Moab is a small town in southeastern Utah, known for its dramatic scenery and incredible National Parks.
Last month I spent five days in Moab with four girlfriends and I fell in love with the mesmerizing, otherwordly landscapes, the peacefulness of the desert, and the amazing hiking trails.
Moab is arguably one of the best hiking destinations in the United States, making it the perfect place for a girls getaway!
Safety First
2020 has obviously been a challenging year to travel. As both a traveler and someone who works in the travel industry, finding a way to travel safely is a top priority for me.
This is why Moab is so appealing. By renting an AirBnB on this trip, and sticking to outdoor activities we were able to limit our personal risk and our risk to others.
Also, Utah is accessible by car from everywhere in the United States making Moab a great girls getaway destination in a climate where safety must come first.
It’s up to all of us to minimize risk by traveling responsibly and wearing a mask. Thank you for doing your part!
Where to Stay
The Petroglyph House is where my friends and I stayed during our girls getaway. It is a spacious home in a picturesque location, set up against a mountain range, offering phenomenal views of Moab’s red rocks.
It has a large kitchen with plenty of counter space which worked great for our girls getaway. We cooked a healthy dinner here together every night and had plenty of space.
This home is also in a good location, close to downtown Moab, and close to all the nearby national parks which was key for us since we were hiking every day.
- Sleeps: 16 guests
- Size: 7 bedrooms / 7 beds / 4 baths
- Price: Starting from $850/night
I also put together a list of the 5 Best AirBnBs in Moab so that you can quickly and easily look through the top rental options that would work for a girls getaway!
Moab Outdoor Activities
There are an array of outdoor and adventure activities to do in Moab making it perfect for a girls getaway!
Some of these fun activities include: hiking, horseback riding, moon and star walks, national park tours, UTV tours, jeep tours, ancient art tours, skydiving, hot air ballooning, helicopter tours, paddle boarding, jet boat tours, kayaking, mountain biking and rock climbing!
With so much to do in Moab, you could easily spend weeks there. On our girls getaway we were in Moab for just five nights and mostly spent our days hiking, but we also did one off roading adventure.
We booked a sunset hummer off-road safari through Moab Adventure Center. It was $130 per person and was about three hours long, and so much fun!
I had no idea that we were going to be driving our hummer on top of huge rocks! It was exciting and a little scary (it feels like you are going to flip over) and we spent most of the tour screaming like little girls!
I also loved that the end of the off-roading trail is a lookout point at the Colorado River, where you arrive just before sunset to take in the incredible views.
Where to Hike in Moab
Moab boats two of Utah’s five National Parks: Canyonlands and Arches. Both of these parks and incredible and not to be missed and offer strikingly different scenery.
At Canyonlands National Park you’ll hike at the edge of expansive canyons taking in sweeping views. At Arches National Park you’ll feel like an ant on mars as you hike through other wordly rock formations.
Arches National Park
Bordered by the Colorado River in the southeast, Arches National Park is known for its more than 2,000 natural sandstone arches, such as the famed Delicate Arch in the east.
The first hike we did on our girls getaway to Moab was a sunrise hike to Delicate Arch. Delicate Arch trail is a three mile, moderately easy hike.
We left our AirBnB at 5:30am in order to make it to Delicate Arch by sunrise. This paid off because despite this being one of the busier hikes due to its accessibility, there were only handful of other people there when we arrived.
Also, if you make it into the park before it opens you don’t have to pay the park entrance fee!
Another must do trail in Arches National Park is Devils Garden Loop Trail. This trail is about 8 miles long, accessible year-round, and is designated as “hard” although I personally did not find it that difficult.
It is a long hike, which is tiring and there are some places you have to make short climbs up and down rocks, but besides that it was, in my opinion, fairly easy hiking most of the way.
The scenery on this hike is incredible. You climb over and walk next to huge red rocks with panoramic 360 degree views.
Canyonlands National Park
Canyonlands National Park preserves 337,598 acres of colorful canyons, mesas, fins, buttes, spires and arches in the heart of Utah’s high desert.
Canyonlands has four districts which are divided by the Green River and the Colorado River. Island in the sky is closest to Moab and is the most popular district but The Needles district, while a little bit of a trek, is well worth the drive and great for a day trips.
On our first day hiking in Canyonlands we did a sunrise hike to Mesa Arch in the Island in the Sky district.
Mesa Arch Trail is a .7 mile very easy, looped hike so even though we left our AirBnB by 5:30am by the time we got their for sunrise it was already pretty crowded with tourists.
Mesa Arch was strikingly beautiful despite the crowd and still a must visit.
This trail is also the perfect place to wander off and find a quiet place to sit and journal and take in the incredible canyon views.
