Swimming

Palisade Basecamp RV Resort

66 RV Sites

Palisade Basecamp RV Resort in Palisade, Colorado, offers 66 full-hookup RV sites on 14 acres along the Colorado River, with 20, 30, and 50-amp service and rigs accepted to 62 feet. Site names tell you what you are booking — River Bluff, Vineyard, Deluxe, and Premium in both back-in and pull-through — in the heart of Colorado wine country. Sixty-six sites carry water, sewer, and electric on 20, 30, and 50-amp, split between back-in and pull-through configurations sized to 62 feet. Deluxe, Premium, Vineyard, and River Bluff categories differ by position on the property rather than hookup type. A general store, propane fills, laundry, restrooms, showers, and a dump station cover the practical side, and WiFi reaches the sites. Check-in is 1pm, check-out 11am, with quiet hours from 10pm to 8am; river-bottom sites check in at the main office. On-site amenities are geared to guests who spend their days out. A dog park, playground, and game room serve families and pets, and hiking, biking, swimming, paddle boats, and horseshoes run from the property. The 14-acre scale keeps the resort compact and walkable. Pets are welcome. Palisade's wine district holds more than 30 estate wineries within a short drive, and the Grand Valley's peach orchards make it the most productive fruit-growing area in the Rocky Mountain West. The Colorado River runs along the property for paddling and fishing, Colorado National Monument's canyons are close, and Grand Mesa is an easy day trip. The resort operates through the western Colorado season. Peach harvest and the fall wine calendar make late summer and early autumn the busiest stretch — book well ahead for September and October weekends.

from $84/night

Meadows of San Juan Resort

In the wide-open ranching landscape of the Uncompahgre Valley in western Colorado, Meadows of San Juan Resort in Montrose offers a full-service destination that serves as a natural gateway to some of the most spectacular canyon and mountain scenery in the American West. With 120 RV sites and a diverse range of lodging options including lodges, premium cabins, and rustic cabins, the resort scales comfortably from weekend getaways to month-long snowbird stays. Montrose itself occupies a strategic position in western Colorado—a working city surrounded by dramatic public lands that most travelers rush past without stopping to explore. The resort's Country Barn Guest Center anchors the communal experience, housing billiards, cornhole, ping pong, board games, and a new pickleball court. A seasonal indoor/outdoor pool keeps guests cool through Colorado's warm summer afternoons, and a bark park, horseshoes, and shuffleboard round out the outdoor recreation options. A fitness center, game room, general store, laundry, and full shower facilities handle daily practicalities, and the gathering hall and scheduled summer activities foster the social community that makes longer stays at a well-run resort genuinely enjoyable. The resort accommodates 50-amp service and features a dump station for self-contained travelers. Montrose sits at 5,800 feet in the Uncompahgre Valley, where the plateau and canyon country of the Colorado Plateau meets the western flanks of the San Juan Mountains to the south and east. The Uncompahgre River drains northward through the valley in a corridor of cottonwood and willow that softens the high-desert landscape and provides excellent habitat for birding and fishing. The valley's agricultural heritage—peach orchards, livestock operations, and hay meadows—gives the surrounding landscape an unhurried, ranching character that provides a welcome contrast to the dramatic canyon scenery that begins just outside of town. Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, roughly 15 miles east of Montrose, presents one of the most dramatic and least-visited canyon experiences in the national park system—sheer dark walls dropping 2,000 feet to the Gunnison River in a chasm so narrow that some sections receive only 33 minutes of sunlight per day. Ouray, 35 miles south on the Million Dollar Highway, is Colorado's "Switzerland of America"—a hot-spring town encircled by 13,000-foot peaks and accessible via one of the most scenic drives in the state. The Blue Mesa Reservoir, Colorado's largest body of water, provides fishing and boating within easy range, and Telluride's ski resort and mountain town are under 80 miles southwest. Spring and summer are prime exploration seasons from Meadows of San Juan, with wildflowers carpeting the mountain meadows and long days allowing extended exploration of the park and canyon country. Fall color in the San Juans arrives brilliantly in late September and early October, and the resort's central position gives easy access to multiple color destinations within a single day. Winter visitors find a quieter resort at reduced rates, with cross-country skiing in the San Juans and the perpetually dramatic scenery of Black Canyon available year-round. Reserve your site or cabin at Meadows of San Juan Resort and experience western Colorado's astonishing landscape from the comfort of a full-service base camp.

