Moab roundup spotlights Mill Creek archaeology hike, rodeo, graduation
A free Mill Creek archaeology hike, GCHS graduation and the Canyonlands PRCA Rodeo anchor Moab’s late-May week. The lineup turns town plans into a ready-made summer itinerary.
Mill Creek, Grand County High School and Old Spanish Trail Arena are the places to mark as Moab shifts into summer mode. The week’s most useful stops split cleanly between a free archaeology hike on Friday morning, Grand County High School’s Class of 2026 graduation Thursday night, and the Canyonlands PRCA Rodeo running Friday through Sunday.
Grand County High School will send off about 112 seniors at 8 p.m. Thursday, May 28, at the school. Valedictorian Emma Fraser and salutatorian Hannah Fisher are set to speak, along with guest speaker Alina Murdock of Moab Regional Hospital. The ceremony gives the week a civic center point before the weekend crowds turn toward the arena and the trailhead.
The rodeo then takes over Old Spanish Trail Arena from Friday, May 29, through Sunday, May 31. The Canyonlands PRCA Rodeo is part of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and the All American ProRodeo Series. Friday and Saturday night doors open at 6 p.m., with a 6:30 p.m. pre-show and a 7 p.m. start. Sunday’s matinee opens at 4:30 p.m., with a 5 p.m. pre-show and a 5:30 p.m. start, making it the weekend’s main night-and-day anchor for visitors planning around Moab’s growing summer schedule.
The most adventure-friendly item on the calendar is Friday morning’s Mill Creek guided hike with Bureau of Land Management archaeologist Chris Shaw. It runs from 9 a.m. to noon on May 29, meets at the Mill Creek North Fork Trailhead, costs nothing, and stays under a mile. The walk is part of Archaeology and Historic Preservation Month, and Shaw will discuss petroglyphs and historic inscriptions in the Moab area, along with recent research he presented at the Pecos Archaeology Conference. For travelers looking to pair a short hike with a deeper look at local heritage, that is the week’s best fit.
The rest of the schedule fills in the gaps between those bigger draws. Tuesday’s lineup included the final round of the spring MMBA Town Race Series at Mudsprings, a planning commission meeting and a Moab History 101 training session. Wednesday added a library board meeting, the Jurassic Oddballs paleontology talk, Weed N’ Feed at the Youth Garden Project and free Bluegrass Night at the Backyard Theater. Thursday also brought community acupuncture and a movie at Slickrock Cinemas before graduation night, while Friday closed with Skate Moab’s free community night. By the time the Mill Creek hike starts Friday morning, Moab will already have moved from classroom, to trail, to arena in the span of one late-May week.
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