Annual Pioneer Day Ice Cream Social

Every July 24, the Moab Museum opens its west lawn at 118 East Center Street for a free evening social that has run for more than 45 years. From 6:00 to 8:00 PM, the gathering honors Utah Pioneer Day, which marks the 1847 arrival of Mormon settlers in the Salt Lake Valley and the mid-1870s families who followed the Colorado River corridor into Moab, drawn by grazing land and the promise of open country. Utah State University Moab’s Aggie Creamery donates the ice cream, including flavors like Aggie Blue Mint and Huckleberry, and local bakeries compete in a pie contest where winning creations go to auction. Sorbet from Crystal’s Cakes and Cones and Sweet Serendipity rounds out the spread.

The evening has a specific texture that chain events rarely produce. Former Grand County Commissioner Greg Halliday often appears in fur trader costume of his own construction, speaking about the 1820s and 1830s beaver pelt trade along the Colorado and San Juan Rivers, a commercial era that predates Mormon settlement by decades and shaped the region’s geography of contact. Live music has featured Quicksand Soup, an alternative bluegrass band, alongside a local ensemble including Grand County Council Vice Chair Jaylyn Hawks on bass and USU Moab Dean Steve Hawks on percussion. A traditional Plains Native American teepee goes up for hands-on learning with children. Inside, the museum keeps its doors open for the evening, with exhibits covering uranium mining, pioneer settlement, ancient Native American artifacts, and Moab’s unexpected film history.

After the social, drive three miles north on Highway 128 into the Colorado River corridor, where the same red rock canyons the settlers once crossed are now floated by raft and paddleboard. Moab Rafting and Canoe Company rents gear roadside. For a full Pioneer Day weekend, search Lake.com for Colorado Plateau canyon country cabin rentals before the holiday fills the calendar.