Camp Eddy

Camp Eddy sits within Las Colonias Park on the banks of the Colorado River in Grand Junction, Colorado—a modern RV and tiny home resort that opened in 2022 with a design philosophy built around the river rather than against it, positioning guests on the Colorado's shore with direct water access for paddleboarding, swimming, and kayaking in a park environment that also includes a paved river bikeway, an outdoor amphitheater half a mile upstream, and the walkable trail infrastructure of Las Colonias Park throughout the property's immediate surroundings. The combination of the river, the park, and the resort's well-designed communal spaces makes Camp Eddy one of the most thoughtfully conceived new RV properties in western Colorado. Full hookup RV sites with water, electric, and sewer run alongside the resort's modern amenity cluster: the Hub—a communal living room with games, TV, lounge furniture, and free coffee, tea, and hot cocoa—a riverside patio for outdoor gathering, a camp store, laundry with modern machines, private shower facilities, a fitness and weight room, and a dog park. A community fire pit and boat ramp serve evening gathering and river access respectively, and walking trails from the property connect to the broader Las Colonias Park trail network. The riverside patio overlooking the Colorado River is the social center of the property, positioned to make the most of the river views and the morning and evening light across the Grand Valley. The Colorado River at Grand Junction runs through the final stretch of the Grand Valley before entering the canyons that ultimately feed Lake Powell—a section of the river that the Las Colonias Park's whitewater park improvements have enhanced with paddling features that make the in-town river reach productive for kayakers and SUP paddlers who want moving water without committing to a full river trip. The paved riverside bikeway connects Camp Eddy to Las Colonias Park's outdoor amphitheater within a half-mile walking or biking distance, creating a combined camp and live music infrastructure that makes summer evenings at the property particularly appealing. Colorado National Monument is 15 minutes from the campground, with its 23-mile Rim Rock Drive traversing the dramatic sandstone canyon rim above Grand Junction in a self-contained scenic experience that can be completed as a morning or afternoon day trip before returning to the river for the afternoon. The Palisade wine country east of Grand Junction—over two dozen wineries operating in the Grand Valley AVA's hot days and cold nights high desert viticulture environment—provides tasting room touring within easy driving distance. Grand Mesa National Forest, the world's largest flat-topped mountain at over 10,000 feet, rises to the east and provides the full range of alpine outdoor recreation from hiking and mountain biking to fishing in the mesa's numerous high lakes. Camp Eddy operates through the Colorado camping season, typically spring through fall, in a high desert climate where Grand Junction's long summer days and consistently warm temperatures make the Colorado River access and the pool-free cooling option of river swimming particularly valuable. The bikeway, the amphitheater, the whitewater park, and the wine country make it a compelling multi-day stay destination rather than simply a corridor stop, and the design quality of the Hub and riverside patio infrastructure gives the property a social character that isolated full hookup parks cannot replicate.

from $28/night

Canyon View RV Resort

72 RV Sites, 2 Cabins, 1 Park Model

Canyon View RV Resort in Grand Junction, Colorado, offers 72 full-hookup RV sites and three cabin and park model units at the base of the Colorado Plateau, with 20, 30, and 50-amp service, ADA-accessible sites, and rigs accepted to 77 feet on a big-rig-friendly layout. A camper van category and an extra-long pull-through with a dog run join double-wide pull-through and deluxe ADA back-in tiers. Seventy-two sites span camper van, deluxe back-in, deluxe ADA back-in, double wide pull-thru, and extra-long pull-thru with dog run categories, all carrying water, sewer, and electric on 20, 30, and 50-amp with site WiFi, sized to 77 feet, with fire pits and picnic tables. Three categories are genuinely uncommon: a dedicated camper van tier, a double-wide pull-through, and a pull-through with a private dog run. Three cabins and park models round out the lodging. A general store, laundry, restrooms, and showers handle the practical side. A splash pad and hot tub and spa anchor the property, with a clubhouse, game room, pavilion, on-site dining, playground, pickleball, volleyball, basketball, billiards, and corn hole filling the grounds. Hiking, biking, picnicking, wine and beer tasting, a golf course, and skiing are all nearby. The Grand Valley widens here between the Book Cliffs and the red sandstone of Colorado National Monument — one of the most geologically spectacular positions of any RV resort in the West. Spring and fall are peak on the Western Slope. Reserve well ahead.

