We had cars from Southern California, Texas, Colorado, and Utah on this tour, which was based in Moab, UT. Moab sits between two spectacular National Parks, Arches and Canyonlands. We come to Moab once a year, so we skipped Arches this year in favor of more driving around the area.

Thursday

Everyone met in Moab Thursday. I drove down from Salt Lake City that afternoon. I had originally planned a leisurely drive over several Utah scenic byways, but we had record snows this year and several mountain routes were still closed, so I took the direct and quick route down via US 6. When I arrived in Moab, I quickly figured out why we were having trouble with hotel reservations. The town was full of Miatas. We had inadvertantly chosen the same weekend the Utah Miata Club was sponsoring their annual Moab rally, and they easily had 160 Miatas in town for the weekend. I am not sure what they were doing, because we drove all over the area and saw very few Miatas outside of town.

We had our opening dinner at the Desert Bistro on the north end of town. We arrived a little early, so we sat on the front porch and had a locally brewed ale. It was the first really nice evening in several weeks, and it was pleasantly cool out front. Dinner was great, and the group was very talkative. Opening dinners are sometimes awkward because people really do not know each other yet, but the food was great and the service pretty good, so things got off to a good start. By the end of dinner, everyone was tired from driving all day and ready to get a good night sleep.

Having a brew on the front porch of the Desert Bistro. (photo by Jack Brittain)

Twilight, Desert Bistro (photo by Jack Brittain)

 

Friday

Friday was planned as an all day drive. We started the day driving the Upper Colorado River Scenic Byway, then took I-70 to Grand Junction, where we headed for the Delores River Canyon. We picked up CO-90 on the south end of the Delores River Canyon, driving back west to Moab via the La Sal Valley on the south side of the La Sal Mountains.

The Upper Colorado Scenic Byway is always a beautiful drive. This year, the river was very high, so it is clearly visible in many of the pictures we took. Near Moab, this stretch of canyon is very narrow, and the road weaves along the river bank for about 15 miles before the valley broadens out near Castle Valley. We stopped near the Big Bend section of the river to take some pictures, and I got a few shots on the road.

On the Colorado River bank (photo by Jack Brittain)

View up the River (photo by Jack Brittain)

Photographers at Hittle Bottom (photo by Jack Brittain)

After a lunch stop in Grand Junction, we picked up CO-141 which follows Unaweep Canyon to Gateway, the starting point for CO-145 and the north end of the Delores River Canyon run. The Delores River is the second largest tributary of the Colorado River and the western drainage for the San Juan Mountains. Most of the Delores River Canyon is inaccessible, but CO-145 is an approximately 70 mile stretch of road that runs right next to the Delores River on the Canyon floor. There is not a straight that is more than a quarter mile over the entire 70 miles, and there are hundreds of turns as the road winds along with the river through a deep red-rock canyon. The scenery is spectacular, there is little traffic because the area is so remote, and there are actually many elevation changes as the road finds its way around the jumble of boulders and cliffs than line the river. It is a spectacular Porsche road and well worth the drive over from Utah.

Unaweep Canyon (photo by Jack Brittain)	Spoilers do not lie. (photo by Jack Brittain)	River bend. (photo by Jack Brittain)
Undulating cliffs. (photo by Jack Brittain)	Roadside stop. (photo by Ted Pietrzak)	Entering the San Miguel River Valley (photo by Jack Brittain)

We had never driven CO-90/UT-46 and were pleasantly surprised when we found this to be a great stretch of road. The first stretch of CO-90 coming out of the Delores River and San Miguel River Valleys was a straight stretch of road through Paradox Valley in Colorado. There were a lot of wild flowers when we were there, and the La Sal Mountains loom large in the distance. Coming out of Paradox Valley, there is a long climb that goes up approximately 2000 feet in elevation right on the Colorado-Utah border. Hardly anyone uses these highways, so the road was close to deserted as we wound our way around double switchbacks with 10 mph advisories and climbed through stetches of heavy forest before arriving at the high alpine La Sal Valley in Utah. Just a great stretch of driving road with a nice finish as you pull into Moab at the end of the day.

Paradox Valley with La Sal Mountains in the distance. (photo by Jack Brittain)

Second gear territory. (photo by Jack Brittain)

Climbing. (photo by Jack Brittain)

We arrived back in Moab around 4:00 pm, which gave us time to grab a shower before dinner. We had dinner at the Red Cliffs Lodge, which has a large deck next to the Colorado River. Red Cliffs Lodge is on the Upper Colorado Scenic Byway about 14 miles northeast of Moab. Good food, good service, and a great way to cap of a wonderful day of driving.

