Moab Area Travel Council
P.O. Box 550
Moab, Utah 84532
Phone 435-259-1370/FAX 435-259-1376

Email: mdelay@discovermoab.com
Website: www.discovermoab.com

Moab, Utah nestled in the red rocks of Canyonlands Country is Utah’s Adventure Capitol. The scenery, the surroundings, the activities, the history – it is all inviting, and calling you to come see it!!!

Moab was first settled in 1855 by Mormons who quickly abandoned their remote outpost because they were frightened of the area’s Native American population. It was resettled in 1876. Since that time, the city and its people have carved an existence as changing as the eroded desert around it. Today the primary industry is tourism. The town, beautifully set near the banks of the Colorado River, is the jumping off point for recreational adventures of every kind. Moab is the gateway to two of Utah’s five national parks. Arches National Park has the world’s largest concentration of natural stone arches gracing 73,000 acres, including the State’s signature arch, Delicate Arch.

Canyonlands National Park is the largest national park in the state, and its diversity staggers the imagination. Thousand foot views down into river canyons, or up, to red rock pinnacles, cliffs and spires are truly awe-inspiring. The parks geological characteristics have naturally sectioned it into three areas called: Island in the Sky, the Needles and the Maze. Both parks are open year round, with visitor centers located in each park. Recreational activities in the park include hiking, backpacking, sightseeing, photography, four wheel driving (on designated roads only), technical rock climbing (with a permit), mountain biking and road biking.

Like the arches in the park that took so many years to form and tell a story of the climatic changes so prevalent in the high desert, so are the many stories that we find on the many rock art sites on cliffs and boulders. People whose livelihood was based on the harvesting of wild resources, and later on of agriculture, populated this region. Petroglyphs and pictographs left behind help to tell their stories. Petroglyphs, are graphics pecked or abraded into the rock. Pictographs are representations painted on the rocks in one or more colors made from mineral pigments or plant dyes. Panels of both types, and panels which exhibit both styles, are found in the area, and plenty are accessible to passenger vehicles or very short hikes. The area around Moab also has many stone structures such as dwellings, granaries (storage units) and kivas (ceremonial and community structures.) Evidence of earlier use patterns consists of temporary campsites, broken stone tools, potshards and other implements. Some of these implements can be seen at the Dan O’Laurie Museum in downtown Moab. Information on the sites around Moab can be found in the Moab Area Rock Art Auto Tour brochure available at the Travel Council or Moab Information Center.

Going way back in history, there are sites around the area that confirm the presence of prehistoric animals. Dinosaurs that is!! Dinosaurs left both skeletons and an equally intriguing reminder, their footprints, in what was once swampy mud, and now is sandstone. Although the tracks may be hard to spot, once you find them they provide the impetus for plenty of imaginative speculation. A Sauropod Dinosaur Track Site located 23 miles north of Moab is the first sauropod(five-toed herbivore) tracks every reported in Utah. Information on these and other sites is available at the Moab Information Center.

The past and the present have come together with tours of the national parks, coupled with activities within the parks and those that view the past. Visitors see the geological formations, prehistoric sites, and Indian writing from the seats of their vehicles, bikes, canoes, kayaks, and rafts. Hiking to these locations is extremely breathtaking and an excellent way to really feel the mysteries left of an earlier time. For more information about Moab and the area go to www.discovermoab.com or call 800-635-6622 for a free color brochure.