We are not campers, and I had always pictured Moab, Utah, as the kind of place where a good trip required some level of discomfort. Maybe not a sleeping-bag-on-the-ground uncomfortable, but perhaps some dirt in my shoes, or fumbling with a tent somewhere under an open sky. Instead, our luxury Moab adventure took a turn for the better – in comfort terms anyway. We still came home with dirty clothes and tired legs, but we also had comfy beds, soothing massages, excellent meals, and very good cocktails enjoyed at sunset.

Don’t get me wrong. We love the outdoors, and are happy spending time on outside adventures.  At the same time, we’ve reached a point in life where a bad mattress no longer makes a trip more authentic. Moab surprised us because the rugged parts and the comfortable parts fit together so perfectly.

If we ever thought Moab was too rugged for us, it became clear it was time to rethink our position.

A Luxury Moab Adventure Without Roughing It

Our first stop was luxury glamping at ULUM Moab, about half an hour south of downtown Moab near Looking Glass Rock. The entrance was slightly intimidating as we rolled down a dirt road for a couple of miles into the desert. But then the road opened into a wide desert basin, dotted with big canvas safari-style tents that looked rustic and modern at the same time. Looking Glass Rock rises behind the property, and it became the photo opp I looked for every time I stepped outside.

ULUM Resort Brings Glamping Style

Calling our accommodation a tent feels a little misleading. Yes, the walls were canvas, but inside we had a proper bed, wood floors, residential furniture, electricity and a private ensuite bathroom. There was also a deck facing the desert, which became my favorite place to sit in the mornings with coffee and watch the light change across the rocks. I have camped before and did not love it. This experience required almost none of the skills I remember needing.

ULUM feels polished without pretending the desert is tidy. Red dirt covers the paths, native plants fill the spaces between tents and Looking Glass Rock appears through the restaurant windows and beyond the outdoor firepits. Our first afternoon included massages in ULUM’s Massage Cave, which was a fairly persuasive introduction to this version of outdoor travel.

Dinner was equally surprising. We had beautifully plated food rather than anything resembling camp fare, with dishes such as burrata and heirloom tomatoes, bison ravioli and seared salmon. After sunset, the tents glowed against the darkening sky while people gathered around the firepits with drinks. We sat outside longer than planned, which tends to happen when nobody is in a hurry to go anywhere else.

Floating the Colorado River

The next morning we joined Paddle Moab for a half-day trip on the Colorado River. Our stretch was a scenic float with some paddling rather than serious whitewater, and we were good with that. There are plenty of ways to test your nerve around Moab. We did not need every activity to become a personal challenge.

The river gave us a view of the canyon that cannot be appreciated from the road. Sitting low on the water, the red walls seemed to rise forever above us. We paddled when our guide asked us to and relaxed when the river allowed it. A few of us climbed into the water and floated beside the raft. The water was refreshing in the best sense of the word, and the path through the water was peaceful and gorgeous.

By afternoon we were back at ULUM, showered and sitting in clean clothes. This was actually one of my favorite things about this luxury Moab adventure. We could spend the morning on an adventure, and still have dinner with a glass of wine that same evening in a very nice restaurant. Life in the balance.

Arches Is Famous for a Reason

A highlight of the trip was our time spent in Arches National Park, because it’s every bit as majestic as all the guidebooks, influencers, postcards and movie scenes have depicted it. After all, traveling all the way to Moab and skipping Arches felt sinful. We decided to hike here on two separate mornings, one blazing hot in the summer sun and the other cheerfully drizzly in a temperate storm. Rain or shine, the rock monuments here are nothing short of epic.

Balanced Rock looks dramatic in photographs and even more impressive when you are standing below it. That enormous boulder sitting on its narrow pedestal seems as if gravity has taken on an outer-space warp.

Around the Windows, the trails moved us between sandstone walls and openings that changed with every few steps. Photos and videos do a poor job of explaining the scale of these formations. I knew they were large before we arrived. I still found myself standing underneath them in awe and wonder. How many eons had these rocks been standing here? How did these formations even last through the ages? My mind was boggled, and my grin stretched from ear to ear.

