Moab

The canyon country was home to Native peoples long before settlers arrived, and the Ute were living here when they came. Between 1829 and the early 1850s the site of the town was the Colorado River crossing on the Old Spanish Trail. In 1855 Latter-day Saint settlers built a trading fort there, the Elk Mountain Mission, but abandoned it after repeated attacks. The first lasting non-Native settler was William Grandstaff, a mixed-race cowboy who arrived in 1877 and ranched cattle in a nearby canyon; Mormon families followed from 1878, and racial hostility drove Grandstaff out in 1881. Residents chose the biblical name Moab in 1880, and the town was incorporated in 1902.

The railway built across eastern Utah in 1883 passed far to the north, and Moab settled into farming and then mining. In 1943 a former Civilian Conservation Corps camp outside town became an isolation centre for Japanese Americans labelled troublemakers in the wartime camps. In the 1950s the geologist Charles Steen found a rich uranium deposit south of town, and Moab became the self-styled "Uranium Capital of the World", its population growing by nearly 500 per cent. When the Cold War wound down the mines closed, and by the early 1980s many homes stood empty; a huge pile of uranium mill tailings beside the river has been moved away by rail since 2009.

Tourism took over. John Ford filmed Wagon Master here in 1949, beginning a long film history; Arches, a national monument since 1929, became a national park in 1971, and Canyonlands was created in 1964. Mountain bikers and off-roaders have since made the town a popular base.

Moab's culture is built on the outdoors. The Slickrock Trail made it a popular base for mountain bikers, the Jeep Safari fills it with off-road vehicles every Easter, and climbers, canyoneers, river guides, skydivers and BASE jumpers all base themselves here. Outfitters, rental shops and guide services occupy much of Main Street, and many residents work as guides.

The desert has also drawn writers and film-makers. Edward Abbey based Desert Solitaire, published in 1968, on his seasons as a ranger at Arches, near Moab, and Moab's film commission, founded in 1949, claims to be the longest-running in the world, having overseen westerns, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Thelma and Louise and Mission: Impossible 2.

There is more culture than the town's size suggests. The Moab Music Festival, founded in 1992, takes place each September, the folk festival comes in November, a road-cycling festival raises money for cancer research and survivors in March, and an LGBT Pride festival has been held since 2011. A regular art walk shows local artists' work.

Moab had 5,366 people at the 2020 census. It is the largest town and the county seat of Grand County, covering under 5 square miles on the south bank of the Colorado River at 4,025 feet, and home to a regional campus of Utah State University. The town is tightly hemmed in by cliffs and public land, which is used for grazing, drilling and forestry as well as recreation.

Tourism is the economy now that uranium is gone: motels, restaurants, outfitters and guide services employ much of the town, and visitor numbers rise and fall with the seasons — busiest in spring and autumn, slower in the heat of summer and quiet in winter. Housing is a pressing local issue: many residents fear changes like those in the Colorado resorts of Vail and Aspen — soaring property values, a rising cost of living and the strain on workers on low and middle incomes.

Daily life is small-town and outdoors-oriented: early-morning rides and runs before the heat, river trips, and evenings on the patios of Main Street. A free weekly paper, the Moab Sun News, covers local affairs.

Moab's food is ordinary small-town American, shaped by hungry cyclists and hikers: pizza, pasta, burgers, Mexican food and big breakfasts, served along Main Street, where many of the town's restaurants stand within a short walk of one another. There is no single signature dish; Utah's statewide favourites include fry sauce, a mix of ketchup and mayonnaise for chips, and the drive-through soda shops that mix fizzy drinks with syrups and cream.

Local drink is the bigger story. The Moab Brewery has made beer on Main Street since 1996, and Spanish Valley Vineyards grows Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Riesling and Gewürztraminer in the desert, its bottles sold at the town's liquor store and poured in local restaurants. Utah's alcohol rules are strict: stronger drinks are sold in state-run stores, which shapes how and where people buy wine and spirits.

For backcountry trips, self-catering is the norm, and outfitters and campers stock up at the town's supermarkets before heading out with plenty of water.