Colorado River (photo by Jack Brittain) Panorama view.

l-r: Tim, Mike, Ramona, Mike, Ted, Noel, and Rex. (photo by Jack Brittain)

Saturday

We started Saturday with an early morning drive down the Lower Colorado Scenic Byway. With its towering red cliffs, this is a great place to take pictures, especially in the early morning when the indirect light allows a photographer to capture the bright oranges, corals, and reds of the cliffs. We made the regular stops, took a lot of pictures, and as usual, many were stunning.

Classic designs. (photo by Jack Brittain)	The line-up. (photo by Ted Pietrzak)
Side canyon. (photo by Jack Brittain)	Rain Forest Green (photo by Jack Brittain)
View from the front. (photo by Jack Brittain)	View from the rear. (photo by Ted Pietrzak)

 

Saturday was a sightseeing day focused on the Islands in the Sky District of Canyonlands with an after lunch drive to the Needles Overlook. It is hard to beat the spectacular vistas of Canyonlands. Even the Grand Canyon, while deeper, does not have the expansive views you can find in Canyonlands, and Canyonlands is a lot more accessible than the Grand Canyon. There are a number of panoramas linked to the pictures page.

Road into Canyonlands (photo by Ted Pietrzak)	Group at Grandview Point (photo by Jack Brittain)
Road inside the Park. (photo by Ted Pietrzak)	Potash ponds from Dead Horse Point (photo by Jack Brittain)

After lunch, we took a run out to the Needles Overlook, which we had never visited before. This is the highest point in the area, and the views of Canyonlands are stunning. It is on a narrow isthmus of land, so the views are 270 degrees. In addition, the Overlook is a large area with vistas to every district of Canyonlands. The road to the overlook is about 14 miles south of Moab, and then it is 24 miles out to the Overlook. On the way out to the Overlook, we discovered the road is lightly traveled, so we had a fun run back to US 191, which is the main highway into Moab.

Mike and Noel, Needles Overlook (photo by Jack Brittain)

l-r: Jack, Noel, Mike, Rex, Ramona, Tim (photo by Ted Pietrzak)

Sunday

Rex and Tim and Mike headed back home early Sunday, and Ted and Noel had decided to do some slick rock mountain biking, so Mike and Ramona joined me for a drive on the La Sal Mountains Loop. My road map showed this as partially unpaved, so we were not sure we would be able to drive the whole loop. In order to be sure we got to see the most scenic areas, we headed up the Upper Colorado Scenic Byway and caught the loop road starting in Castle Valley.

It was early in the morning, and the shadows provided strong contrasts on the rock formations in Castle Valley. As we climbed up into the mountains, we started seeing spectacular views around every corner. We stopped at an overlook of Castle Valley for a couple of pictures, and then climbed further into the mountains. The road goes very high up into the La Sals, basically skirting the base of the peaks. There was plenty of snow on the peaks and some beside the road, but the road was clear and paved the entire way. This was a great morning drive. It is about 55 miles, and I used quite a bit of gas because I was running in second and third gears the whole time. This was a great find. We will run it the opposite direction in the future, but it is definitely a great drive.

Ramona, Castle Valley Overlook (photo by Jack Brittain)

Top of the pass overlook, Castle Valley (photo by Jack Brittain)

Summary

This destination tour was just about perfect. We discovered too late that we could have done a tour through Colorado National Monument on our way to Grand Junction, but this just gives us something to look forward to next time we go to Moab. We drove a number of new roads this trip, and all were keepers. I definitely plan to make the Needles Overlook a regular stop when I visit Moab, and I will also work the La Sal Mountains Loop into future drives as well. The dilemma now is there are too many places we like to go in Moab, and jamming them all into a long weekend is a challenge. We are definitely very fortunate the area is so close to where we live in Salt Lake City, because it is a relatively short drive down, which allows us to go during the shoulder seasons when the weather is still great but there are few tourists in the area. As the say in Moab, you know it is spring when the license plates start turning green. (Hint: Colorado license plates are green).

If you have never been in this area, it is worth the time to get here and spend a few days. In addition to the area around Moab, you can spend another couple of days seeing Capitol Reef National Park, UT-12, which is an All American Road, and Bryce Canyon, Cedar Breaks, and Zion National Parks. Check out the Roads Less Traveled and Tours Archive websites for pictures and detailed itineraries.