i care as someone that has been going there for years and has lived there off and on for multiple seasons, and in the last couple years has watched the quality of life in Moab drastically decrease as locals are pushed out by airbnb's for all of these folks that completely unnecessarily rent all of these sxs's and jeeps with 37's. also, it just personally bugs me to see people wasting money on overly capable vehicles, but that's just me, I guess.

From your own post, sounds like you are just a tourist like everyone else, but you get bothered by other tourists, who don't necessarily share your vision of what an ideal vacation would be in Moab.

I just want to point out how ridiculous your logic is, but hey, you do you man.

Yeah, and I've seen Cadillac's and station wagons drive on the beach. lol.
Wouldn't be a good idea for me to do the most challenging trails with a family of 4 in the middle of the desert with no cell coverage, by myself, with no spotters now would it? Or, maybe you enjoy crowded trendy trails like fins and hells. Maybe your just smarter and better than I am, but I doubt it. We had a great time, money well spent. You're just talking smack. One of those guys that can always do it better I guess.

can you read? I said I live there part time. If the insane influx of tourists hadn't made it impossible, I would live there full time. and trust me, all of my friends that live there full time and have been there for a decade or more feel the same way.

nah. I do trails like Lockhart Basin that are harder and much more remote than fins by myself because I have the tools and skills to get out of trouble. risk is part of the adventure. also LOL at doing shafer and Potash and then saying that you don't do the popular crowded trails.

Sounds like you don't like free market capitalism (sarcasm)

People are allowed to spend their money and enjoy what they enjoy however they want. If it means more crowds and increased prices well thats the price you pay.
Why should "locals" get to enjoy something and no one else?

You strike me as the same person who sees someone with little skill on a hard or moderate trail and then does not offer to help and criticized behind their back they are going on the wrong line etc - and then complain on here of people take overly built rigs on what are essentially dirt roads with some exposed slick rock......

You need to contribute or leave the forum - O wait free speech - carry on as you please

Bet I can piss farther and longer than you can

Let's get this thread back on topic!

Moab is:

1/ Unique and amazing
2/ There are many dozens of trails in the area, between 4x4 ones and dirt roads
3/ The majority of people focus on 20 or fewer trails made famous by the Safari
4/ Yet there are so many more that offer sights and/or seclusion.

There is something there for everyone.

The one unfortunate side is overuse and abuse. The most popular hard trails have become exponentially more difficult since the early 2000s. Even the hardcore Jeep drivers I know nowadays avoid certain obstacles they used to do. Trails like Pritchett and obstacles like Widowmaker are becoming the preserve of trailer queens and ultra modified "street legal but LOL" rigs. A friend took a fully stock JK Rubicon on the entire Cliffhanger not so long ago. I am not sure that is still doable on 32s.

Let's hope that the phenomenon remains contained.

We really had a great time in MOAB. Our primary reason for the trip was hiking in Capital Reef, Arches, and Canyonlands. We spent 3 days there. The Jeep day was just an add-on for my boys and they loved it. We hiked a ton of trails. Over the 10 days after that went up through Colorado and did the same, ending at RMNP and then leaving through Denver. Great trip. Downtown MOAB didn't seem that crowded to me, but then again I live in Charleston and am used to heat, tourists and traffic.

Did you do any hiking in Capitol Reef? If so, what?

I have driven the roads and trails in the park, but never hiked in it except for the end of the Upper Mulley Twist trail where it goes from trail end to overlook.

correction: that's the price people who live in these towns pay for you and your entitled friends to escape their boring cubicle and mortgage lives.

quite the contrary. I've pulled more tourists' vehicles out of snow and mud and off of rocks than you can imagine. I carry multiple sets of tow straps in my vehicle expressly for this purpose. I still think it's f*cking retarded to rent a jeep with 37's to drive on dirt roads.

for people that are so worried about "freedom", you sure do have a lot of opinions about what i'm allowed to say and think and do. you can get f*u*c*k*e*d.

you sound like an angry tourist... Oh excuse me....i mean part time tourist.

Since at least the 1970s there’s been an explosion of people doing “outdoorsy” activities. Bicycling, backpacking, hiking, camping, trail running, downhill skiing, X-C track skiing, back country skiing, mountain bikes in all their flavors. And all the varieties of motor sports on land, snow, and water. And the latest fad of “overlanding”.

All of these activities are attracting more people every year due to being glorified in various media like books, magazines, blogs, YouTube, FB, IG, on TV, etc where people can make money bragging about their accomplishments, post photos, and share the special places they’ve discovered. So if people have the money this attracts more of them to play with their toys in remote and mountainous locations.

The small communities near these places depend on these tourists as their economic lifeblood. A lot of them took a pounding last year during the covid shutdown when parks were closed then later opened with just a fraction of tourists allowed in. Now that restrictions are being lifted there’s an even greater surge to get out there.

So yeah, it’s crowded everywhere and tourists are filling these and other fun communities, driving up housing prices, rentals, food, gas, etc. To the joy of businesses and the distress of local residents. But Moab isn’t particularly special in this regard. Just ask the folks anywhere in Hawaii, Lake Tahoe, NYC, San Francisco, Colorado, national parks like Yosemite, Zion, Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon, any ski town, etc. Tourists are loved and hated.

As @Engineer said, and similar to the line in The Graduate: “One word: Capitalism”.

Yes, we hiked a couple of trails in Capitol Reef ans also some overlooks. Cassidy Arch was my favorite hike there. It's about 4 miles or so round trip and pretty steep at the beginning with a decent elevation gain, but it was great. We also walked the pioneer register trail, was about a mile or so but through a pretty cool narrows type washed out slot canyon. Very hot with no shade. Did Hickmans bridge. All fairly easy hikes, but cassidy was maybe a moderate. Thats all I can remember for now. Was going to hike Sulphur Creek but there was possibility of flash floods so skipped it. Have 1200 pictures but all on my phone. I'll post some once I get them on computer.

Capitol reef reminds me a lot of Zion without the people. I told my wife it will only be a matter of time before Torrey, where we stayed near capitol reef, becomes like Zion.

That's all fine and dandy, but all I care about is did you eat at Milt's???