About a 30-minute drive from Moab, Utah, 50 cream-colored tented suites are nestled against a rugged red curving cliff, blending into the desert landscape and facing Canyonlands National Park.

These accommodations are part of Ulum Moab, a resort awarded Two Michelin Keys, where guests might feel like they have stepped into another world. The surreal beauty of the desert and red rocks combined with the luxurious amenities of the resort make for a truly memorable experience.

Some mornings, I drank coffee on the deck as the sky changed colors with the sunrise, which contrasted with late nights sipping tea and admiring the twinkling symphony of stars. Ulum Moab is a DarkSky Approved Lodging and is located in one of the highest concentrations of certified International Dark Sky Places in the world, resulting in some of the best stargazing I’ve ever seen.

Although the resort can also arrange river rafting trips and canyoneering experiences just a few hours away, I didn’t have to go far to rock climb and rappel the Looking Glass Arch rock formation. The red sandstone tower with its “window” is visible from all areas of the resort. While most guests walk to Looking Glass Arch to explore on their own, I ascended the formation with Desert Highlights’ guides. At the top, I admired 360-degree views of the desert, plateaus, canyons, cliffs and the resort. There was nothing more thrilling than the 120-foot rappel down, followed by a return to the resort to soak my muscles in the hot tub.

Despite the property being nearly booked out during my stay, I felt like I had the place to myself most of the time. I reveled in the silence and solitude as I walked between the lobby and my room, stopping to admire orange and yellow flowers and watching tiny lizards search for shade. 

Even while gathering on the terrace at night with other guests, our conversations seemed muffled by the beauty around us. Or perhaps we were so mesmerized by the mountains in the distance, the noise of a crackling fire in the desert air or the stars above Ulum Moab, that our tones were hushed in reverence for Utah’s Canyon Country.