from $40/night

Monument RV Resort

82 RV Sites

Monument RV Resort sits at 607 Highway 340 in Fruita, Colorado, across the street from the Dinosaur Journey Museum and James M. Robb Colorado River State Park—and two miles from the west entrance to Colorado National Monument—claiming what is genuinely the most conveniently positioned campground for the Grand Junction region's most distinctive natural and cultural attractions. The resort's combination of proximity, full amenities, and accommodation range from 95-foot pull-throughs to log cabins has made it one of the most consistently well-regarded RV parks in western Colorado. The resort offers 75 full hookup sites with pull-through positions accommodating the largest rigs on the road, plus tent sites and small rustic log cabins with heating and air conditioning, porch swings, picnic tables, mini-fridges, and microwaves for guests who want shelter without setting up camp. Amenities include a seasonal swimming pool, hot tub, playground, dog park, coin laundry, dump station, general store, cable TV, WiFi, showers, and propane fills—a comprehensive roster for a campground serving both overnight travelers on I-70 and multi-day visitors using the park as a base for Colorado National Monument and Grand Junction area recreation. Good Verizon cell service throughout the property has been noted as a consistent positive by traveling remote workers. Fruita sits at the western edge of the Grand Valley where the Colorado River exits the dramatic canyon country of the Colorado Plateau and widens into the broad agricultural valley that Grand Junction anchors. The town has developed a specific outdoor recreation identity around mountain biking—the 18 Road trail system north of Fruita is consistently ranked among the premier desert mountain biking destinations in the American West, with trails crossing the Bookcliff terrain above the valley that offer everything from beginner-friendly loops to technical descent lines. Fruita's downtown has evolved to serve this mountain biking culture with outfitters, craft beer, and the kind of trail-focused retail that mountain biking destinations attract. Colorado National Monument, two miles from the resort via the west entrance, protects 20,000 acres of the Colorado Plateau's most dramatic erosional landscape—sheer-walled red sandstone canyons carved by Monument Creek and its tributaries into formations that rise 500 to 700 feet above the canyon floors. The Rim Rock Drive, a 23-mile scenic road that traverses the monument's rim, provides access to overlooks above Ute Canyon, Red Canyon, and Columbus Canyon with views extending across the Grand Valley to the Book Cliffs and the plateau country beyond. The Dinosaur Journey Museum, directly across the street from the resort, provides one of the best regional natural history museum experiences in Colorado for a campground-adjacent cultural stop. Monument RV Resort is open year-round in a Colorado high desert climate where summer temperatures regularly exceed 95 degrees—the pool and hot tub become essential summer amenities—but spring and fall deliver the exceptional conditions for national monument hiking, road cycling, and mountain biking that draw the most dedicated outdoor recreation visitors. The I-70 corridor location makes it a natural stop for travelers crossing western Colorado, and the combination of monument access, Fruita mountain biking, and the Grand Junction wine country provides enough activities for a multi-day stay built around a single well-positioned campsite.

from $62 $54/night

HTR Moab Lodge & Cottages

6 Tent Sites, 13 Glamping Sites, 19 Cottages, 9 Motel Rooms

Perched in the high desert terrain just outside downtown Moab, Utah, HTR Moab Lodge & Cottages offers one of the most diverse accommodation rosters of any camping property in canyon country—combining vacation rental cottages, lodge rooms, safari tents with queen beds, and traditional tent sites under a single property with shared amenities and a community-first atmosphere. The location at the convergence of Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, world-class mountain biking terrain, and the Colorado River corridor places HTR Moab at the center of Utah's most in-demand outdoor destination. The property's lodging options span a wide range of comfort levels, from deluxe vacation rental cottages with full furnishings to safari tents equipped with queen beds, motion-sensor lighting, and sweeping desert views that bring glamping-style amenities into an outdoor setting. Lodge rooms and traditional tent sites fill out the accommodation spectrum, giving groups with different preferences the ability to stay together under one property. Modern bathrooms and deluxe showers, a well-stocked general store, and EV charging stations address everyday practical needs without requiring a separate drive into town for supplies or services. The community kitchen is among the property's most distinctive features—an open, shared cooking space that naturally brings guests together at the end of days spent in the canyons, fostering the informal social dynamic that distinguishes HTR Moab from a conventional campground or standard hotel stay. The setting encourages connections between travelers, and the shared spaces create an atmosphere well suited to solo travelers and groups who value the social dimension of a stay alongside the outdoor recreation that defines the Moab area. Biking, bird-watching, boating on the Colorado River, and stargazing in Moab's dark desert skies round out the activity options accessible from the property. Arches National Park, with its iconic sandstone formations including Delicate Arch and the Windows Section, is the most visited destination near the property, while Canyonlands National Park's Island in the Sky district offers mesa-top overlooks above the Green and Colorado River confluence. Downtown Moab is minutes away for dining, outfitter rentals, bike shop services, and resupply, and the surrounding canyon country trail network—spanning slickrock routes, desert hiking paths, and river put-ins along the Colorado—is one of the most extensive in the American Southwest. HTR Moab Lodge & Cottages draws visitors across an extended season, with spring and fall representing the most comfortable windows for outdoor activity in the desert. Summer brings intense heat requiring early morning starts for hiking and biking, while cooler months make the canyon landscape particularly vivid under low-angle light. Reservations for cottages and safari tents should be secured well in advance for spring and fall weekends, as peak-season demand from national park visitors frequently fills the property ahead of arrival dates. Guests arriving by electric vehicle will find the on-site EV charging stations a practical convenience in a destination where many visitors log significant daily mileage between trailheads and canyon viewpoints.

