Explore Moab, Utah, one of the top destinations 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 lot of activities, either day or night.

This image of Andy Lewis that loomed against a full moon took four months to make. “Even with all the technology we could get, it was about going there, exploring and seeing what was in line,” says photographer Renan Ozturk, who pointed his camera more than a mile away. to frame Lewis ’photo on a slackline (a length of fabric that hangs in the air). When the weather, people and the moon finally lined up, “we only had a window of about 30 seconds to capture the moment.”

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

With three designated dark-skinned international parks less than an hour’s drive from Moab, those who can’t see the Milky Way from home (most Americans) can get their star there. In Arches and Canyonlands National Parks and Dead Horse Point State Park, visitors can see thousands of stars visible to the naked eye, compared to the few dozen at most visible from a large city. To help maintain these stellar sights, Moab has strengthened its ordinances against light pollution.

Surrounded by public land with Jurassic-era sand dunes resisting cliffs and titanium-tinted needles, Moab attracts adventurers and nature lovers who want to interact with the elements. Activities range from mainstream (rafting, biking, hiking) to the 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: Approximate length, in feet, of the loose line shown above

More than 300: Age of the oldest rock layers, in millions of years, in Canyonlands National Park

More than 2,000: Number of arches in Arches National Park