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exx1976 Did you ever get a chance to do this trip? I'm going in July and looking for tips!
It was amazing. We are already planning a 2 week trip back to just Moab for offroading.
As for advice... I don't even know where to start. We just went out in stock trim, so we stuck to simple trails. Still had an amazing time.
Most restaurants in town close at 9 or 10 pm, so plan accordingly. Stay away from the steakhouse that's across the street and down a half block from Hampton Inn. Overpriced, average food, ****** service.
The Ford dealer on the south end of town is friendly and reasonably priced, but doesn't stock anything for raptors.
On the FAR south end of town is an offroad shop. On the right hand side, they have a tall sign on a post with the letters you can swap out like the old burger joint style. Parked near the road are some large offroad rigs. They are a tour company, but also sell offroad gear. You'll know you're in the right place if behind the counter you find a crazy cute blonde with a nose ring and some ink who knows her shit about the local trails. Go there, tell her the dude with the stock black raptor sent you. They sell trail books for.. $30 maybe? I forget. They are great. There's 80 different area trails in them, full color photos, odometer checkpoints, trail descriptions, and difficulty ratings. We grabbed one of those books and it was awesome. Highly recommended for a first timer (like us).
Across from the Ford dealer is a grocery store. They have boars head lunch meat. Plan on packing lunches for trails, you won't want to waste time coming all the way back to town to eat between runs. There's also a Starbucks in there.
The Hampton Inn is clean, comfortable, and reasonably priced, all things considered. Fuel is a bit pricey.
If you're going to do arches, skip the lines and go in on willow creek road, north of the park entrance, right off 191. It's about an 8 mile trail, and nothing too crazy. You should still pay at the visitor's center on the way out (unless you have a pass).
If you're going to offroad in canyonlands, a daily permit is required. They are free, and are dated. Arches has no such requirement. Canyonlands has a LOT more trails in it though.
Get maps of the parks from either the visitor center or the main gate entry dude. Very helpful for locating trails, and general info.
If you're going to hike anything, plan to get up at the ASS crack of dawn, before it gets hot. It was 113 in Moab last Wednesday.
Take lots of water, and Gatorade. Take salty snacks like pretzels or combos or something.
Try not to **** yourself up too badly. Offroad recovery costs $200/hr, and the clock starts when the dude leaves the shop.