Canyonlands

Canyonlands National Park is a vast wilderness covering almost 1,360 km² in the heart of the Colorado Plateau.

It is also an endless diversity of dramatic desert landscapes featuring canyons, mesas, and towering rock pinnacles.

Because this park receives fewer visitors than Arches, many of the hiking trails are more rugged and some roads are unpaved.

The national park is divided into three distinct districts: Island in the Sky, The Maze and The Needles. As visiting more than one of these areas in a single trip is highly impractical, we will focus on Island in the Sky . It is the most accessible district from Moab and offers spectacular views.

Island in the Sky

The "Island in the Sky" is the highest section of the park, with an elevation of 1,800 to 1,900 metres.

This vast, level, triangular mesa offers breathtaking views of the Colorado River and the Green River, across canyons to distant mountain peaks.

GRAND VIEW POINT OVERLOOK

Here you will find the best views in Island in the Sky.

Notice the reddish canyons, which look like a real maze!

SHAFER CANYON OVERLOOK

Shafer Canyon Overlook offers an incredible view of the Shafer Trail , a heart-stopping, serpentine trail once used by cowboys and uranium miners.

You can even drive the Shafer Trail in a 4WD vehicle, but you must check with a ranger first, as it can be dangerous.

Mesa Arch

Distance (round-trip): 1 km
Time (round-trip: 20 minutes
Level: Easy

Don't miss this short twenty-minute hike out to Mesa Arch and back.

You will enjoy stunning views of the canyon far below, framed by the magnificent rocky arch. A great hike for families and the less athletic.

NEARBY

Dead Horse Point State Park

This small gem of a park is a must if you have the time and opportunity to go there. The dramatic view from Dead Horse Point Overlook is one of the most photographed panoramas in the world and makes the trip worthwhile. You will see a vast mesa surrounded by deep canyons overlooking a meander of the Colorado River (the Colorado Gooseneck ) from a height of more than 600 m. Fans of "Thelma and Louise" will be interested to know that this is where the famous scene in which the fugitives drive their car off the edge of the cliff into a canyon was filmed.

According to legend, the park is so named because of its use as a natural corral by cowboys in the 19th century, where a herd of wild mustangs once died of thirst within sight of the Colorado River 600 m below.

As this state park is not part of the national parks network, you will need to pay an entrance fee of about $20 per vehicle (up to 8 occupants, valid for 3 days). The park is open every day of the year from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. The Visitor Center is open every day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. except Thanksgiving Day (4^th Thursday in November), Christmas Day and New Year's Day.

The park is 51.5 km from Moab (about 45 minutes) and right next to the Island in the Sky section of Canyonlands National Park (10 min), so you can easily visit both parks in the same day. Try to go at sunset for stunning colourful vistas. To get there, drive 14.5 km northwest of Moab on the US 191, then take the Utah 313 southwest for 37 km.