Day 70 Part 1 - Canyon Lands National Park

After a brief stint at McDonald's here in Moab, UT doing my thing that includes answering my students, I was off to Canyonlands National Park that is relatively close at about 30 miles to the entrance of the park.

Canyonlands is very long north to south and I went to the larger north entrance that does not connect to the south.  The northern section as about 20 miles of scenic roads to drive with stops for vistas and hiking trails.

I was in the park by 9:00 am and first stopped at Mesa Arch, that is a short hike that is well worth the effort.

This arch is at the top of the canyon and looking throug the arch you can see how deep it is.

Here is a different view showing where the arch is on the rim of the canyon.

Then I stopped at a number of vistas.

I arrived at my next big stop Upheaval Dome.  It is a geological site that is not known exactly what how it formed.

It appears to have been an meteor that crashed into earth and then there was an upheaval that pushed rock up in the center of the hole.

Getting to the rim of the hole is a short hike but is up hill.  It has great views from there.  I did not hike the entire rim as I was looking to move out of this area and head to Capitol Reef National Park in Utah, but about 150 miles away.

Near the visitors center of Canyonlands NP there Isabel vista where you can see this road in the canyon that you can drive. 

People hike and bike this road too.  Notice there are no guardrails.  When I come back I may want to go on it.

I may have stayed at Canyonlands if their camping wasn't full.  I decided to drive to Capitol Reef and look for camping first as there is no major town in the area.  After I get my camping spot I will tour the park.

I will cover Capitol Reef NP in another post.

Brent

macaloney@hotmail.com