Arriving at Canyonlands Regional Airport in Moab places you among it all, with two national parks, the Colorado River, and endless slickrock an easy drive away. Moab is a small desert town with an outsized reputation, the place mountain bikers, climbers, river runners, and four-wheelers all treat as home base. Red cliffs rise on every side, the La Sal Mountains stand snowcapped to the east, and the main street buzzes from March through October.

Big days around Moab: - Hike to Delicate Arch at sunset in Arches National Park - Stand on the rim at Island in the Sky in Canyonlands National Park - Watch the river bend far below at Dead Horse Point State Park - Ride the Slickrock Trail or the Whole Enchilada if you have the legs for it - Raft a day stretch of the Colorado River through the canyon above town - Drive the Potash Road to see petroglyph panels and dinosaur tracks - Scramble up to Corona Arch, a short hike outside the park - Take a four-wheel-drive tour over the Hells Revenge sandstone fins - Attend the Moab Music Festival in September, with concerts in canyon grottos

The Needles district of Canyonlands is about 90 minutes south of Moab, and Castle Valley and Fisher Towers are half an hour up the river road. Green River, famous for its summer melons, is about an hour north, and Grand Junction and the Colorado wine country are under two hours east. Easter week brings the Jeep Safari and the town fills to bursting, so spring and fall shoulder seasons are the sweet spot. Moab sunsets turn the rock the color of embers, and nobody forgets their first one.