4 Best Sights in Moab and Southeastern Utah, Utah

One of the gems of Utah's state park system, right at the edge of the Island in the Sky section of Canyonlands, this park overlooks a sweeping oxbow of the Colorado River some 2,000 feet below. Dead Horse Point itself is a small peninsula connected to the main mesa by a narrow neck of land. As the story goes, cowboys used to drive wild mustangs onto the point and pen them there with a brush fence. There's a nice visitor center with a coffee shop and museum. The park's Intrepid trail system is popular with mountain bikers and hikers alike. If it's a nice day, be sure to walk the 4-mile rim trail loop and drive to the park's eponymous point.

Hundreds of orange, mushroom-like rocks known as "hoodoos" rise up from the desert floor about 30 miles northwest of Hanksville. Short, easy trails wind through the bizarre goblins making it a fun walk for kids and adults. Be forewarned that during busy times of the year, there may be a wait time to enter the park.

Stare down the spectacular, 1,000-foot cliffs, and you can see how this remote park got its name: the San Juan River's serpentine course resembles the necks of geese. Geologists also say this is the best example of an "entrenched meander" in the world, including rock 300 million years old. The nighttime skies here are legendary, and in 2021 Goosenecks officially became an International Dark Sky Park, a recognition from the International Dark Sky Association. Camping sites are all first-come, first-served. You'll find the park 8 miles northwest of Mexican Hat off Highway 261. 

A shady respite on the banks of the Green River, this park is best known for its golf course. It's also the starting point for boaters drifting along the river through Labyrinth and Stillwater Canyons. Fishing and bird-watching are other favorite pastimes here.