Moab & Arches · Backpacking
ON A BUDGET
The cheapest desert base in Utah, with free BLM camping on three sides of town.
Lazy Lizard Hostel
South of town on Main, with dorm bunks, cabins and a yard full of climbers and bikers. Cheapest indoor bed for a long way in any direction.
What a day costs
About $45–85 a day for campers: free dispersed site, $12–25 on food from City Market, and fuel is the real variable given how far the trailheads sit.
Free camping close in
Dispersed BLM sites line Willow Springs Road and Kane Creek, minutes from town. No water, no toilets in most, and fire restrictions bite hard in summer.
Getting around without a car
There is no public transit. Local outfitters run bike and river shuttles, and a scheduled van links Salt Lake City airport to Moab daily — book ahead.
Free by day
Corona Arch on BLM land needs no park pass; so do the Potash Road petroglyphs and dinosaur tracks. Sunset at the Colorado River overlook costs nothing.