How to see Moab on the Cheap | Things to Do in Moab Utah | Cheap Family Adventures

this is sarah from legendary trails and today we're taking a break from our normal adventures to kind of give you a guide in case you ever want to do some of the things that we've done in the past and learn from our mistakes and we'll try to give you a little bit more about our experiences what can you do to save some money in the expensive land of moab well don't worry we're here to help you we're gonna help you understand how to do things on the cheap or possibly even free in moab utah you finally decided that it's time to take a trip to the famous moab utah however you didn't realize you'd be paying telluride prices well we're here to help the average cost for a hotel in moab utah depending on the season is around 186 dollars a night food on average depending on what you do is about 30 dollars per person per day and of course with inflation that's just can continue to go up so your average trip for moab for seven days is around two thousand forty seven dollars for a solo traveler three thousand seventy six dollars per couple or if you're a family of four sixty eight hundred dollars or more that's a lot of money if you ask me we're going to start with accommodations accommodations are something that you can either spend a lot of money on or not so much money on it just depends on what you are comfortable with spending and also where you're comfortable staying if you've never been to moab utah it is pretty much surrounded by desert all those pictures arches you see they are in the middle of the desert there is very little shade unless you are by the rivers so where does that leave you for accommodations you ask well choice number one which will save you the most money on your trip to moab utah is roughing it if you look at a map around moab utah there is ample amounts of blm land and forest land now you have to be careful and know what the regulations are for each of these areas however a lot of them offer free camping free camping usually for moa means no amenities no shade no bathrooms so you need to pack in what you bring and pack it out what does that really mean it means you can save a lot of money on accommodations on your trip which is really expensive as we discussed 186 dollars per night on a hotel yeah probably for me i'm gonna probably rough it now if you aren't comfortable with having less amenities and you want at least a bathroom there are some campsites which are first come first served typically that do offer restrooms and some even offer potable water those will run you on average around twenty dollars plus a night some will even range up to 56 dollars if you're gonna more koa and some are hundred dollars so you have to really shop around on those some of our favorite areas are along the colorado river either on off of potash road or off of the scenic byway but those fill up quickly so you do need to plan ahead and try to get in there during a weekday versus a weekend because if you get there on a weekday you're more likely to find a camping spot you don't want to totally rough it well there's a second option for you and it's called glamping now your glamping sites in moab will vary dramatically depending on what price range you're looking at there are several glamping options in the moab area some are small tents or they even have small cabins depending on what kind of glamping that you want to do there are different price points on average they start around 54 dollars per night and those are just for some basic content there are some though if you want to go to like canvas moab they will run you 339 dollars per night that's some expensive glamping after hearing those two other options you've pretty much decided that you don't want to rough it and you don't want to go glamping i totally understand sometimes it's just really nice to have a hotel right but moab prices oh man you could save some coin there so what are your options what's around the moab area and are you willing to drive if you are willing to drive you can save some serious money in this department of accommodations our first recommendation is the area of monticello utah well where is monticello you ask well it's about an hour south of moab utah and it's a cute little town has some restaurants and just a really nice small town feel for about an hour out of the way you're gonna be saving a lot of money just because you're willing to drive and also personally i believe it's a great launching point if you're going to do things on the south side of moab than being right in the center of everything so if you're going to be on the south side doing things like picture frame arch or the south side of canyonlands monticello is actually a better starting point for your trip well you don't want to hang out on the south side what about the north side do i have to stay in moab no you don't there is the tiny town of green river utah if you're there in the summer definitely pick up a green river watermelon trust me you won't regret it as far as staying there it's a great launching point off for the north side of moab and it's only about an hour out of the way it is off of i-70 so you can't miss it however one caveat with them is that the restaurant choices are a little bit more limited so you might want to plan ahead so you've decided where you're gonna stay well what is there to do in moab well when most people