5! BTW, Marc's probably back by now.

I know I'm going to repeat a few things, but what the heck. July is HOT. Figure around 100 degrees. Hike either early morning or late afternoon. There are so many great hikes in Arches. My favorite is Delicate Arch. I've seen 5 year olds do it. It is 3 miles round trip. Landscape Arch and Park Avenue are other nice hikes in Arches. We've done the all day river rafting trip out of Moab. It was so much fun. We had kayakers that were part of our group following us down the river. When they come to a calm part of the river they allow you to go in the river with you're life vests on. You also have water fights with other rafters so you stay nice an cool. They stop and feed you lunch. Dead Horse State Park has nice views, but I like Canyonlands National Park which is just down the road a little farther. Mesa Arch and Grand View are both nice hikes. Most of the bike riding is done on 4 wheel dirt roads. I wouldn't suggest it for a 5 year old. There is so much to do in the Moab area. Drive to Fisher Towers on Scenic Hwy 128 is a beautiful drive. Take the Potash Road Hwy 279 out of town for another scenic drive and petroglyphs. You will find even more petroglyphs on the other side of the river on Kane Creek Blvd. If you don't have a four wheel drive vehicle you might consider renting one for in town to do the Shafer Trail or some other 4 wheel drive road in the area. Check out these web sites: http://www.so-utah.com/archcany/homepage.html http://pages.ivillage.com/utahtea2/utahteaswebpages/id10.html Utahtea

I almost forgot. The locals don't swim in the Colorado River. They know it has dangerous undertows! Utahtea