Moab permits and park passes, and what actually opens the gate

No. Within about forty five minutes of town there are two national parks, a Utah state park, a Grand County recreation area, and river permits on the Colorado, and each runs its own gate. An America the Beautiful pass covers the two national parks and does not open Dead Horse Point State Park or the Sand Flats Recreation Area. The 55 dollar Southeast Utah annual pass covers four federal units and nothing else.

Not in 2026. Arches announced in February 2026 that it would not require an advance timed-entry reservation for the year, so you enter on a valid pass during operating hours. The park has run a timed-entry system in other years and can again, and it sets the window, hours and any exemptions season by season, so check the park's current reservation status before any trip. A Devils Garden campground reservation and a Fiery Furnace permit are booked separately either way.

Thirty dollars for a private non-commercial vehicle, valid seven days at either park. A motorcycle is 25 dollars and anyone on foot or by bicycle pays 15 dollars, with under sixteens free. The 55 dollar Southeast Utah annual pass covers both parks plus Natural Bridges and Hovenweep national monuments for a year, which beats two single vehicle entries. America the Beautiful is 80 dollars, with a separate, higher non-resident version. These fees change from time to time, so confirm the current amount before you go.

Canyonlands backcountry permits, including the White Rim Road, release four months before each season at 8am Mountain on Recreation.gov: spring opens 10 November, summer 10 February, fall 10 May and winter 10 August. Westwater Canyon private river permits release two months before the launch date at 8am Mountain, first come, with no lottery. Fiery Furnace permits at Arches do not follow a fixed public release calendar but book up in spring and fall as though they did, so book months ahead.

Always, and there is no free way onto that road. A single day out on it, by vehicle, motorcycle or bicycle, runs on a day-use permit capped at 50 issued daily. Anything with a night below the rim runs on an overnight permit instead, priced at 36 dollars for the reservation plus 5 dollars a person a night. The overnight allocation is 20 numbered sites grouped into 10 camping areas, with a ceiling of 15 people and 3 vehicles per site in the Island in the Sky district. Everything is booked on Recreation.gov, and spring and fall take more applications than the park has permits to give.

No. Dead Horse Point is a Utah state park with an entirely separate fee schedule. Day use is 20 dollars for a private vehicle carrying up to eight people and is valid only for the date of purchase, not for a seven day window. A Utah resident aged 65 or over pays 15 dollars, a motorcycle is 10 dollars, and walk-in or bike-in visitors pay 10 dollars per four people. Resident annual permits run 125 dollars, or 65 dollars at 65 and over.

Almost never. Sand Flats Recreation Area is run by Grand County with the Bureau of Land Management and funds its whole operation from its own gate income, taking no county tax money. Most federal passes are not honored there, with the Federal Recreational Lands Access Pass the exception. The fees are 10 dollars for a private vehicle for seven days, 5 dollars for a bicycle or motorcycle, 35 dollars for an annual pass, and 20 dollars a night per vehicle to camp.

Sixteen dollars per person for the ranger-led hike and 10 dollars per person for a self-guided permit, both booked through Recreation.gov and both separate from and additional to park entry. Children under five are not allowed on either. The Fiery Furnace is a maze of sandstone fins inside Arches with no marked trail through it, so a self-guided permit means route finding rather than following. The ranger-led places go first, and neither is reliably available as a walk-up in spring or fall.

They are required year round and released through Recreation.gov two months ahead of the launch date at 8am Mountain, taken first come with no lottery. Between 1 April and 30 September private use is limited to five permits or 75 people per day, whichever comes first, and from 1 October through 31 March that rises to seven permits or 150 people. Permit fees are non-refundable. Westwater is 17 miles of Class IV water, the first genuine whitewater stretch of the Colorado in Utah.