think about moab they think about arches national park and canyonlands while this park is truly spectacular and is a great place in high season now you will need a reservation to get in and sometimes even with your reservation the long lines of cars can be astronomical and finding parking at some of those famous arches like landscape arch and delicate arch can be nearly impossible you don't want to wait in those lines well don't worry we have some cheap options for you that are just as cool around the moab area our first recommendation is found kind of on the north west side of moab on the way to canyonlands and it's called tibbetts arch and what's great about it the price to visit it free yes i said free of course you know you got to pay for gas but it's free as far as you don't have to pay anything extra besides getting there this arch is a large arch and is sometimes called hell roaring arch because it sits above hell roaring canyon this hike is about a two mile round trip and will lead you to hell roaring canyon with its picturesque view and as well as the view of the arch across the way the next option is also another arch what arches outside of arches national park say it isn't so but it is one of our favorites is corona arch and it's right off of a historic scenic iowa as well which is also honorless but let's start with that arch it is a 2.4 mile heavily tracked out trail and is located on the south side of moab utah it's also along the colorado river so if you're camping down there it'll be nearby this trail is primarily used for hiking but it is allowed with dogs if you put them on the leash there is a small section of the trail they do have anchors in the rock for you to hold on to but as far as with children going it is something that a i would say a child depending on their hiking ability can do pretty easily the other thing about this just like tibbetts arches it's free don't you love free i love free so you're kind of tired of hiking you've hiked the other two and you want to just take kind of a historic break well the moab museum of film and western heritage at red cliffs ranch is a great opportunity and you guessed it it's free the museum celebrates moab's film heritage history which it's honestly an amazing place to go red cliffs ranch where it's located is spectacular by itself it is a place you can stay but depending on the season you're in it can be rather expensive however they offer horseback riding and other things but the museum they do offer for free it celebrates history of filmmaking around moab it is full of moab related from the old westerns to thelma and louise and city slickers as well as several commercials i highly recommend it if you're into film history if you visited the moab film museum that we just talked about you will be located on the colorado river scenic byway this is also a free option for you if you drive it it is amazing the views are amazing the upper colorado scenic byway is popular known as river road as it is described as one of the most interesting and breathtaking scenic byways imaginable we drive this way anytime we go to moab instead of taking interstate 70 because it is spectacular the views are always amazing each season is different so just because you've done it once doesn't mean you shouldn't do it again and also there's a lot of good hiking that's located off of there as well so you're driving the scenic byway and you want to do one of these hikes the one we can recommend that most people think is great is called fisher towers fisher towers is really an amazing great trail and it even offers many amazing views just from the parking lot it is family friendly dog friendly pretty much anybody who likes amazing views friendly and what's great about it is you don't have to complete the entire trail if you don't want to to get these amazing spectacular views it is truly an amazing hike that gives you a great view of this valley so scenic byway 279 historic rock art rock art right off the highway you say yes i do and again free why wouldn't you want to go see this it's right off the highway and if you did corona arch it's not that far away from that location you need to pull over on the side of the highway to get to this one i do recommend being careful crossing the highway to get to these rock art sites there's also popular climbing right there so if you're into climbing that is a great place to go climbing there are marked designated areas for that but the rock art itself is a little ways down from that there is a sign so look for the sign and you'll see it and then walk across the highway very carefully we don't want to just be an episode of frogger and when you get up to the rock site it's truly an amazing thing trust me you don't want to miss it so everything we've been offering so far for that's free is hiking what about you off-roaders out there like us isn't there some places that are pretty cool that maybe a stock vehicle can go on that i don't have to do hell's revenge or i have to do metal bender yes there are some great places that are free those are great free options as well health revenge isn't free but we'll get into that there are some great free options that don't require you getting uncomfortable this is your first time moab so we're going to start with one of the more popular ones and sadly you do have to pay a little smidgen of a fee for this one and i'm sorry this one is the san flats