Utah was another state that we had such a magical experience. If you are okay with some serious time in the car, you won’t be disappointed. The Moab area is unbelievable, albeit not a very populated one. We camped on the Colorado River at what may be one of our favorite campsites ever, and spent a day exploring Arches National Park. Deciding on which photos to share was so challenging because it is near impossible to get a bad photo in this environment. If you are in search of a photo destination, this is it.
Getting to the campsite was interesting. You have to use GPS coordinates to find the location, because it is literally in the middle of nowhere. We found the coordinates on freecampsites.net. The location is named Kokopelli’s Trail – Westwater in Cisco, Utah. If you choose to go here, don’t get nervous, you’re probably not lost, even if you feel like you are. We were shocked that the road was paved until we reached the destination. It is busy! There were so many cars and tents. It is a huge area for dropping rafts into the river. They have two boat landings, both of which were super busy. There are two bathrooms, changing rooms, and fire pits with grates at each site.
It was $20 for the night (although it said free online), but it was so worth it. The drinking water available to boaters and campers was an exciting surprise. This location gave us the best sunset and sunrise we have seen thus far. Pictures can not begin to do it justice. The huge picnic tables at each site gave us an abundance of sitting and cooking space. The Ranger Station is also onsite. We felt so safe here. Once we finished breakfast, we were off to our next National Park, but not before making a quick stop.
When reading about this area online, we found reviews on Buzzards Belly General Store, Cisco’s one and only local store. Cisco is scenic backroads, with the exception of Buzzards. Make this stop on your route! The owner, Jean, is the sweetest and her store is filled with eclectic finds and essentials. We grabbed drinks and ice before visiting for a few. Elliott loved all of her fun statues outside, and we loved the super clean restroom! There is sanitizer everywhere to help make you feel more at ease when visiting. It was the perfect pit stop on the way to the park.
Arches National Park was one of the most beautiful places we have seen. The colors were so vibrant and the trails were really well maintained. Make sure that you give yourself a few hours here. We really could have spent an entire day or more, but we are trying to visit many other places as well. The Double Arch was a bit busy, so we photographed that one from afar and chose to walk to others. It was a relief to be able to walk around other arches and monuments without having to risk being close to others. This park is so spread out that you can choose less busy options and still have an incredible experience. Our word of advice, bring more water than you think you need. Like way more. We drank so much water while visiting this park. It was well over 100 degrees and was so unbelievably dry. Be smart, be prepared, and you will have the best time here.
S'mores & Caviar 