Originally Posted by
amanuensis
Originally my wife and I were going to go to Moab, UT and CO in March. But we decided to change it up because you can't do the Mesa Verde cliff dwellings tours until mid-May. So here for your sanity-checking pleasure is the latest iteration of our plans. Enjoy,
Remember, my wife has mobility issues, so we are planning on doing very little hiking. One cliff dwellings tour will probably be the most exertion that we do. So our plan is to stop at scenic overlooks and visitor centers but nothing lengthy until Thursday.
On Monday, 13 May, go from our home in SLC to Moab (~223 miles). Tour Islands of the Sky part of Canyonlands and Dead Horse Point. Stay in Moab that night.
On Tuesday, tour Arches in the morning, then drive to Bluff, touring The Needles part of Canyonlands and Edge of the Cedars State Park on the way. (We will be staying two nights at the Bluff Dwellings resort -- if anyone else has stayed there, let me know what you thought of it).
On Wednesday (our short day), go to Natural Bridges, then Goosenecks State Park, then Valley of the Gods in Bears' Ears National Monument, Relaxing in the afternoon.
On Thursday, go to Hovenweep, then to Lowry Pueblo in Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, then the visitors center and museum of that national monument in Dolores, CO. All of this in the morning, hopefully. In the afternoon, tour Mesa Verde NP. Stay the night in Cortez, CO
On Friday, go back home, ~337 miles.
Anything I should drop or add? We deliberately decided to not go the Four Corners or Monument Valley. Correct me if I am wrong, but they just have the tourist-trap vibe to me. And it seems a little out of the way to go to Navajo National Monument -- plus it seems that most of what there is to see there requires hiking. We only have the five days, so we will leave Bryce Canyon, Grand Staircase/Escalante NM, and Capital Reef for some other time.
I thought I would report back on how the trip went.
On Monday, May 13th, we drove to Moab and checked in at the
Aarchway Inn. The stay was paid for with Delta Skymiles. We then went to Arches National Park and drove to everything we could from the paved roads. The park was disappointing because despite having obtained a timed entry pass, it was a half hour wait to get in, and it was crowded. And the arches that we saw look more impressive in the stock photos. We were probably tired from having had a long drive, so that affected our impressions of Arches NP. The hotel was merely okay, but had a fairly good breakfast.
On Tuesday, we checked out of the hotel and drove to the Islands in the Sky portion of Canyonlands National Park. We also saw Dead Horse Point State Park. Both were excellent. Highly recommended. Not too crowded. It took the entire day to see these, even without us doing serious hiking. We then drove to Bluff and checked in to the
Bluff Dwellings Resort and Spa which we again paid for with Delta Skymiles. We were booked for a King room on the second floor and there is no elevator. So we assumed that our luggage would be transported for us. But no such offer was made. Also, the resort has a surprisingly minimalist onsite restaurant. But it clearly is the best property in the Blanding/Bluff area.
On Wednesday, we went sightseeing in and around Bears Ears National Monument and Natural Bridges National Monument. The highlight was Valley of the Gods and the adjacent Moki Dugway.
https://www.utahscanyoncountry.com/T...h-Highway-261/ Stayed at the Bluff Resort again that night.
Thursday, we went visited the
fort in Bluff (highly recommended) and then drove to Mesa Verde National Park, which was excellent. Stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Cortez using hotel points. Your standard HIE. We got upgraded to a suite which had a second room with double bunk beds, which of course we had no use for. The hotel room seriously lacked power outlets. And the back door to the parking lot had stairs. So a below-average property for the HIE brand. It needs a major refresh.
Friday, we spent the morning at Canyons of the Ancients National Monument. Super excellent visitors center in Dolores. Doing the mile hike up to the excavated mesa behind the museum was well worth it. In the early afternoon, we went to Hovenweep National Monument. And then made the long drive home.
What this trip made apparent is how the Native American ruins at the various sites were all part of a large ecosystem a thousand or so years ago. Visiting as many of them as we could all in the same week worked out very well for understanding the big picture.
There were a few things that we had planned to do that we had to drop due to lack of time. We did not visit the Needles Unit of Canyonlands National Park. Nor did we visit two Utah state parks -- Goosenecks and Edge of the Cedars. We hope to see all of those on some future trip. Overall, it was a fun and relaxing getaway for us.