recreation area there's a small fee as i said it's about five dollars per vehicle per day and if you want to do camping there there is another fee for that it's about fifteen dollars per vehicle per day for up to five people for those camping sites so if you don't mind paying if you want to go four-wheeling in some of these historic areas it's a five dollar fee make sure to bring cash because a lot of times the kiosk isn't open and you'll have to actually just put it in the envelope so do not plan on bringing a credit card or big bills make sure to bring exact change for when you go in there just in case so if you go to the san flats recreation website you can look at a map and see what's available and also this is a great area to try out if you're comfortable with slick rock in general baby lion's back so if you stop at baby lion's back first you can see if you're comfortable with it at all because some people get on slick rock and it just isn't for them so it's a great way to test out your vehicle to see if your vehicle is capable of making some of those climbs before you want to tackle something harder like fins and things and hell's revenge if you're not comfortable with baby lion's back it's probably not advisable for you to do fins and things next on our recommendation list is tushar tunnel cuz your tunnel is one of our favorite places in moab utah it is located north west of moab itself and if you're careful you can get any stock 4x4 suv or truck into there tusher tunnel itself is an interesting geological feature a crack in the rock has allowed water to seep in until reaching a harder layer of rock where it met the harder rock it eroded a tunnel from one side of the cliff to the other thus creating a tunnel like structure the tunnel length itself is about 83 feet or more in length give or take and high enough that you can easily walk through those with a high clearance wheel four wheel drive vehicle can drive all the way to the tischer tunnel trail head and honestly you can make it it's not that bad of course use your own judgment just because we made it doesn't mean that you feel comfortable doing what how we've driven and how we've made it in the past but if you decide to hike because you're just not comfortable it's only about two miles to get to tischer tunnel from the main parking area so it's totally a doable hike or it's a doable off-road depending on what you plan on doing twist your tunnel is definitely a must-see on your list near the same area as tushar tunnel is another favorite of ours and it is called gemini bridges gemini bridges is an easy adventure that any family can enjoy this route is popular for mountain biking off-roading and hiking depending on what you would like to do personally we like to four-wheel into gemini bridges but really the trail itself not that bad it's something you can do in your stock suv a little ground clearance is helpful depending on the season and erosion but you can do it as long as you have decent four wheel drive i personally have seen subarus and vans in there and none of them have had any issues this is definitely something that almost anyone can do in the moab area but use caution when you do go to gemini bridges there have been people who have lost their lives because they have not been paying attention or they tried to jump the gap don't do this don't be that person that gets it shut down please be careful as you hike around these natural wonders the last one on our list and probably i don't know might be i think one of the better ones is picture frame arch and you guessed it picture frame arch is considered free there's nothing for you to pay in this area all you need to pay is for your gas maybe bring a sandwich or two because where you can go after picture frame arch it's definitely worth sitting and having a lunch i would say it's a lunch spot the trail to picture frame arch is short and it is mostly sandy and little rocky and uneven in places it also is a short trail and any stock 4x4 vehicle with good ground clearance is capable of making it to the back side of the arch so you've seen picture frame arch but you're looking for just a little bit more well if you continue down the trail you can reach a spectacular overlook now to get your vehicle down to the overlook most of the trail is pretty easy however there is a section of steps and depending on how much erosion there has been it can be rather difficult we made it down in our 98 f-150 be advised that if you are a longer wheel based vehicle you will have a difficult time getting down the steps when we took our 2017 toyota tundra we made sure to just park on the truck after attempting the steps and changing our minds and just walking down to the overlook the overlook overviews cane creek canyon and this is what i call a lunch spot so that is it for our cheap slash free ways to do moab utah we hope you enjoyed the advice and can use some of it some of it's for some people and not for others but if you enjoyed this video please like subscribe and share with your friends and we hope to see you soon bye for now [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Legendary Trails

Views: 2,909

Keywords: Moab, Moab Utah, Cheap things in Moab, Cheap Things Near Moab, Things to Do Near Moab, Free Things in Moab, Family Adventure in Moab, Camping in Moab

Id: 0GOBb_Oz2Bc

Length: 16min 41sec (1001 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 01 2022