Denver to Moab: Three Good Stops Across the Rockies
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About 355 miles from the Front Range to red rock, over the Continental Divide and down the Colorado River. Most people drive it in one shot and miss the best hot spring in the state. Here is where we get out.
- 355 miles
- 5 hr 30 min driving
- I-70 W · US-191 S
- A long one-day drive, better as two
This is one of the great drives in the country and it gets treated as transport. You leave Denver, climb to 11,000 feet, come down Glenwood Canyon with the river beside you, cross the desert, and arrive at Arches. Five and a half hours, four completely different landscapes.
Two things worth knowing before you go. The Eisenhower Tunnel tops out over 11,000 feet, so an underpowered or overloaded car will feel it and mountain weather can close I-70 in any month with snow in it. And Arches now uses timed-entry reservations in its busy season — check the National Park Service page for the current dates and book before you are standing at the gate.
Stop 1 — Glenwood Springs
Mile 160 · directly off I-70 · 2 hours, or overnight
Glenwood Springs sits at the west end of Glenwood Canyon, which is the prettiest stretch of interstate in America and one of the most expensive ever built — the eastbound and westbound lanes stacked on viaducts above the Colorado River because there was nowhere else to put them.
The town's reason to exist is hot water. The Glenwood Hot Springs pool is fed by the Yampah spring and is big enough to swim laps in; Iron Mountain Hot Springs, on the river just outside town, is a set of smaller soaking pools with a better view. Either one turns a driving day into a good day. Bring a swimsuit you can reach without unpacking the car.
Why we put it first: it is the natural halfway point on time, and it is the last place on this route where the scenery is green.
Stop 2 — Colorado National Monument, Grand Junction
Mile 245 · about 15 minutes off I-70 · 1 to 2 hours
Almost nobody driving to Moab knows this is here, which is the argument for stopping. Colorado National Monument is a National Park Service unit on the edge of Grand Junction: red sandstone canyons and monoliths with Rim Rock Drive running 23 miles along the top of them. You can drive in the Fruita entrance, take the rim road with its overlooks, and come out at Grand Junction without doubling back.
There is an entry fee per vehicle, and it is the same red rock geology you came all this way to see — arriving in Moab having already had a first taste of it does not spoil anything. It sets it up.
Grand Junction is also the last real supermarket before Moab. Buy your water here. Moab prices are Moab prices, and this is a desert where four litres a person a day is not a dramatic number.
Tell us where you are leaving from, when, and who is in the car — dog, toddler, EV, six-hour limit — and we will name the stops that actually fit. Your first trip is free, no card.
Stop 3 — the Colorado River Scenic Byway, UT-128
Mile 320 · a signed alternative to the last 30 miles of US-191 · add 45 minutes
This is our favourite trick on this route. Instead of running US-191 straight down into Moab, turn off at Cisco onto UT-128 and follow the Colorado River in along the canyon floor. It is a state scenic byway, it is paved, it is slower, and it is the single best arrival into Moab there is — red walls on both sides, the river beside you, Fisher Towers standing up out of the desert about halfway along.
There is a short trail at Fisher Towers if you have the light for it, and the byway delivers you into Moab from the north end of town.
Once you are there, if you are doing the Arches scenic drive rather than a long hike, an self-guided audio tour for the park drive means somebody in the car is not reading a guidebook aloud at the wheel.
How we would time it
Leave Denver by 8am, Glenwood Springs 11 to 1 with a soak and lunch, Colorado National Monument 2:30 to 4, UT-128 in the late light, Moab for dinner. That is a full day and worth it. If you would rather split it, sleep in Glenwood Springs and arrive in Moab by lunchtime the next day with the afternoon free.
Booking the rest of it
Flying into Denver and driving out is the normal way to do this trip. Compare EconomyBookings and GetRentacar — and take the SUV over the compact if there is any snow in the forecast for the tunnel, which there can be well into spring.
The three stops on a map
Stops in driving order. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.
How long is the drive from Denver to Moab?
About 355 miles and five and a half hours of driving on I-70 west and US-191 south. Add two to three hours if you stop in Glenwood Springs and at Colorado National Monument.
What is the best stop between Denver and Moab?
Glenwood Springs for the hot springs at the mouth of Glenwood Canyon, and Colorado National Monument at Grand Junction, which almost nobody on this route knows about.
Is UT-128 into Moab worth the detour?
Yes. The Colorado River Scenic Byway from Cisco follows the river through the canyon past Fisher Towers and adds roughly 45 minutes for the best arrival into Moab.
Do I need a reservation for Arches National Park?
During its busy season Arches operates a timed-entry reservation system. Check the National Park Service page for the current dates and book before you drive to the gate.
Now let us do this for your drive
Every stop above is one we would take ourselves — but it is our day, not yours. Change the departure time, the driving limit, the dog in the back seat, the EV that needs a charger every 200 miles, and the right stops change with it. That is the whole thing we built: you tell us the trip, we name the three good stops, with the drive math already done.
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Updated 2026-09-06. Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you book through one, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. It never changes which stops we pick — no business on this page paid to be here.