The Utah Redemption Tour: Skimming the Rim of Canyonlands

Prioritizing our Moab adventures was a challenge. Would we be basic first-timers and maximize our time at Arches, or would we split our time more evenly among several of the must-see places? We had done enough research to hear time and time again, "Don't snooze on Canyonlands!" And yet, despite all our research and know-how, we still chose to maximize our time in Arches. This was intentional because we were lucky to grab a site at Devils Garden Campground, right in the middle of the park, and we weren't going to pass up the convenience to all the incredible hiking trails right at our doorstep.

Every decision is a trade-off, though, and this left limited time for the second of the Mighty 5 national parks. We'd only be able to skim the surface of Canyonlands, and so we put on our tourist caps and made our way to the Island in the Sky District.

Canyonlands has four districts: Island in the Sky, The Needles, The Maze, and The Rivers. All are far away from each other, and some require special permitting and preparations to access them. Island in the Sky is definitely the most touristy district because it's most accessible from Moab and offers many famous views from the canyon rim. We never like when "touristy" gets a bad rap, because so often, these places became touristy for a reason. Just look at the Grand Canyon. Just look at Arches! Sometimes places are just that beautiful and unique that people flock to them. We imagined Canyonlands would be in the same boat.

The Crowds

The National Park Service (NPS) website alerted visitors that "March through November is the busy season at Canyonlands." We were told to expect long lines at the entrance gate and limited parking at the popular trails and overlooks. We were headed to the park on April 2, but if our past 8 days in Moab taught us anything, it was to not worry. Arches had its crowded moments, but we had plenty of space to explore. We never saw long lines at the entrance gate. Then, we found a first come, first served campsite with no issue. April 2 was a Wednesday, and we had been battling a cold front that would keep Canyonlands in the 40s with chances of storms – not ideal weather for most visitors. Also, we typically just don't have problems with crowds in national parks. If all of these signs pointed anywhere, they were toward a seamless trip to Canyonlands.

With tourist caps on, we planned to do the scenic drive with all the most popular overlooks and trails. We found a self-guided tour on the NPS app that would take us to Mesa Arch, Green River Overlook, and Grand View Point. Between those stops would be plenty of other overlooks and small trails. This is the way we like our first visits to national parks to go. We like to see the main attractions and usually do a combination of scenic driving and hiking. However, if we did hit crowds, we were totally fine pivoting and hiking one of the less popular trails. We just needed to see where the day took us.

The drive up to the park entrance could be a day trip in itself. The views were outstanding, and along the way were places to stop and adventure. Dead Horse State Park is also off of this road.

We gazed in awe at the scenery but didn't stop. That's one of the downsides to having limited time, and since we didn't know how long we'd be waiting at the entrance gate, we had no time to waste.

Or did we?

We've wondered this before, but they can smell us coming, can't they? Just as well.

So where were the people, actually? Most were probably somewhere much warmer, but we did find a couple crowds exactly where you'd expect them: Mesa Arch and Grand View Point Overlook. If you don't have crowds there, you better double check that the park is actually open! Absolutely nothing over-the-top, though, which you will see in our more detailed synopsis of these places.

The Geology

Canyonlands is aptly named. Just think of it as two big canyons with a bunch of smaller canyons in those canyons. The two main canyons are carved by the Green and Colorado Rivers. The canyon walls show layers of sedimentary rock deposited over the course of millions of years by wind and water. Then about 20 million years ago, these layers uplifted above sea level, forming the Colorado Plateau and the surrounding mountain ranges. The Green and Colorado Rivers began carving their way through these rock layers, and the canyons were created. The erosion continues to this day with the rivers and storms. The softer rock erodes first, leaving behind shelves of harder rock. The water also seeps through cracks in the more porous parts of the rock, which, along with the climate's alternating freezing and thawing seasons, creates all the famous rock formations like the arches and spires.

Shafer Trail Viewpoint and Mesa Arch

The main road into the park and past the visitor center is Grand View Point Road. As the name suggests, the road leads to Grand View Point, an overlook and trail that faces the confluence of the Colorado and Green Rivers. Our NPS self-guided tour suggested to drive all the way to the end of the road and work our way back, but we decided to change up our order of stops. Mesa Arch was the first big attraction, but along the way, we pulled off at Shafer Trail Viewpoint to get our first official look at Canyonlands.

