Moab Itinerary: 3 Days, 5 Days and What to Skip
Moab is the base for Arches, five miles north, and for both accessible districts of Canyonlands, 40 minutes and ninety minutes away. Three days is the standard: Arches, then Island in the Sky with Dead Horse Point, then Needles or the river. Five days lets you give Needles a full day and add Fisher Towers, Corona Arch and a morning on the Colorado. Arches has used a timed entry ticket in the busy months, and the heat between June and August decides your schedule more than anything else. Our best Moab day hikes guide ranks the trails.
Day 1: Arches
In by 7am, which beats both the queue and the heat. Drive to Devils Garden at the end of the road first, because that is where the parking fills, and walk to Landscape Arch and on to Double O if you like slickrock. Come back down to the Windows section, then Delicate Arch in the late afternoon: 3 miles round trip, no shade, and the arch faces west so the light lands on it just before sunset. Fiery Furnace needs a permit or a ranger. Our Arches hikes guide has the full list.
Day 2: Island in the Sky and Dead Horse Point
Canyonlands is three districts that do not connect by road. Island in the Sky is the one 40 minutes from Moab, a mesa top with the whole canyon system laid out 2,000 feet below. Mesa Arch at sunrise is the photograph everybody takes and it is genuinely worth the 6am alarm. Then Grand View Point, Upheaval Dome and the Aztec Butte ruins.
Dead Horse Point State Park is on the same road and has the best single viewpoint in the region, a gooseneck bend of the Colorado 2,000 feet down. It costs a separate $20 vehicle fee and it is worth it.
Day 3: choose your third day
- The Needles district. Ninety minutes south of Moab, and a different park: you are down among the rock rather than looking at it from above. Chesler Park and the Joint Trail is 11 miles and the best day hike in Canyonlands. See our Needles backpacking itinerary.
- The river. Half day rafting on the Colorado through Fisher Towers, class II and III, or a flat water paddle upstream. Our Colorado River kayaking itinerary covers the paddling.
- Slickrock without a park fee. Corona Arch, 3 miles with two ladder and cable sections, or Fisher Towers, 4.4 miles under 900 foot spires.
- Four wheel drive. Shafer Trail down from Island in the Sky, or the full 100 mile White Rim Road with a permit. Rent a proper vehicle rather than taking the hire car.
The five day version
Add a second Canyonlands day so Needles gets its own overnight in Monticello, and a day for the northern approach: Fisher Towers in the morning, the Highway 128 river road, and Castle Valley. If you have children, swap one hiking day for the Moab Giants dinosaur park and a swim at Ken's Lake.
The timed entry and the heat
Two practical constraints shape a Moab itinerary more than trail choice does.
- Arches timed entry. The park has required a timed entry ticket during the busy season in recent years, generally for daytime arrivals from spring through autumn, with a small batch released the evening before. Entering before the window opens has been allowed, which rewards the early start you want anyway.
- Heat. June through August runs 100F and higher with no shade anywhere in either park. Hike from first light to 10am, rest through the afternoon, and go out again after 5pm. Two litres of water per person per hike is a floor, not a target. April, May, September and October are the months to come if you have the choice, which is also what our best time to visit Moab guide concludes.
Where Moab fits in a bigger trip
Moab is the eastern anchor of the Utah Mighty 5 loop. Zion and Bryce are five and four hours west, Capitol Reef is two and a half hours west on Highway 24, and Mesa Verde is two and a half hours southeast in Colorado. The full circuit is in our Utah national parks road trip, and the family paced version is the Mighty 5 family route.
Have us plan your Moab days
Send us your dates and we will build the three or five days around the entry windows and the heat, beds included. Planning is free, and we earn only if you book through us.
Moab Itinerary: 3 Days, 5 Days and What to Skip FAQs
Three. One for Arches, one for the Island in the Sky district of Canyonlands with Dead Horse Point, and one for either the Needles district or a river day. Five days lets you give Needles its own day and add Fisher Towers and Corona Arch.
In recent years, yes, for daytime arrivals during the busy season. Tickets release ahead of time with a small batch the evening before, and arriving before the window opens has generally been allowed. Check the park page once your dates are set.
You can see the highlights of both, at a cost. Arches at dawn and Island in the Sky in the afternoon is about six hours of driving and walking with no long hikes. Two days is much better, and the parks are only 30 minutes apart at their entrances.
Delicate Arch in Arches for the classic, at 3 miles. Chesler Park and the Joint Trail in the Needles for the best full day, at 11 miles. Corona Arch outside the parks for the best hike with no entrance fee, at 3 miles with ladders.
April, May, September and October. Summer runs past 100F with no shade in either park, and winter brings ice on the slickrock, though it also brings empty trails and snow on red rock, which is worth seeing.
Yes. It is a state park on the road to Island in the Sky with the best single overlook in the Moab area, a gooseneck of the Colorado 2,000 feet below. It charges its own vehicle fee, separate from the national parks.
