Moab is packed with jaw-dropping scenery, but there are a few spots that deliver views so epic they’ll stop you in your tracks. These are the top 5 epic views in Moab—the ones that make you pull out your camera, then put it away because no photo really does it justice. If you're planning a Moab itinerary, you may also like my guide to the Best Sunrise and Sunset Spots in Moab Utah for even more golden-hour inspiration.
Trail Length: 0.7 miles round trip
Difficulty: Easy
Elevation Gain: About 100 ft
Estimated Time: 30 minutes
Best Time: Sunrise
Mesa Arch might be the most famous sunrise spot in Utah. The short, easy trail leads to an arch perched on the rim of a canyon, perfectly framing the La Sal Mountains in the distance. At sunrise, the underside of the arch glows fiery orange—it looks like the rock itself is lit from within.
When I went, it was rainy and gray, so no fiery glow. But honestly? The moody sky made it dramatic in its own way. Pro tip: don’t stop at the arch—walk past it and look back for a bigger, less crowded perspective.
Trail Length: 3 miles round trip
Difficulty: Strenuous (steep, exposed rock)
Elevation Gain: About 500 ft
Estimated Time: 2–3 hours
Best Time: Sunset
Delicate Arch is the superstar of Utah—it’s on license plates, postcards, and every Moab t-shirt. The hike to get there is tough, mostly uphill with zero shade, but rounding the final corner and seeing the arch perched on the edge of a sandstone bowl makes it worth every step.
I did this at sunset, and the glow on the arch was unreal. Crowds can be heavy (my friend warned me it’s often 50+ people), but I lucked out with fewer. Plan to arrive at least an hour before sunset for photos and to soak in the scene.
Shortcut: If you’re not up for the full hike, check out the Lower and Upper Delicate Arch Viewpoints—you’ll still get a taste of the magic. If Delicate Arch is on your list too, check out my One Day in Arches National Park itinerary to help you plan the perfect visit.
Trail Length: 0.5 miles round trip to the main overlook (longer if you add rim trails)
Difficulty: Easy
Elevation Gain: Minimal
Estimated Time: 30 minutes–3 hours depending on trails
Best Time: Sunset
Dead Horse Point is often called “the Grand Canyon of Utah” and home to epic views in Moab—and it lives up to the name. From the overlook, the Colorado River makes a dramatic U-turn 2,000 feet below. The cliffs glow deep red in the evening light, and the scale is so massive it almost feels unreal.
I walked part of the West Rim Trail and added the Bighorn Overlook spur, which gave me one of my favorite views of the whole trip. For sunset, though, the main overlook is unbeatable. If you want to explore beyond the highlights, my Best Stops in Canyonlands National Park gives a deeper look at viewpoints and trails nearby.
Trail Length: 3 miles round trip
Difficulty: Moderate (rock, ladder, and chain section)
Elevation Gain: About 450 ft
Estimated Time: 2 hours
Best Time: Late afternoon
Corona Arch is just outside Arches National Park, and it feels like Moab’s hidden gem. The trail has a little bit of everything—slickrock, cairns to follow, a ladder, a chain to help up a slope—but it’s not overly technical.
The payoff? A massive arch (140 ft tall, 105 ft wide) that you can walk right under. Along the way, you’ll pass Bowtie Arch, a pothole arch carved into the cliff. I hiked it around 5 pm and had the place completely to myself—it felt like my own private show.
Trail Length: 0.5 miles round trip
Difficulty: Easy
Elevation Gain: Minimal
Estimated Time: 20 minutes
Best Time: Anytime
Double Arch is one of the most impressive spots in Arches—and it’s super easy to reach. Two massive arches share the same base, curving into the sky in a way that feels larger-than-life. Standing under them makes you feel tiny in the best possible way.
This one’s a photographer’s dream. Come in the late afternoon for softer light, or go at night to capture stars framed inside the arches.
