Utah trip
 

Hi All,

My sister and I are planning a trip to Utah in May - our second one. I've gotten a lot of help with it from the TripAdvisor forum, but thought I'd give this a try for a couple of questions.

1. We're going to be in Moab for three days (four nights). Day 1 will be Arches and Day 2 will be Canyonlands and Dead Horse Point. We're thinking about one or more scenic drives on Day 3. The options appear to be Rte 128 towards Cisco and Potash-Lower Colorado. Do you think we could do both in one day, probably not starting out before 10:00 or so (my sister is not an early riser unless I force the issue). If we had to choose, is one better than the other? How far should we take 128, if we do that route? I'll be doing the driving and although I don't mind windy roads, sheer drop-offs are another story. I don't know if either of these routes have those. How much time do you think either or both would take?

2. I'm trying to decide on the route from Torrey to Salt Lake City. It seems the most direct route is 24 to 50 to 15, but a more scenic route would be great. A couple have been suggested - Mt. Nebo Scenic Loop and Provo Canyon Scenic Byway. I know the latter will take longer, but I'm not sure how much. But again, aside from asking which might be nicer, I have to ask about moutainous roads and drop-offs. I don't want to white-knuckle it for 30 miles! Also, we'll have a rental car, so I don't want to tax it too much. If necessary, are there other suggestions for nice drives?

Thanks so much!

If you are planning on hiking, you could do more than one day in Arches, especially if you sign up for the ranger led hike to Firey furnace.

You might also be interested in the needles district of Canyonlands. It is about an hour south west of Moab and gives a very different perspective, since you are down in the canyons, not at the top looking down as you are ar Dead horse and Island in the Sky.

Thank you Oldemalloy! My sister will be just shy of 74 and I'll be almost 66 and neither of us really does what you'd call hiking. Easy to moderate walks are good, but nothing more. And, as with driving, anything close to an edge is more than this scaredy cat can take! Would the Needles district fit into that? If so, that would certainly be an option for Day 3.

You will be down at ground level, looking up at the formations.

i do not recall any scarey areas on the way in.

Great, thanks! You did mention being down in the canyon - so, yeah, probably not scary.

Down in the canyons takes a considerable effort, at least where I went hiking. One was on the mesa with no canyons, and the other was to the edge of the canyons.

https://flic.kr/p/vnrcai
https://flic.kr/p/vmyj65

Michael, you were in the island in the sky, we were talking about the Needles district, an hour away.

I've read that Needles can be anywhere from one to two hours away. We're staying at the Moab Valley Inn. Any thoughts about how far it is from there, if we decide to go? When I plugged it into AAA or maybe it was another site, it said two hours. In the meantime, are there thoughts about the two scenic routes I mentioned if we decide not to go to Needles?
Thank you Michael for the gorgeous photos.

The two pictures were taken in the Needles area, i.e. the southern part of the park. That's the only area where we camped in the national park proper while visiting Arches and Canyonlands. Check out the title of each picture.

https://flic.kr/p/vnqAhx

Judy -

The Needles district of Canyonlands is 75 miles southwest of Moab via US 191 and UT 211 (the drive on 211 is gorgeous). It can take 90 minutes to two hours, depending on traffic, stops, etc.

Thank you Melnq8.

What Meniq8 said. Michael these folks are not hiking, they were asking about scenic drives, without drop offs.

But you need some serious off-road vehicles to get to the bottom of the canyons, which was your suggestion. The park service suggest carrying some essential spare parts ;because no service is going to pull you out of the bottom of the canyons. I do not think that the Needles area if for the OP if they decide that walking is not their style. The scenic drives are more accessible without hiking in the Island in the Sky area.

Have you been to Zion or Bryce? Also worth the visit!!