Cloud cover helped during our August visit, when southern Utah can be intensely hot. The softer light also brought out deeper reds and oranges in the stone, and the entire landscape became a photographer’s dream.

Red Cliffs Lodge: Western History on the Colorado River

Halfway through the trip, we left ULUM and followed Highway 128 to Red Cliffs Lodge, like an old Western movie location beside the Colorado River. The property actually has a long connection to Western films, with productions including Rio Grande, The Comancheros and Cheyenne Autumn using the surrounding canyon country as a backdrop. That history still shows up around the lodge, including a small museum with film memorabilia and old photographs from those bygone days.

The setting here is impressive. The grounds run along the river, with lawns, mature trees and individual cabins scattered across the property. Massive red canyon walls rise around everything, so even a short walk outside feels cinematic.

Our room was spacious, with a king bed, sitting area, kitchenette and outdoor deck overlooking the river. It felt comfortable without losing the ranch character that makes Red Cliffs so authentic. A favorite part was the view directly across from us: a green pasture where the horses grazed beneath the canyon walls. We watched the horses in the morning, then walked over to the corrals to ride out into the same landscape a little later.

Horseback Riding Like Old Hollywood Cowboys

We enjoyed steaks at the hotel’s Ember Restaurant the night before, then reported to Red Cliffs Ranch for a 7:30 a.m. trail ride. That hour sounded unnecessarily ambitious when I first saw it on the itinerary, but August mornings in Moab reward an early start. The air was cooler, the canyon was still quiet and the first light was beginning to warm the red cliffs around us. One of us is not a fan, but he went along with the ride to be a good sport. I, on the other hand, am not going to pretend I am anything near a cowboy, but I was very happy to play one for the morning.

Horseback is a particularly good way to see this part of Moab because the trail forces you to pay attention. From a car, the canyon scenery can blur together as you watch the road. From the saddle, we could hear the horses’ hooves on the dirt and take our time looking up at the walls around us. The route wound through the desert terrain with views toward the surrounding cliffs and the Colorado River, and the pace was slow enough for plenty of photography.

By the time we rode back toward the ranch, we had collected the expected layer of dust and that pleasant kind of tired that comes from spending a morning outside. Back at Red Cliffs Lodge, our comfortable room and invigorating shower were waiting.

That horseback ride may have captured our luxury Moab adventure better than anything else we experienced here.  We felt completely rooted in the rugged landscape, while the return to the lodge meant we could enjoy that landscape and then dip back into a luxurious morning.

Downtown Moab Between Adventures

We also spent time in downtown Moab, which gave our eyes a break from trying to comprehend rocks the size of buildings. The center of town is casual and busy, with restaurants, coffee shops and outdoor outfitters mixed into older storefronts. Pickups seem to claim every other parking space, rafting vans come and go all day, and almost everyone looks like they are either heading to a trail or just came back from one.

We stopped at The Spoke for burgers and onion rings substantial enough to count as recovery food, then walked over to Moab Coffee Roasters for iced lattes. I appreciated that Moab could deliver a very satisfying Western-style burger and then, a few minutes later, hand me a well-made iced vanilla latte with oat milk.

We also poked around Moab Made, which was one of the better places we found for locally produced art, gifts and souvenirs that did not feel too touristy or generic. Nearby, the Moab Food Truck Park offered another easy option for something quick and casual, with a mix of vendors that make it useful when nobody in your group wants the same thing.

Town was populated but not crowded. Plenty of people looked dusty and sunburned because they had probably just finished a hike, a river trip or a morning on the rocks. After several days of enormous scenery, there was something nice about sitting down with good food and coffee and watching downtown Moab move at a calm pace.

Why Moab Hits Travel Pay Dirt

I went into this trip assuming Moab would be all about the landscape, and in the end it was. The red cliffs, arches and wide-open desert were the reason every activity was a metaphorical payday. Even our hotels were interesting largely because of what was outside them.

What I had underestimated was how much I would enjoy moving back and forth between those outdoor days and a very comfortable place to land afterward. I still want the dusty shoes and tired legs, and I also want to come back from a trip with experiences that required me to do something instead of simply look at something.

I also want to know there is a hot shower, a good meal and a real mattress waiting when we get back. Moab delivers.