Utah is king of the desert – at least in terms of stupendous sandstone geology. Arizona might boast The Grand Canyon, but Utah lays claim to Bryce, Zion, Canyonlands and Arches NPs, not to mention the thousands of square miles of canyons, towers, mesas and dust in between.

Driving from the south along the 191 Spanish Valley, Church Rock…

… and Wilson Arch aren’t even deemed worthy of inclusion in a Park.

Moab is the outdoor hub – launchpad for the Parks, MTB / rafting capital and the epicentre of desert climbing. The La Sal Mountains dominate to the east, with Castle Valley and Fisher Towers to the north east, separated by the Colorado River from Arches NP to the north. West of town you have the spectacular mesa of Canyonlands, and the wider Bear Ears National Monument, which includes the crack-Meca of Indian Creek.

Working anticlockwise, we started our tour by driving up into the La Sal Mountains on the loop road, and picking a fabulous boondocking spot for the night with views up into the mountains…

… and a mesmerising sunset over Canyonlands.

The Lower Dakota crags aren’t low at all, just nudging 3,000m / 10,000ft, and accessed by 4 miles of steadily zigzagging dirt road above the loop road. A very well-constructed path leads down through quaking Aspens to the foot of a series of crags, up to 100ft of excellent quality Dakota sandstone. Highly featured with flakes, holes and knobs, it reminded me of some of the best of Red Rocks (or Frogsmouth, closer to home!)

The eponymous 5.7 on Good Times Wall is a glorious long jug-fest…

… whilst the neighbouring Salad Days, 5.9, has a notably harder crux on quite thin crimps.

Further right, on Times Wall, the angle steepens and the jugs give way to fragile but positive flakes of “desert varnish”. In Dew Time and Lawn Dart, both 10d, piece together sinuous sequences through these features.

A note of clarification on these crags – Mountain Project describes the climbing as “shady, high-elevation climbing, ideal for the summer”. That’s all true, BUT “shady” is presumably a reference to the dense summer tree-cover, because the walls face due south. We had doubts about visiting in October but were bathed (even sweltering) in full sun all day as the Aspens had shed most of their foliage.

Driving down from the mountains around the remainder of the La Sal loop road, you are treated to stunning vistas over Castle Valley…

… and Castleton Tower…

… revisiting some scenes from Episode 13 of Bill and Dom’s Excellent Adventures.

Upper Onion Creek Campground provided more nostalgia…

… with Fisher Towers painted flame-red by the sunset…

… and a return visit to the magnificent loo with a view:

There’s tonnes of climbing in the Colorado River Valley itself (though still only a fraction of a percent of the amount of rock!) Take-out Beach is an easily accessed sector near the take-out ramp for rafting groups, with the first sector, The Stage, reached by a good path and short scramble from the parking.

We headed a bit further along to The Cinema (seen below towards the end of the day when the sun has moved onto it).

Foot Loose was a tough 5.9 warmup, and Men in Tights, 10a, actually felt easier (perhaps having loosened up!) and well worth its 4*s. Adventures in Babysitting, 5.7, also comes highly recommend.

On the same sector, but oriented at 90 degrees and so in the sun for most of the day, Encore, 11a, is one of my candidates for route-of-the-trip so far. There’s only about 20ft of really tricky climbing up the striking arete, but it requires quite a tenacious approach.

On the adjacent Theatre sector, An Overflow of Good, 11b, is another 4* offering, taking a devious line up a vertical wall before blasting through an overhanging prow on surprisingly good (and very welcome!) jugs. Another candidate – Outstanding!

Here’s the view down the Colorado River, with the line of An Overflow of Good just catching the last of the sun (centre left).

Having taken the long way around into Moab, it was time to finally hit town and slake a thirst at the Proper Brewery.