Moab, Utah
Moab is a city in Grand County, Utah, located 233 miles (374 km) southeast of Salt Lake City and 354 miles (569 km) west of Denver. It is found just off of Interstate 70 at the intersection of U.S. Route 191 and State Route 128. Moab is the county seat of Grand County and has a population totaling over 5,000 residents. Every year Moab hosts a large number of tourists, mostly visitors of the Arches and Canyonlands National Parks that are located close by. The town is also a popular base for mountain bikers who come to ride the nearby Slickrock Trail, and off-roaders who come for the annual Moab Jeep Safari. The median income for a household in the city is estimated at $32,620, and the median income for a family at $38,214.
Moab's economy was originally based on agriculture, but gradually shifted to mining over the years. Uranium and vanadium were discovered in the area in the 1910s and 1920s. Potash and manganese finds came next and then later oil and gas were discovered. In the 1950s Moab became the uranium Capital of the world after Geologist Charles Steen found uranium ore.
In 1949 famed Western movie director John Ford was talked into using the area for the movie Wagon Master. Ford had been using the area in Monument Valley around Mexican Hat, Utah (which is south of Moab) since he filmed Stagecoach there 10-years earlier in 1939. A local Moab rancher went, found Ford, and persuaded him to come take a look at Moab and put it on film.
There have been numerous movies filmed in the area ever since, using the beauty of Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park as backdrops. They have included: Rio Grande (1950), Warlock (1958), The Comancheros (1961), Cheyenne Autumn (1963), The Greatest Story Ever Told (1963), and parts of more recent films: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1988), Thelma and Louise (1990), City Slickers II (1994), and Mission: Impossible II (2000). Union Pacific Railroad's "Building America" marketing campaign was filmed on the Moab spur railroad line. Photos and screen savers showing freight trains on the Moab spur are still featured on Union Pacific's web site.
Since the 1970s, tourism has played an increasing role in Moab's local economy. Partly due to the John Ford movies, the area has become a favorite for photographers, rafters, hikers, and most recently mountain bikers. Moab is also an increasingly popular destination for four-wheelers as well as for BASE jumpers, who are allowed to practice their sport in the area. Moab has had numerous products named in its honor, including the Nike Air Mowabb shoe and the Moab Mountain Bike by Schwinn.
