Springtime in Utah is just around the corner

        Aren’t we all just about done with winter? If you’re in Utah your break is almost here...First day of Spring falls on March 20th! Well let’s see, that’s 25 days away. Most people associate Spring with warmth...but here in Utah, the first day of Spring can sometimes be down-right chilly.  Now within Utah most of all locals know if you want to escape the cold weather head down southbound on I-15 towards Moab or St. George.

     Goblin Valley State Park in Utah                                       photo: M Outdoors


        Goblin Valley is a great idea for a quick weekend outing. Or if you are ok with driving a little more, there is always the city of Moab. For many locally, Moab is the gateway to many different nature parks; such as Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Manti-La Sal National Forest, or my favorite Dead Horse Point State Park.

        I must say I am quite biased when I say that Dead Horse Point is my favorite. The reason why is because I went on two weeks vacation with my dad when I was still young and my favorite bands were, the Beatles, Pink Floyd and Johnny Cash. We would drive around listening to “Hey Bungalow Bill...” Oh yes those were the days. We camped outside underneath an amazing starry sky unlike anything you could ever see in a city or suburb.

        My dad and I built a fire and in the midst of the desert had some delicious Kielbasa. One thing you should be aware of are the fiery ants and small scorpions in the desert.


        As we were sitting there with the firewood burning, a small scorpion started up my leg...luckily my dad noticed and swiped the scorpion with a stick. The swipe caught me off guard and happened so suddenly, my dad yelled out and swiped at the same time, it was all over within a second. I was surprised afterwards when my dad said “you had a scorpion crawling up your leg”.

        Good times camping with my dad, afterwards we slept in the bed of our blue Toyota truck. Ruling out using a traditional tent, because of the fire ants, scorpions and other crawling critters.

        With my biased favorite location out of the way, the other destinations from Moab are unique and beautiful in there own ways too. For instance, Arches National Park is home to one of the most famous arches in Utah, the Delicate Arch. The same arch you see on select Utah license plates.

        For other families or individuals that aren’t as adventurous or would rather stay close to Salt Lake there is the annual Tulip festival at Thanksgivings Point that opens usually starting in April going into May.