Canyonlands National Park

• A February 2009 travel journal by Wasatch
• Type of Trip: Pleasure
• Last Updated: February 25, 2009

The Green and Colorado Rivers merge in the middle of desolate Canyonlands National Park to form the river that created the Grand Canyon. Canyonlands itself can hold its own with any hole in the ground as an awesome sight.

A Step Back in Time for Great Burgers and Stuff

by Wasatch on February 25, 2009

We took a step back into the past at Milt’s, a classic example of what drive-ins were like before
McDonald’s. Milt’s appeared to do mainly a carry out business catering to locals. Inside, there
is room for eight on stools at the counter and table space for six, by the window. Getting
tired of typical fast food joints, we gave Milt’s a try. It took only one visit to put Milt’s #1 on our
short list of the best places for lunch in Moab.

Milt’s was founded in 1954 and it looks like it has not changed in appearance. Befitting and
confirming it’s age and origins if I am not mistaken, the walls and counter were covered with
white Bakelite. The menu includes six variety of burgers plus the nine extras, hot dogs, some
other sandwiches, chili, and a concoction called "Frito Pie"-- Fritos layered in a bowl topped
with cheese and smothered in "Milt’s famous chili." It was not reported whether anyone ever ate
this and lived.

We had the fast food classic lunch- burger, fries, and a milk shake. Milt’s beat the fast food
chains hand down on all three, plus providing fast and efficient table service.

The staff of two kept things moving briskly.

Bottom line: A good value with better hamburgers than McDonald’s or any of its ilk, and way
better milk shakes.

The menu includes several burger variations, double and single burgers with your choice of nine
different toppings at added cost. There is also a 1/4 lb. Buffalo Burger at the same price, $3.89,
as the 1/3 lb hamburger. This is an amazing deal on a Buffalo Burger. If you aren’t familiar
with Buffalo, this the place to try it. After all, you are in the wild west where the Buffalo roam,
and you probably can’t get fast food Buffalo burgers at home. One word of warning. Buffalo
meat makes skinless chicken breast look like a high calorie fat loaded food, but the meat
processors cheat in making ground Buffalo for burgers. They add fat to the Buffalo, raising its
fat content from the original 2% to around 9%, but compared to a Big Mac, Buffalo burgers are a
starvation diet. Still, in spite of the extra fat load, Buffalo burgers are an extremely dry meat, and
they benefit from anything with moisture being added to them– load it up with ketchup or
mustard.

Many describe Buffalo as a sweet tasting beef. I can’t see it. Buffalo strikes me as beef that
tastes better than beef.

Other sandwich offerings include chicken, turkey, Rubens, grilled cheese, egg, fish, and veggie
burger.

There are four salads with or without a choice of Milt’s meats and eight Chicago hot dog
variations.

To drink: coffee tea, milk, pop/soda, milk shakes, and malts. The Hamburger Steak Platter
featuring a half pound burger patty steak topped with grilled onions and cheese and served with
homemade fries, toast and a salad, is the most expensive item on the menu at $7. Prices are an
outstanding bargain for a resort area.

If you go anywhere except Milt’s for lunch, you made a big mistake.

Canyonlands is Remote, but Getting There is a Great Trip

by Wasatch on February 25, 2009

A few years ago, two hikers set off from I-15 in southern Utah to walk to Moab. It took them
123 days. I recommend driving.

BY AIR
You can fly into Moab, but its expensive. Salt Lake City is the closest major gateway and
the trip to Canyonlands, about 4 hours to several days, is impressively scenic.

The fastest route is I-15 south to US 6 east to I-70 east to US 191 south. The scenery on this
route features the trip over the Wasatch Mtn. Range and the desert landscape east of the Wasatch.
From Helper to I-170, the long mesa on the left is the Book Cliffs. You will be impressed with
the isolation of Canyonlands, but Canyonlands is nothing compared to the Book Cliffs, perhaps
the most isolated place in the country. A side roads off US 6 ends in less than 20 miles at a ranch
house. 60 years ago the rancher discovered the largest prehistoric Indian ruins in North America
on one corner of his ranch. Fifty years later he donated the land to the State Archeologist. That
was the first the world knew of his discovery. For a half a century, nobody else came across this
ancient city.

Desolation Canyon is in the Book Cliffs. Desolation Canyon is 2/3 the size of the Grand Canyon
and a mile deep. That’s big. Did you ever hear of Desolation Canyon? The closest road
access(dirt) ends 35 miles from the canyon rim.

Zipping along at 65 mph for 84 miles along the base of the Book Cliffs in your air conditioned
car with MP3 player, cell phone, and laptop, look over at the Book Cliffs and reflect on the
vastness of nature with Ozymandias, "gaze on my works ye mighty and despair."

