Moab, Utah has quietly grown from a sleepy desert town into the Southwest's adventure capital, and where you sleep there now ranges from completely free to more than a thousand dollars a night. A writer who has been visiting twice a year since the late 1990s recently sorted through the options, and her picks map out a useful playbook for anyone planning a trip this fall.

The cheapest option is still the classic one: dispersed camping on BLM land, free of charge. Rules have shifted recently — the new Utahraptor State Park has converted some formerly open ground into paid campgrounds, though free spots remain east of the Dalton Wells Dinosaur Quarry and near the Klonzo and Sovereign trailheads, plus along La Sal Mountain Loop Road when you want to escape summer heat. One desert-specific rule matters here: human waste can take a decade or more to decompose in arid soil, so bring wag bags from a local shop like Gearheads rather than digging a hole.

For a roof on a tight budget, the Lazy Lizard Hostel has been Moab's only hostel since 1987, with private two-person rooms at $48 and log cabins sleeping up to six for $53-70. It's a mile south of town, so plan on driving. Campers with more ambition should target Devils Garden Campground inside Arches National Park, about 22 miles north of town — slickrock right outside your tent, a trail to Broken Arch from the campground, and dark skies over the arches. Reservations vanish fast in peak season, but from November through February it's first come, first served.

In town, the Gonzo Inn — named for the clothed lizard on its sign, a nod to Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas — has been a local favourite since 1998. Rooms come with a $14 daily breakfast voucher per person, though the onsite cafe gets crowded.

Further up the Colorado River, two lodges anchor the splurge end. Red Cliffs Lodge, now owned by Marriott, sits 17 miles northeast of town with river-view cabins, rafting and SUP trips bookable through the property, and a basement museum of Western film memorabilia — Rio Grande and other classics were shot here. Main lodge rooms run $225-600, cabins $1,000-1,200. Nearby Sorrel River Ranch offers log-cabin rooms, horseback rides and a junior wrangler program for kids; note it reopened recently after a temporary state shutdown over water treatment violations, which the lodge disputes.

For glamping done properly, ULUM Moab (from the Under Canvas team, opened 2023) sits 25 miles south of town in a sheltered ring of sandstone cliffs near Looking Glass Rock. Every tent-suite has its own bathroom, plus there are massage caves, plunge pools and genuinely dark skies. It operates late March through late October. Just expect a 30-minute drive to restaurants, trails, and Arches.

Timing matters more than usual here. Winter is the only reliably quiet season, with rates dropping roughly 40 percent, while spring break pushes prices up. Late October and November hit a sweet spot: cooler hiking weather, thinner crowds, and easier bookings.