Welcome to Moab Rim RV Campark and Cabins
Whether your choice of accommodations is a tent, travel trailer, fifth wheel, motor home, cabin or cottage, the Moab Rim RV Campark and Cabins can accommodate your needs.
On this page, our live webcam will give you a bird's eye view of the Campark. Looking east, across Highway 191, the view includes Moab's Slickrock and the La Sal Range.
History of Moab, Utah
Under the direction of Brigham Young and other LDS church leaders, 12 men set out to establish a major control point on the Old Spanish Trail in southeastern Utah.
The group intersected the Old Spanish Trail northwest of the Green River crossing. They followed a rocky descent into Moab Canyon until they reached a steep escarpment of the Moab Fault near the present entrance to Arches National Park.
At that point, their five wagons had to be dismantled and lowered by rope down a 25 feet "jumping off place." The pioneers left their wagons cached in Spanish Valley and proceeded southeast toward the Colorado line. The next year, 1855, 41 men were called by the church to establish an outpost in Spanish Valley, which had been reported as a beautiful valley with rich soil, good timber and abundant water. In the summer of that year, the Elk Mountain Mission was established. The valley had served as a common gathering ground for Navajo and Ute Indians. A major Ute leader counseled Native Americans to keep peace with the missionaries. A fort was constructed and a steady stream of Indians kept trading in the valley lively.
The peace was always tenuous and by September events exploded into a tragedy. Within a month a confusing and unplanned battle occurred between the American Indians and the Mormon settlers. Two missionary hunters were killed and the decision was made to abandon the Elk Mountain Mission. Few people ventured into Grand County during the period from 1855 to the mid-1870s. Cowboys and ranchers became more interested in Grand Valley and by the 1880s, the area became settled. A post office was established and the town named "Moab."
The Name "Moab"
A number of theories about how Moab got its name float around book stores and coffee shops. The most accepted is the biblical derivation. In the Bible, the name Moab occurs frequently referring to a dry, mountainous area east of the Dead Sea and southeast of Jerusalem. This etiology seems to fit in both its geographical relationship to Salt Lake City (and the Great Salt lake) and the geologic characteristics of the area. Another less accepted derivation of the name is that "Moab" comes from a Paiute word meaning "mosquito water." Mosquitoes were abundant near the Colorado River. Wherever the name came from, it stuck, but not without challenges. In 1885 the postmaster attempted to change the name to Uvadalia. Later a petition to change the name to Vina also failed. Prior to the completion of the railroad in 1883, most of Moab's supplies were brought in by wagon from Salina or Richfield. Moab was isolated and its settlers became self-reliant and self-sufficient. Home industry was the norm in Moab including gardening, soap-making, medicines, repairs, clothing and tools. In 1885 the first hotel was constructed in Moab. Two years later there were enough travelers passing through to warrant construction of a second hotel. The Darrow House, unlike the luxurious Maxwell House operated by Moab's first businesswoman Addie Taylor, attracted outlaws who were crossing the territory. (from MoabCity.org)