Explore Moab, Utah, a great destination for outdoor adventure

Located in eastern Utah, the small town of Moab acts as a gateway to two national parks, Arches and Canyonlands. Here, outdoor enthusiasts find a multitude of activities, whether it is day or night.

This picture of Andy Lewis surrounded by a full moon lasted four months. “Even with every piece of technology we could get our hands on, we got to go there, research and see what aligns,” says photographer Renan Ozturk, who has been pointing his camera at more than one kilometer away to frame the Lewis photo on a slack line (a length of fabric suspended in the air). When the weather, the people and the moon finally lined up, “I only had a window of about 30 seconds to capture the moment.”

(Discover more places for slackline in the United States.)

With three Dark Sky International Parks less than an hour’s drive from Moab, those who can’t see the Milky Way from their homes (most Americans) can arrange their star there. At Arches and Canyonlands National Parks and Dead Horse Point State Park, visitors can look at the thousands of stars visible to the naked eye – compared to a few dozen, at most, visible in a large city. To help maintain these stellar views, Moab strengthened its ordinances against light pollution.

Surrounded by public lands with sand dunes from the Jurassic era, transformed into rocks and towers in shades of titanium, Moab attracts adventurers and nature lovers who want to interact with the elements. Activities range from mainstream (rafting, cycling, hiking) to extreme (slacklining, BASE jumping with parachutes or wing suits). Parks in the area have also taken steps to make the outdoors more accessible to people with disabilities.

100: The approximate length, standing, of the slack line shown above

300+: The age of the oldest rock layers, in millions of years, in Canyonlands National Park

Over 2,000: Number of arches in Arches National Park