The problem with US 6 is that it is a very dangerous road, the number one killer in Utah because
the State Legislature would rather see people slaughtered in head on collisions than raise the gas
tax to make it an expressway.

Safer, but less scenic and a bit longer is to take I-70 south to US 50 to I-70 east. The Book Cliffs
are on the left after passing the intersection with US 6 on I-70.

Another pleasant alternative that misses the most dangerous half of Rt 6 is to leave Salt Lake
City on I-80 east to US 40 east to US 191 south. If you do this in early October, stop at the
Strawberry Visitor’s center to see the salmon run.

After US 40 passes Strawberry Reservoir (the big lake on the right), it climbs a hill. There is
usually a Beaver Dam in the little stream along right side of the road on the downhill trip. If the
front seat passenger watches closely, he should spot it. I can spot it while driving, but I know
what to look for. Do you?

From Las Vegas
I-15 to UT Rt 9 to US Rt 89 to UT Rt 12 to UT Rt 24 to I-70 to US 191 to Canyonlands.
This trip is described in detail below. Its about 460 miles. It can be done in one long day, but
that would be a big mistake.

SCENIC ROUTES
From Salt Lake City
I-15 south to US 50 south to UT 24 to I-70 east to US 191 south. UT 24 is a scenic road
whose highlights, and these are impressive, are Capitol Reef National Park and the badlands just
east of Capitol Reef. Canyonlands is a hole in the surface of the Colorado Plateau. Capitol Reef
is an odd rock formation 100 miles long on top of the Colorado Plateau. Rt 24 goes through
Hanksville, a strong candidate for the title ‘arm pit of America’. Hanksville is at the intersection
of UT 24 and UT 95. Don’t blink or you will miss it. Hanksville’s economy depends on a gas
station, a couple motels at the intersection, and 240 cows on small ranches. A few years ago, the
river running through Capitol Reef flooded and wiped out Hanksville’s irrigation canals, without
which the 240 cows can’t live. The Federal government gave Hanksville $5,000,000 to rebuild
the canals. And you thought Kobe Beef was expensive! Four years later, every Republican
member of Utah’s Congressional delegation who engineered this pork barrel voted against Pres.
Obama’s economic stimulus package.

From Las Vegas
Drive over to Lake Mead and follow the road along the lake to Valley of Fire State Park–
well worth a visit– and then to I-15. Near the Arizona-Utah border, I-15 runs through the very
scenic Virgin River Gorge, so rugged that I-15 is the first road to go through the gorge.
Unfortunately, there is only one parking area in the gorge, near the north end and mostly out of
the really scenic stuff.

Somewhere north of Las Vegas, the scenery changes from the Mojave Desert to the Colorado
Plateau. Neatly shown on maps, these places in reality merge into each other in a messy fashion.
The Valley of Fire has elements of both, but when you come out of the Virgin River Gorge, you
are definitely on the Colorado Plateau, 135,000 sq. miles of the most scenic landscapes in the
world. Local slang for the Colorado Plateau is "red rock country", and you will soon know why.

Turn right, east, on UT Rt 9 just north of St George. This is one of the world’s most scenic
roads, especially when driven in the other direction, which you can do on your return to Las
Vegas. Rt 9 cuts through spectacular Zion National Park– stay at least for day.

Rt 9 ends at US 89, another scenic road at Mt Carmel Jct. Go north, left, to UT Rt 12(see
review of) which rivals Rt 9 for spectacular scenery. Twenty miles down Rt 12 is the turnoff for
Bryce Canyon National Park, requiring five hours for a quick visit. Back on Rt 12 going east, the
road crosses the vast and desolate Grand Staircase- Escalante National Monument. Rt 12 joins
UT Rt 24 just before Capitol Reef National Park (see above for the rest of the trip).

The shortest way back to Las Vegas is to reverse this drive, but if that is what you are going to
do, make this modification when going to c*. Stay on I-15 past Rt 9 for another 50 miles to UT
Rt 14, another scenic route, although not in the same league as Rts 12 and 9, which goes by
Cedar Breaks National Monument and joins US 89 about 25 miles from Rt 12. Then return via
Rt 9, to go in the direction on Rt 9 that has the best views (east to west).

This trip can be done in about seven days, minimum, or you can spend the better part of lifetime
exploring it.

For a longer return from Canyonlands head south on US 191 through Monument Valley, perhaps
with a 60 miles detour to see the cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde National Park to Petrified Wood
National Park and then across the Navajo Reservation to the Grand Canyon National Park, then
across Hoover dam and to Las Vegas.

From Denver
This is a long haul, but a pleasantly scenic mountain drive. Head west on I-70 from the
Denver airport– I recommend skipping Denver, a pretty dull place, in favor of spending more
time visiting the outstanding scenery in the Colorado mountains. Georgetown, about 50 miles
from the airport is an attractive well preserved old west mining town. Give it a look. