We squeeze into the SUV to drive to Moab, the perfect base for exploring Utah’s national parks.

Onboard is Baby, who recently took his first steps. He delights in his newfound skill and protests when imprisoned in the baby capsule (also known as the car seat). Across from him is his four-year-old brother Arthur who is obsessed with dinosaurs. Wedged between them is poor Nan (that’s me!). While I sometimes snare the front seat, I’m mostly jammed between the siblings and their spilling crayons, toppling dinosaur books, and the snacks I can’t quite reach.

My daughter and her husband are in the front pretending they are young marrieds again on a three-day jaunt. They can forget the ticking time bombs in the back because Nan is there. They are recovering from the morning horrors of packing diapers, bibs, baby bottles, baby monitors, strollers, and the other baggage that accompanies parenthood.

1. The Scenery From Salt Lake City To Moab

Salt Lake City (SLC) to Moab takes four hours. We take seven hours with stops, so the children aren’t constrained for long. Locals argue that Utah has better scenery, but I’m captivated by the snow-capped mountains ringing SLC. Route 6 takes in Price Canyon with its sheer mountains, ridges, spires, and buttes. To my surprise, the four-year-old doesn’t request his tablet. The landscape keeps him amused as do the trucks and long freight trains.

2. Eastern Prehistoric Museum, Price

My daughter lives in SLC, so the tips I pass on come from mothers in her circle. One suggestion was to break the trip halfway at the Eastern Prehistoric Museum in Price. The kids beeline for the indoor sandpit and use brushes to unearth dinosaur fossils — the four-year-old pretending to be a paleontologist. The university-run museum has skeletons of local discoveries including an Allosaurus and a Utahraptor, a dedicated children’s area with dinosaur-related puzzles, activity sheets, and a moderately priced gift shop.

We lunch at Tangerine Eatery, one of the better meals on our trip with great kids’ food, organic berry bowls, gluten-free options, and a wall of self-service froYo flavors.

Timing Is Everything: Moab is home to some of the most stunning red rock landscapes on Earth. More than 1.5 million people visit Arches National Park each year. While chatting with a park ranger, she said that visiting in late fall or early December as we were doing was perfect timing. “In summer,” she said, “visitors can wait for an hour just to park the car!”

The days are sunny, with a blue sky setting off the landscape of ochre rocks. When we lunch at a picnic shelter with a view of Balanced Rock, we have the icon to ourselves.

Pro Tip: The National Park Service is piloting a timed entry reservation system in 2022. For example, May reservations open on February 1.

3. Pick Up A Junior Ranger Guide

Arches National Park is five miles north of Moab. Grab a free Junior Ranger Guide from the visitor center just inside the park. There are lots of kid-friendly activities with simple explanations. A butte is a flat-topped hill, I learned, a fin a skinny wall of rock. The booklet suggests activities that invite children to use their five senses to experience the park. Based on our experience, parents of young children might present these activities orally and hand the booklet to the children when they leave the park. I noticed Arthur became so obsessed with the map he stopped taking in the scenery!

4. Driving In Arches National Park

The road corkscrews up the hill, with increasingly spectacular views. Nature’s striking outdoor gallery features sandstone arches (there are 2,000 in the park), soaring pinnacles, and spires.

While my daughter and son-in-law walk the 100 yards hand-in-hand for a view of Delicate Arch, I remain trapped between two sleeping children.

5. Hiking With Small Children

Hiking in Arches National Park with small children is possible. There are several short hikes: Landscape Arch (1.6 miles), Broken Arch (2 miles), Windows Primitive Loop (1 mile), and Park Avenue (2 miles).

My daughter strapped Baby on her back to hike to Double Arch (0.8 mile). Using a stroller for the first paved section would be possible, but the last portion involves steps and some climbing. I was walking with Arthur, and he had no problems. Little did he realize that my holding his hand kept me stable! The walk is classed as easy, but nothing is easy with a baby on your back. Looking at my daughter slugging up the hill brought back memories of carrying her on our first tourist outing when she was a baby. The guide told me she was the youngest participant to venture on a historic walk — how history repeats itself!

6. Canyonlands National Park

Sadly, we didn’t visit Canyonlands National Park. One of the consequences of multi-generational travel is that children’s needs are paramount because if the kids are happy, everybody’s happy. Ours was a dinosaur-centric trip to meet the interests of the four-year-old. If your focus is national parks, Canyonlands has several kid-friendly trails at Island in the Sky and the Needles. The remarkable Dead Horse Point State Park is also close to Moab.

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