from $39/night

Sun Outdoors Moab Downtown

96 RV Sites, 8 Cabins, 26 Tent Sites

Sun Outdoors Moab Downtown offers 96 RV sites, eight cabins, and 26 tent sites in the heart of Moab, Utah, with 30 and 50-amp service, cable TV, and a splash pad — all pull-through configurations. One detail to check before booking: sites are sized to 37 feet, which is short for a Moab base, so confirm your rig fits. Ninety-six sites run in premium pull-through, 30/50-amp pull-through, 30-amp pull-through, water-and-electric pull-through, and combined water-and-electric RV/tent configurations, sized to 37 feet, with cable TV, site WiFi, and picnic tables. Eight cabins and 26 tent sites round out the accommodations. A general store, propane fills and exchange, laundry, dump station, restrooms, showers, and firewood handle the practical side. The property was formerly Canyonlands RV Resort & Campground. An outdoor pool and splash pad anchor the recreation, with a playground, pavilion, dog park, and community fire pit across the grounds and planned activities through the season. The downtown position is the real amenity — restaurants, outfitters, and shops are walkable rather than a drive away, which matters after a long day in the parks. Pets are welcome. Moab sits between Arches and Canyonlands National Parks in Grand County, where the Colorado River has cut through Entrada and Navajo Sandstone to create the densest concentration of arch, canyon, and mesa geology in the American Southwest. The central location minimizes driving to both park entrances, and off-roading is immediately available. The resort is open all year. Spring and fall are peak in Moab, when temperatures suit hiking — reserve well ahead for March through May and September through October.

from $19/night

Sun Outdoors North Moab

124 RV Sites, 51 Tent Sites, 14 Cottages

Sun Outdoors North Moab in Utah offers 124 RV sites, 14 cottages, and 51 tent sites across ten acres of mature shade trees, with 20, 30, and 50-amp full hookups, cable TV, and rigs accepted to 50 feet. Elite, deluxe, and cozy pull-through categories join extra-long and premium wide back-in sites ten miles from Arches National Park. One hundred twenty-four sites span back-in 20-amp water-and-electric, cozy pull-through, deluxe pull-through, elite pull-through, extra long back-in, and premium wide back-in categories, carrying water, sewer, and electric where noted with cable TV, sized to 50 feet. The extra-long and premium wide categories are worth requesting if you need the room. Fourteen cottages and 51 tent sites round out the lodging. A general store, laundry, dump station, restrooms, and showers handle the practical side. The property was formerly Slickrock Campground. An outdoor pool anchors the property, with a community fire pit, playground, and dog park filling the grounds. Hot air ballooning runs nearby. Pets are welcome. The address is among the most coveted in the American Southwest — walking distance to the Colorado River, minutes from downtown Moab's breweries and restaurants, and ten miles from the Arches entrance, with Canyonlands not much farther. Spring and fall are peak in Moab, when the desert is comfortable and the parks are busiest. Reserve well ahead for March through May and September through October.

