Digital Nomading Chapter 4: Moab, Utah

In August 2025, I started on a six-month digital nomad trip around the U.S. My plan is to live in different cities for a few weeks to a month, to explore each location more deeply than a normal vacation would allow, and figure out where I want to live long-term.

Moab was the fourth stop on my trip, after a month each in Seattle and Denver, a week in California to hike Mount Whitney, and a week in Portland and Bend in Oregon. Unlike the other stops on my digital nomad trip, I went into my time in Moab knowing that I wouldn’t want to live there long-term. I really enjoyed my time there and want to go back someday, but I want to live closer to a major city.

Here are my takeaways and reflections from living in Moab for three weeks.

My Moab scorecard

Food: 2/5. Food is expensive, and is a hit or miss. There were some great spots (and some not-so-great spots) that I’ll call out below. Cuisine options limited, but better than expected for a town of its size.
Cost of living: 2.5/5. Housing in Moab was more expensive than expected. I stayed about a 10 minute drive from downtown in a studio, which cost about $2,800 for three weeks. Dining out is also expensive, especially for Utah, and many restaurants impose a mandatory “service fee” on takeout orders.
Walkability: 3/5. Highly walkable in downtown Moab for a few blocks, and then the sidewalks disappear completely. Moab is highly bike-friendly, with tons of trails and a wide shoulder good for biking. Getting to the nearby parks requires a car or a bike.
Public transportation: 0/5. I don’t think public transportation exists in Moab. This makes sense as the permanent population is only several thousand people.
Cleanliness & safety: 5/5. Felt very safe and clean, likely because of size and location remoteness.
Things to do in the city: 1/5. Downtown Moab is small and can be explored within a couple of hours. The draw of Moab is the surrounding nature.
Nature access: 5/5. Nature access is completely unmatched. Two National Parks within an hour drive – Arches is only 15 to 30 minutes from Moab, Canyonlands is about 45 minutes to an hour and a half. Many outdoor climbing areas and hikes to cool arches outside the parks, about 30 minutes from town. There are even more places to hike, off-road, and mountain bike if you expand to a 2 or 3-hour driving radius.
Drivability: 4/5. Not much traffic on the roads, besides in downtown. Didn’t encounter any incidents of dangerous driving. Some of the turns in downtown Moab felt poorly designed, but it never became an issue.
Weather: 4/5. Weather was beautiful when we visited – Mostly mild, got a bit cold at times, but it never snowed, and it was sunny about 70% of the days we were there.
People: 3/5. People were generally friendly and nice, but not as outgoing as in Denver.

Total score: 29.5/50. As expected, I wouldn’t live in Moab, but I’m very grateful to have spent a few weeks living there.

Things I Did in Moab

Hiking & Nature Near Moab (0.5 – 1 hour away)

Arches National Park
- Delicate Arch (3.2 miles, +629 ft): Most iconic Arches National Park arch, fantastic sunset spot.
- Devil’s Garden (8 miles, +1,158 ft): Long hike leading to eight arches, including the iconic Landscape Arch. I went clockwise and turned around after Private Arch to avoid the knee-deep water during the second half of the hike.
- Fiery Furnace (2.1 miles, +508 ft): Cool “choose your own adventure” hike leading to cool rock formations, canyons, and arches (favorites were Surprise Arch and Skull Arch). Permit and orientation required.
- Park Avenue (1.8 miles, +308 ft): Short trail passing cool rock formations like Queen Nefertiti.
- Double Arch, Windows Arch, and Turret Arch (1.1 miles, +134 ft): Area of the park with three well-known arches. Double Arch is one of my personal favorites, and the Windows & Turret Arch is known as a great sunset and stargazing spot.
- Balanced Rock (Viewpoint): Great stargazing spot.
- Skyline Arch (0.4 miles, + 36 ft): Very short trail to reach a massive arch.
Canyonlands National Park (Island in the Sky District)
- Grand View (1.8 miles, +164 ft): One of the best sunset spots in the Moab area, personal highlight of the trip.
- Whale Rock (0.8 miles, +141 ft): Short hike to a 360 degree view of Canyonlands.
- Aztec Butte (1.4 miles, +222 ft): Steep, slippery hike to historic granaries. 360 degree view of Canyonlands from the top.
- Shafer Trail to Potash Road: Scenic drive, there were some very cool stops along the way, like Thelma and Louise Point. The ranger said we could do it in a Toyota RAV4, and we did, but the drive was extremely sketchy and there were several points where the car nearly bottomed out. Did not see a single other car that wasn’t a pickup or a 4×4 on the trail.
- Syncline Loop & Upheaval Dome Spur (11.5 miles, +3,000 ft): This was my least favorite hike of the trip. The trail is relatively tough but with a medium payoff, and it feels like it never ends. There is a section towards the back half where I felt like I was being attacked by branches the entire time. There’s also an Upheaval Dome Overlook Trail (1.2 miles, +114 ft) that in my opinion was a better view than going inside the Dome via the Spur Trail.
- Dark Sky Program: We attended a ranger-led dark sky program, which was a really cool experience. The rangers talked to us about the constellations and the stories behind them, and brought out a telescope so that we could see the moon and Saturn.
Outside the parks
- Fisher Towers (4.2 miles, +1,509 ft): Really cool tower rock formations. Trail is pretty up and down, steep the entire time. Nice spot for a sunset hike, if you prepare to hike back in the dark.
- Jeep Arch (3.7 miles, +954 ft): Cool arch that looks like a jeep!
- Corona Arch & Bowtie Arch (2.4 miles, +459 ft): Two arches in one hike, Bowtie Arch looks like a skylight, and Corona Arch is massive and free-standing, very impressive.
- La Sal Scenic Drive: Scenic drive with views of the La Sal Mountains. The main road itself is completely paved, but there are some unpaved side roads leading to two lakes, Warner Lake (more impressive in my opinion) and Oowah Lake.

