Canyonlands National Park – A Day Trip Planner
Canyonlands National Park is stunning, majestic with some intricate landscape of canyons carved into the Colorado Plateau. Canyonlands has colorful and countless canyons to explore along with fantastically formed buttes and mesas rising high above the Colorado and Green Rivers.
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We had a day to explore the Park during our road trip to Utah. We zeroed in on visiting the Island in the Sky district area of the Park reason being its close accessibility from Moab.
Our exploration of the area started off by stopping at the Island in the Sky Visitor Center. We took some maps and details about the nature trails from a Ranger and began our auto tour (~ 20 miles) from Shafer Canyon Overlook to enjoy the panoramic vistas of the canyons and the La Sal Mountains.
Spectacular Mesa Arch resting on the cliff edge
Views of the slick rock and grey Chinle formations
Grand View Point Overlook
Located at the southern end of the district, this is the last overlook point on the paved scenic road. A 2-mile round trip trail from this overlook point is highly recommended and not to be missed. You get to see the Panoramic views of the canyons and the mesa. Also the stunning red and white sandstone spires of Needles are also visible from this overlook.
Views on the scenic drive of Capitol Reef National Park
Upheaval Dome
The Upheaval dome trail is 1.8 miles round trip which includes two viewpoints. There are various intriguing rock formations on this hike to enjoy. The trail consists of rocky terrain with an elevation gain of ~100 ft. The trail is pretty well marked and has some amazing views of the craters and rocks around the park. Truly a delight for people interested in geology! You can also extend your adventure by embarking on the Syncline loop trail which is 8.3 miles round trip.
By the time we finished our hike and came back to the trail, the sun was setting on the horizon. The entire scene was so magical and hypnagogic, that it was really hard for us to say goodbye to the park! On our way back to the Park exit, we stopped at Holeman Spring Canyon overlook to marvel at the picturesque canyonlands for one last time!
Sunset colors on a tower with La Sal Mountain in the backdrop
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We had an amazing time in our short one-day exploration of Canyonlands Island in the Sky district. The vistas and the landscape are way different than some of the other canyon areas that we have been to. The immense vastness of the canyons cannot be described in words and should be experienced in person. Hope you enjoy reading our blog, get inspired and step out. Stay tuned for more!