Goblin Valley State Park

Green River, Utah

Goblin Valley will make you feel like you’ve just landed on Mars - its unique rock formations, the consistent orange color of the rock, and the number of formations, all add to its other-worldly hiking experience. Due to the remote location of the park, it’s also not as popular as most parks in Utah - meaning less crowds and a better experience. This guide provides some general travel tips for visiting Goblin Valley State Park as well as directions to the most beautiful views.

General Travel Tips

• You can find a map of the park HERE (under Brochures).

• The park is open from 6am to 10pm and is 1 hour 40 minutes from Moab.

• If you’re into mountain biking, there’s a few trails you can ride at this park. At the first intersection after the visitor center, head straight onto the dirt road that goes up to the top of the hill. You’ll reach the parking area and trailhead for all of the biking trails after a few short minutes. Don’t bother biking if it’s rained, the clay soil will fill the tread on your tires.

• There’s a number of other great parks nearby including Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, and Dead Horse Point State Park. We’ve put together a guide that includes the most beautiful day hikes from these parks (including Goblin Valley) HERE.

Directions to the Most Beautiful Views

Park at Observation Point and explore the area immediately in front of the parking area. You can hike as little or as much as you'd like here for views that suit your preference. Hike to the top of the various tall hills and look down on the goblins for some of the best views.

You’ll also want to hike the well marked Goblin’s Lair Trail that starts at the far left of the parking lot at Observation Point. Most of the trail is a moderate 3 mile roundtrip hike. The very end of the trail involves scrambling up and down some loose dirt/rocks on a hill to be able to enter the cave. The cave is definitely worth the trip! Be sure to watch your step here, it would not be a good place to fall.

If one cave isn't enough for you, you can also hike to Goblette’s Lair that’s less than a half mile from Goblin’s Lair. You’ll see the trail just prior to scrambling up the hill to enter Goblin’s Lair. While not as big or spectacular as Goblin’s Lair, it’s not very far from Goblin’s Lair, so you might as well check it out.