Canyonlands National Park

Monday, June 19 - we drove back toward Dead Horse Point and continued another 4 miles into Canyonlands National Park. Canyonlands has two mail canyons, one carved by the Colorado River and one carved by the Green River. The rivers join forces and continue as the Colorado in the middle of the park. Canyonlands consists of three districts: Island in the Sky: the region between the two rivers, Needles: the region south of the confluence of the rivers and The Maze. All three are unique, distinct and disconnected from each other. The Maze, on the western part of the park and west of the Green River, is only reachable by 4-wheel drive vehicles. There are no improved roads into that part of the park. Needles is 70+ miles from Moab. So we restricted our visit to the Island In the Sky District - it took us most of the day.

After stopping at the Visitor's Center, we drove to the Mesa Arch trail and walked the 1/4 mile to view Mesa Arch. We then continued down the park road to visit several other overlooks and viewpoints and then hiked the trail to the Upheaval Dome. This was about a mile round trip and the trail was a bit rugged as we scrambled over rocks and up and down terraced hills. The Upheaval Dome remains a mystery as geologists are uncertain about how it was formed. Modern beliefs are that it was caused by a meteorite strike, but this has yet to be proven.

While not as colorful as Grand Canyon or Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands has a beauty all its own. The canyons are narrower than Grand Canyon and not as deep. So features at the bottom of the canyon are more visible and easier to see.