from $42/night

Village Camp Moab

87 RV Sites, 3 Cabins, 2 Cottages, 4 Houses

Village Camp Moab in Utah offers 87 full-hookup RV sites and nine cabin, cottage, and house units minutes from Arches National Park, with 30 and 50-amp service, cable TV, ADA-accessible sites, and rigs accepted to 80 feet. Elite pull-in, premium back-in with pergola, and deluxe categories join a pool, hot tub, fitness center, and clubhouse. Eighty-seven sites span deluxe back-in, deluxe pull-through, premium back-in, premium back-in with pergola, elite back-in, and elite pull-in categories, all carrying water, sewer, and electric on 30 and 50-amp with cable TV and site WiFi, sized to 80 feet. The pergola sites are the standout — genuine shade structures, which in the Moab desert is worth more than almost any other upgrade. Accessible sites are available. Nine cabins, cottages, and houses round out the lodging. A laundry, restrooms, and showers handle the practical side. An outdoor pool and hot tub and sauna anchor the property, with a fitness center, clubhouse, boutique shop, on-site dining, sports courts, pickleball, corn hole, a pond, and dog park filling the grounds. Hiking, biking, boating, paddle boarding, and a state park are all close. Pets are welcome. The property sits on the south side of the Colorado River, minutes from the Arches entrance — the closest full-service RV and cabin resort to the park, with Canyonlands and the Moab slickrock beyond. Spring and fall are peak in Moab. Reserve well ahead for March through May and September through October.

from $71/night

Sun Outdoors Arches Gateway

84 RV Sites, 33 Cabins, 3 Tent Sites, 3 Cottages, 8 Airstreams

Sun Outdoors Arches Gateway in Moab, Utah, offers 84 RV sites, 36 cabin and cottage units, three tent sites, and eight Airstreams five miles from Arches National Park, with 20, 30, and 50-amp full hookups, cable TV, and rigs accepted to 45 feet. A premium covered full-hookup tent and van category joins deluxe and premium pull-through tiers, with a pool and hot tub. Eighty-four sites span standard, deluxe pull-thru 30/50-amp, premium pull-thru 30/50-amp, small RV/deluxe tent, and premium covered full-hookup tent/van categories, carrying water, sewer, and electric with cable TV and site WiFi, sized to 45 feet, with picnic tables and BBQ pits. Two categories are worth knowing about: the covered tent and van sites give shade in a place where shade is scarce, and the small RV/deluxe tent tier right-sizes for van travelers. Thirty-six cabins and cottages, three tent sites, and eight Airstreams round out an unusually varied lodging inventory. A general store, laundry, restrooms, and showers handle the practical side. The property was formerly Moab Valley RV Resort & Campground. An outdoor pool and hot tub and sauna anchor the property, with a playground, pavilion, and dog park filling the grounds. Hot air ballooning runs nearby. Pets are welcome. Arches protects more than 2,000 natural stone arches, the largest concentration anywhere, with Canyonlands stretching beyond. Spring and fall are peak in Moab. Reserve well ahead.

from $22/night

River Dance RV Resort

39 RV Sites

On the banks of the Eagle River in Gypsum, Colorado—in the broad valley between the Flat Tops Wilderness and the southern edge of the White River National Forest, 20 minutes west of Vail and 15 minutes east of Glenwood Springs—River Dance RV Resort occupies a riverside position in one of Colorado's most recreationally rich mountain valleys, offering full hookup sites with private Eagle River frontage for fishing, tubing, and kayaking alongside a resort amenity package that includes a swimming pool, hot tub, fitness center, dog park, and clubhouse in a setting where the Vail Valley's extraordinary outdoor recreation inventory is immediately and easily accessible. For Colorado Rockies travelers who want a Vail Valley experience without Vail prices, Gypsum's Eagle River corridor delivers the mountain landscape and the river access without the resort town premium. Full hookup sites with 30 and 50-amp electric service, water, and sewer provide the practical infrastructure alongside flat, stable pads and WiFi connectivity throughout the property. A general store, laundry, clean bathrooms and showers, and walking trails complete the on-site amenity set. The private Eagle River frontage is the resort's most distinctive feature—guests can fish for the brown and rainbow trout that the Eagle River supports in the stretches above Gypsum from directly behind their sites, and kayaking, tubing, and wading are available without driving to a separate access point. A Park & Porch tiny home village on the property extends accommodation options beyond traditional RV sites for guests who want a more permanent-feeling structure. Gypsum sits in Eagle County in the Eagle River Valley, where the river's lower reach flows through a broader agricultural and residential valley before joining the Colorado River at the town of Eagle. The surrounding landscape transitions between the sagebrush and pinyon-juniper hillsides of the valley floor and the spruce-fir forests that begin at higher elevations in the adjacent national forest. The valley's characteristic warm, dry Colorado summer climate—sunny days, cool nights, and the dry air that makes Colorado's heat genuinely comfortable—makes the Eagle River corridor one of the most pleasant outdoor recreation environments in the Rocky Mountain region. Vail, 20 minutes east on Interstate 70, provides year-round destination recreation: world-class skiing and snowboarding on Vail Mountain in winter, and the summer transformation into hiking, mountain biking on the Epic Discovery network, the Vail Gondola providing summit access, and the Betty Ford Alpine Gardens—the highest public botanical garden in North America. Glenwood Springs, 15 minutes west, offers the world-famous Glenwood Hot Springs pool—the largest natural hot springs pool in the world—and Glenwood Canyon's extraordinary scenery on the Colorado River. River Dance operates year-round in a Colorado mountain valley that provides genuine recreational appeal in every season—skiing and snowshoeing in winter, the Eagle River's peak fishing and paddling in spring and summer, Vail's mountain biking and hiking in summer, and the remarkable fall foliage of the aspen forests turning gold throughout Eagle County from mid-September through early October. Reserve your Eagle River site at River Dance and let the Vail Valley's mountain recreation and the river running outside your door make this Gypsum campground the Colorado basecamp you'll return to every season.

