Salt Lake City to Moab
 

We are spending 10 days in Utah, October 7th through October 16th . We fly into SLC, arrive about noon, get a rental SUV and head for Moab. What is the most scenic route to get to Moab? We want to see lots of great scenery and don't mind taking the less traveled roads. I'm thinking about heading to the east out of SLC to Park City and down to Sundance Ski Resort and then Provo. From there I'm not sure what is the most scenic way to go. Also, how long will it take to get to Moab? Will we have plenty of time to stop and take photos along the way? Thanks for any suggestions.

It takes about 4 hours to go from SLC to Moab if you go straight down I-15, then Route 6 through Price to I-70, and then the exit for Moab.

In Price, there is a great dinosaur museum. Scenery is pretty interesting along Route 6--up over the mountains and then down through an amazing canyon. After that, it is flat plains with Cliffs off in the distance. North of Moab there is a really coool trail that shows dinosaur fossils in situ. If you google dinosaur tracks in Utah or Moab, the info on that website should come up.

The scenery would be gorgeous to go up through Park City and Sundance. That could easily add a couple of hours to the drive.

For my taste the drive up to Park City and back to Provo isn't worth the extra time. Too much of it is high-speed freeway.

As an alternative I would like to propose a detour through Emery county. Get off just before Price and go south on State Route 10 to Huntington. From there strike off SE on County road 332, a gravel road that traverses some of the most spectacular country you will ever see. The route has old mines, stunning red-rock cliffs, pristine rivers, a 300 foot panel of some of the most interesting indian wall paintings I have ever seen.

The road is gravel but is easily passable in any car.

If you drive straight on through (which is almost impossible) it adds about an hour and a half to the trip. The first trip through I shot over 150 photos and the light was bad.

Emery county has a brochure that shows you how to do the trip. You can find it on-line at http://www.emerycounty.com/travel/br...sstraveled.pdf. And, no, I don't work for the Emery chamber of commerce -- I'm from Moab.

If you want to talk about it you can reach me at [email protected].

Thanks for your suggestions. One of the things we are hoping to see is some fall foliage. Does the Emery County area have any fall color?

Some of it does but not the route I have suggested.

You can do a drive on the La Sal mountains outside of Moab. Depending on how early or late the season is there is some spectacular color from quaking aspens and oak brush.

I am a first time solo traveler from NY. Have plans to fly into Salt Lake, drive to Moab, spend 6 days in Moab, 4 of them with a photography workshop group, 1 day just to look around and 1 day to go white water rafting. After that I'm thinking of driving to Zion Narrows - 1 day to get there (about 5 hours?) , 1 day of hiking the Narrow, 1 day to drive to LV airport (about 2.5 hours) and fly home to NY.
Does the second leg of trip sound rushed? I don't really want to stop over night along the way. Can you suggest a friendly, economical place to stay near Zion?
Car rental penalty for picking up and dropping off car at different locations extravagant. Any tips for reducing the cost.
Bye the way, I'm married but husband not interested in this sort of trip. Doing this for me.