Shafer Trail Viewpoint is not to be confused with Shafer Canyon Overlook. While both have similar views, the Canyon Overlook is a short hike from a more elevated trailhead. The Viewpoint gives a vantage point of Shafer Basin Road's twisting and turning switchbacks going down into the Canyon. We skipped the Canyon Overlook and went straight to the Viewpoint, which gave us more solitude.

Then, we headed to the place of least solitude: Mesa Arch. The crowds weren't actually that bad. For starters, we actually found a place to park. We also feel like we arrived at the end of a wave, because on our way back to our truck, several more spots had opened. Mesa Arch is about a half-mile hike, and you can choose to branch right for a shorter but steeper hike to the arch, or branch left for more ease. Just as with our previous arch hikes, we expected a bunch of photobombers, and that's what we got. Lots of people treated the area like their own personal jungle gym. However, we did notice a line forming for photos under the arch. At least this way people have a fighting chance of getting a picture taken without people everywhere. We didn't wait to take a photo, but I snuck in a couple of close-up shots of the arch to capture the view through it. The arch is beautiful, but it's what's through the arch that really makes this one stand out against the ones we saw in Arches National Park.

Candlestick Tower Overlook

Another overlook off of Grand View Point Road, this view immediately won us over. Candlestick Tower looks like it got displaced from Monument Valley, and since we've yet to visit Monument Valley, we will take these tower-like shapes any chance we get.

This overlook has a pull-off with decent views, but the real views appear when you climb down toward the cliffs. There are plenty of places to spread out, but we didn't need to worry about that, because we had some wonderful alone time here. When we pulled up, one other group was there, but they left after a few minutes. We had a good 10 minutes to climb some of the rocks and take pictures, before another car pulled up. Getting this view all to ourselves made the overlook even better.

Buck Canyon and Orange Cliffs Overlooks

We made two more stops at overlooks before arriving to Grand View. Both views showcase the many rock layers at Canyonlands. Buck Canyon is a small canyon to the east side of the road, and Orange Cliffs shows off the iron oxide of the red rocks to the west.

Grand View Point Overlook and Trail

We were not at all surprised to find lots of people at Grand View Point Overlook, but we easily found a place to park and knew exactly how to get some solitude. Beyond the overlook is a mile-long trail, and even though it's rated easy, most visitors don't take it the whole way. We had the added advantage of the weather. Not only had the cold persisted, but the storms were moving in.

Grand View Point sits at almost 6300 feet in elevation, so we felt like we were close to the storm clouds. They obstructed the view a little, but they made for some dramatic photos. The trail boasts views from all sides; the canyon carved from the Green River lies to the right and the canyon carved from the Colorado River lies to the left. The mineral layers of the rock walls were very distinctive here.

This was a lot of scenery to get at once, and combined with all the enthralling landscapes we had immersed ourselves in recently, we were feeling oversaturated. We always try to be as present as possible, and so on our hike back, we took a minute to sit on one of the rocks and do a grounding meditation. Just taking a moment to engage our senses and feel our bodies on the earth really helps us register that we're somewhere spectacular. Our distant view of our new favorite rock in the park also helped.

Green River Overlook

We made our way back to the truck and retraced our route until Upheaval Dome Road. This is the other main road in the Island in the Sky District. Taking the road the whole way leads to lots of hiking trails, some we already have on our list for our next visit. But we were headed in a different direction, turning off Upheaval Dome Road and onto Green River Overlook Road. Green River Overlook would be our final stop on our Canyonlands adventure. We passed Island in the Sky Campground and drove the loop to scout it out. It's a first come, first served campground made for smaller rigs. It was barely half-filled when we drove through! We blame the weather.

Despite all our canyon views, we hadn't gotten a clear view of either river from above. Green River Overlook changed all that. We had some insane looking storm clouds overhead, but could still see the Green River flowing its way through the rocks below.

Surprisingly, we avoided getting caught in the storms, only hitting a very little bit of drizzle on our way out from Grand View Point. Well, that was at least until we were leaving the park, and the skies opened up. Only, it wasn't rain, it was snow! Of course! Temperatures at our elevation barely made it to 40°F, so naturally the clouds were holding precipitation at even colder temperatures. Driving through the snowflakes was a perfect end to our journey through Canyonlands, where we got to experience Mother Earth's grandeur through geology, vast landscapes, and dramatic weather.

While we don't regret spending more time in Arches than Canyonlands, we know that Canyonlands is far too special to only spend a day. We were happy with what we saw and accomplished, but our next time in Moab, this national park will be a priority. Some national parks just hit you in the feels and make your jaw drop. Canyonlands was one of them. It was our 30th National Park visited but easily made it into our favorites.