Moab is full of views, but these five are the ones that stick with you long after the trip ends. From the fiery glow of Mesa Arch at sunrise to the sweeping drama of Dead Horse Point and the sheer scale of Double Arch, these spots prove that in Moab, every corner of the desert comes with a front-row seat to nature’s best show.
If you’ve only got time for a few highlights, stick to these five—you’ll walk away with memories and photos showcasing the best epic views in Moab. For more ways to explore the area, my Spend a Weekend in Moab: The Perfect 3-Day Itinerary pairs these epic views with the best hikes, food, and hidden gems.
I ate chilaquiles while a Cessna taxied past the window, and that’s just a normal Tuesday breakfast in Sedona.
@mesa_grill_sedona sits right beside the Sedona Airport Scenic Lookout, so along with your food you get red rock views stretching in every direction and a front-row seat to tiny planes lifting off. Chef Mercer Mohr runs the kitchen, serving up Southwestern comfort food from breakfast through dinner, chilaquiles, elevated diner classics, burgers, steaks, seafood, all of it.
The view is what pulls people in the door, but the food actually holds its own. Good enough that this place stays packed with locals, not just tourists passing through on their way to the lookout. It also picked up the 2025 Tripadvisor Travelers’ Choice and OpenTable Diners’ Choice awards, so it’s not just me saying it.
Indoor seating if you want the AC, a pet-friendly patio if your dog’s along for the trip. Either way, get there before plane-spotting turns into a wait for a table.
Link in bio for the full Sedona breakfast roundup ✈️🌵
Confession: my newsletter is where the good stuff lives. Not the polished, edited-for-the-grid stuff, the “here’s the hole-in-the-wall I almost skipped” stuff, the packing lists I actually use, the “don’t book this hotel” warnings before you waste your money on them.
The newsletter is basically me texting you before a trip instead of after one. Sign up and you’ll be the first to know where I’m headed next, plus a few things I’ll never post here.
Link in bio if you want in. ✈️
Yes, it’s only July. Start planning anyway. Fall books faster than people expect, and a few of these destinations are worth getting ahead of. Here are five places worth putting on your radar right now.
Ireland: Cooler temps, moody skies, dramatic coastline fall was made for it. Tourist crowds drop, the green stays, and the whole country feels a little more like itself.
Great Smoky Mountains, TN/NC: Fall foliage in the Smokies is the real thing. The color peaks mid-October and the views from the ridgelines are hard to argue with. It’s also one of the most visited national parks in the country, so going on a weekday makes a real difference.
New York City: Fall is NYC at its best comfortable temps, the energy of the city shifting into a new season, and every neighborhood doing something worth showing up for. It’s also just a great walking city when it’s not brutally hot.
Japan: Fall foliage season is as good as spring cherry blossoms and somehow less talked about. The colors are dramatic, the temples and gardens are stunning, and it’s worth planning around peak dates by region.
Mystic, Connecticut: Small, walkable, genuinely charming Mystic in fall feels like exactly what a New England autumn is supposed to look like. Easy to pair with a broader New England road trip if you want to extend it.
Full guides linked in bio 🍂
There are two kinds of travelers: people who plan a trip and then figure out where to eat, and people who book a restaurant and then build the rest of the itinerary around it.I am the second kind. I will not apologize for this.
The reservation gets locked in first. The hotel search happens within the same 24 hours. The flights get compared around the restaurant’s hours of operation. The rest of the trip exists to fill the days before and after the table I actually came for.
If this sounds unhinged, I completely understand. It has also resulted in some of the best meals of my life, so I’m going to keep doing it.
Drop a 🍽️ if you plan your trips around food too.
Let’s talk about when to actually book that Dubai trip you’ve been pinning for two years. I get asked this constantly, so here’s the honest breakdown: October through April is your window. Anything outside that and you’re basically touring in a sauna!
October and November give you warm days and cooler nights, which is basically the sweet spot for wandering around without melting. December through February is peak season: gorgeous weather. March and April are the quiet insider pick, right before summer heat shows up and ruins everyone’s plans.
Saving this for later? That’s what it’s here for. Full breakdown linked in bio.
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