from $70/night

Sun Outdoors Canyonlands Gateway

77 RV Sites, 18 Cabins, 15 Tent Sites, 3 Cottages

At 13701 US Highway 191 in Moab, Utah—in Grand County where the Colorado River cuts through Canyonlands' uplift in the canyon system that has produced the most visually dramatic landscape in the American West, where Arches National Park's 2,000 documented natural sandstone arches rise from the red rock plateau above town, and where the mountain biking, whitewater rafting, four-wheel-drive, and hiking culture of the Colorado Plateau's outdoor recreation economy has made Moab the most visited small city in Utah—Sun Outdoors Canyonlands Gateway provides full hookup RV sites with sites up to 110 feet, an on-site gas station, a general store, a swimming pool with a splash pad, and the comprehensive site infrastructure that Moab's year-round visitor market and its frequent afternoon heat make essential for comfortable multi-day stays at the gateway to two national parks. The on-site gas station alone changes the morning logistics for guests departing for Arches or Canyonlands with a large rig. Deluxe and extra-large RV sites with full hookup service—30 and 50-amp electric, water, and sewer—on leveled gravel pads accommodate rigs from 40 to 110 feet, covering the full spectrum of current motorhome and fifth-wheel lengths. Picnic tables, charcoal grills, cable television, and WiFi are included at each site. Primitive tent sites with picnic tables, charcoal grills, cable, and WiFi, plus water spigots and access to the shared bathhouses, provide the lower-cost camping option. Camping cabins with two full-size beds, heating and air conditioning, linens, and cable and WiFi give guests without RVs the enclosed accommodation option. A swimming pool with an adjacent splash pad provides the afternoon heat relief that Moab's summer temperatures—regularly exceeding 100 degrees from June through August—make genuinely necessary for guests planning to spend mornings in the parks and afternoons at the campground. An on-site gas station, general store, laundry facilities, propane service, multiple picnic areas with fire pits, and covered pavilions with BBQ grills complete the resort's full-service infrastructure. Arches National Park, accessible from the resort within minutes on US 191 north, provides the sandstone arch concentration that has made Moab internationally recognizable—Delicate Arch's 65-foot span above the Colorado River canyon appearing in virtually every piece of Utah promotional material since Edward Abbey's Desert Solitaire popularized the Arches landscape in 1968. The park's 2,000-plus documented natural arches, fins, and balanced rocks are accessible on the park road with developed trailheads ranging from the 100-yard Windows Section walk to the strenuous Devil's Garden Primitive Loop. Canyonlands National Park, the larger and less-visited counterpart to Arches, divides its terrain into three distinct districts separated by the Colorado and Green Rivers' confluence—the Island in the Sky mesa above the river junction providing the most accessible and panoramic viewpoints in the Colorado Plateau system. Dead Horse Point State Park, perched above the Colorado River's 2,000-foot Goose Neck canyon in a position that most Moab visitors cite as more visually stunning than anything in either national park, is accessible on the same road as the Island in the Sky and should be included in any Canyonlands day trip. Sun Outdoors Canyonlands Gateway operates year-round in Moab's four-season desert climate. Spring and fall offer the most comfortable temperatures for hiking and cycling; summer brings the heat but also the full river rafting season on the Colorado's Cataract Canyon. Reserve your extra-large site early for spring break and the fall October shoulder season, fill up at the on-site gas station on the morning of your national park drive, and let Grand County's canyon geology earn what two national parks within 30 minutes of each other look like when the red rock is catching the first light.

from $21/night