Exploring the City

Moab Made: Store filled with art from local artists. Each artist has their own section of the store and you can see each of their styles.
Climb Moab Gym: Local rock climbing gym. Tougher routes than other gyms IMO.
Eagles Nest Chateau: Rock shop! The owners are very knowledgeable and friendly people, and they have a really cool collection of rocks.

Weekend Trips from Moab (1.5 – 3 hours away)

Canyonlands National Park (Needles District) (1.5 hours away)
- Newspaper Rock (Viewpoint): Rock covered in petroglyphs. The density of petroglyphs is super cool to see.
- Chesler Park (10.4 miles, +1,801 ft): One of the best hikes in the Moab area. Loved climbing around the slot canyons and seeing the Needles and the valleys.
- Druid Arch (9.7 miles, +1,446 ft): Massive arch (450 ft). The hike to get there is annoying (sandy wash and slippery scramble) but the arch itself is very impressive.
Canyonlands National Park (Horseshoe Canyon) (2 hours away)
- Horseshoe Canyon (7.2 miles, +1,387 ft): One of my personal favorite hikes, with some of the best preserved and largest petroglyphs I’ve seen. The canyon itself is also really beautiful in the fall, and the weather is fantastic.
Goblin Valley State Park (2 hours away)
- Goblin’s Lair & Goblette’s Lair (2.3 miles, +180 ft): I’m not normally a cave person, but Goblin’s Lair was insanely cool. The cave is super deep and there is even a maze of tunnels to explore. Goblette’s Lair is 0.25 miles past Goblin’s Lair, it’s smaller and not as deep, but still cool to see.
- Valley of the Goblins (Choose your own adventure): Valley filled with small rock formations (“goblins”) to wander around and explore.
- Three Sisters: The most famous rock formations in Goblin Valley. On the way back from Goblin’s Lair, you can take the Canyon trail to get up close to the Three Sisters.
Capitol Reef National Park (2.5-3 hours away)
- Temple of the Sun and Moon: Free-standing sandstone fins. Most impressive thing I saw in Capitol Reef. Driving there is on an unpaved road, but unlike Shafer Trail, it is easy to access (as long as it hasn’t rained recently).
- Cassidy Arch (3.2 miles, +662 ft): Huge arch made of red, pink, and beige rocks. Second most impressive thing I saw in Capitol Reef.
- Cohab Canyon (3.3. miles, +797 ft): Peaceful hike, recommend starting from Hickman Bridge to avoid the steep part. Not the most impressive views, but it ends at a nice overlook over the park.
- Hickman Bridge (0.9 miles, +400 ft): Very short hike to a pretty cool arch. I wasn’t floored though.
- Grand Wash (2.2 miles, +200 ft): Hike through the wash and towering rock walls. Views are okay but it’s cool to be right next to the steep walls.
- Gifford Homestead: Historic bakery inside the park that sells some really good pumpkin pie.
Factory Butte: An unmissable rock formation on the way from Moab to Capitol Reef. The butte is massive and very impressive, really pretty in the early morning light.
Grand Junction (Colorado) (2 hours away)
- Colorado National Monument: Scenic drive through a red rock canyon with impressive spire / rock formations.

The Best Food I Ate in Moab

Thai

Singha Thai: The most consistently good pad see ew, in my opinion. Good flavor without being too salty. Their pad thai wasn’t good.
Thai Bella: Thai Bella on its best days was better than Singha Thai, but Thai Bella on other days was worse than Singha Thai.
Arches Thai: My personal least favorite (still good) of the thai spots in Moab. Pad see ew is a bit saltier than the other spots.

Pizza

Canyon Pizza Co: Chicken bacon ranch was really good, but way too salty and a bit too greasy.

Coffee / Cafe

Moab Garage Co: My favorite spot in Moab. Unfortunately they are extremely expensive (one coffee, one pastry, one food item cost $30) and their hours aren’t great. Favorite thing to get here is the liege waffle. Breakfast burrito is also good, and huge (but expensive).
Bonjour Bakery & Cafe: Enjoyed the chicken avocado flatbread. Good place for remote working.
Mas Cafe: Good iced coffee (very floral). Cinnamon roll wasn’t great, kind of dry / way too sweet.

Dessert & Ice Cream

La Michoacana: Fantastic coconut ice cream. “Waffle nachos” (nachos are waffle cone pieces) were a fun concept, but I didn’t love their waffle cone pieces (odd flavor). Ice pops were too sweet.
Doughbird: Loved their old fashioned donuts. Their fried chicken sandwich is pretty good too.

Mexican

Taqueria El Gordo: Extremely good chicken quesadilla. Only got to go once because they closed for the season early in November but we drove by several times just in case they decided to reopen.
Giliberto’s: Mexican food open late (2am). Food is decent, portions are massive, and it’s relatively affordable.

Conclusion

Spending a few weeks in Moab was a fantastic experience – It was really nice to be able to hike so easily after work every day, in a place where everything you look at is straight out of another planet. The time I spent there also confirmed that even though I want easy access to great hiking, I also want to live in a larger city, where there’s more to do besides outdoor activities.

What’s next?

I’m heading to Guatemala and El Salvador for a week and a half! I’m excited to hike some volcanoes, explore historic cities, and relax by the beach.

Read about my experiences in other cities here:

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