After Mesa Arch, we did the nearby Grand View Point Hiking Trail. It’s an easy 1.8 mile looped hike offering more sweeping canyon views and great photo ops.
We didn’t see much wildlife in Moab but at the end of this hike we made friends with a kangaroo mouse and a giant black Raven, who both came to to sit by us while we ate our snacks, hoping to get some crumbs.
Mesa Arch and Grand view point were short easy hikes, so after those we had time to do one more nearby hike. We chose the Upheavil Dome Trail which was incredible.
Upheaval Dome Trail is a moderately easy, 1.8 mile looped hike and one of my favorite hikes that we did on this trip. The scenery on this hike is strikingly different from all the other trails in Moab.
This trail offers views of a spectacular geological formation – a mile-wide crater that might have been caused caused by a salt dome that originated from within the earth, or a meteorite that created a big splash of minerals when it hit.
By far my favorite hike on our girls getaway to Moab was the Chelser Park Loop Trail located in the Needles district of Canyonlands National Park.
Chelser Park Loop Trail is a 10.4 mile looped hike rated as “moderately difficult” but I would consider it difficult purely from the fact that it takes around five hours to complete this hike.
We left our AirBnB around 5:30am to get here because Needles is a bit of a trek from Moab but it was worth it because there were only a couple of people on the trail until the late afternoon when we were heading back.
Afterwards you’ll be exhausted and likely have blisters but it will be well worth it. The terrain on this hike makes you feel like you’ve arrived on Mars. It is rugged, strikingly beautiful, and otherwordly.
There are stunning orange and white rock formations, breathtaking valleys and an incredible crevasse passageway between giant rock boulders!
And this day hike is the perfect way to disconnect. There is no cell service which helps you to be present, connect with nature, and enjoy your beautiful surroundings!
Moab Hiking Tips
I recommend buying hiking boots and wearing them for all the hikes in Moab, so that you don’t slip on when your climbing on rocks or roll an ankle. I didn’t have proper hiking boots so I bought this pair of hiking boots on Amazon for our trip.
You will also need a small backpack with a water bladder to ensure you stay hydrated and plan to pack snacks and lunch if you do the Chelser Park Loop Trail.
Also be sure to follow the cairn hiking markers made of stacked rocks which are on all the hiking trails in Moab. This is important for several reasons – so you don’t go off the trail and disturb preserved wild space and animal habitats, and also so you don’t get lost.
We almost got lost several times on the Chelser Park Loop Trail but luckily there were cairns everywhere to guide us.
Where to Eat in Moab
In order to minimize our contact with people outside of our group we cooked dinner at our AirBnB every night, but we did have two great lunches out, while we were in Moab.
Sorrel River Ranch & Spa is a little bit of a trek from town, but well worth the (beautiful) drive to have a peaceful lunch overlooking the Colorado River.
They have excellent salads and burgers, along with local beers and craft cocktails, and there is a cute general store on the property where you can pick up gifts or souvenirs.
If you’re looking for a healthy lunch or dinner spot in downtown try 98 Center Moab. They had an array of yummy vegetarian and vegan options! The veggie nachos and vegan pho were delicious!
After four days of hiking we wanted to end our girls getaway on a sweet note so we headed to Doughbird in downtown Moab, which we heard had the best donuts and cronuts in town.
Sadly, we arrived to find Doughbird closed but when five girls are desperate for donuts nothing is going to stop them. So we drove around town until we found ‘The Donut Shop‘ which turned out to be pretty good (is there such thing as a bad donut?), and a great way to end our girls getaway to Moab!
We hope that this article has helped inspire you to visit Moab. If you have any questions about the destination or have your own travel tips to share please leave these in the comments below.
Want to share your own travel tips by guest writing for We Are Travel Girls? Go to our Contribute page for guidelines and to submit your article.
Read More About Utah
- The 5 Best AirBnBs in Moab, Utah
- 6 Best Utah Trails For Solo Female Hikers
- The Best AirBnBs in Park City, Utah
Book Your Stay In Moab
- Explore the best AirBnBs in Moab
We Are Travel Girls Co-Founder Vanessa Rivers
Connect with Vanessa Website | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube
Pin For Later
This article may contain affiliate links, if you purchase something using one of our links we may receive a commission. As an Airbnb Associate, I may earn a fee when you book from this page. Please see our Disclosures for more information.
Tamara says
Thanks for the great tips, Vanessa! Looks like you had a blast – The views and sights there are spectacular, aren’t they? My husband and I are heading on a Utah road trip (including Moab) tomorrow. I’m sure we will do some of the same hikes early morning or sunset.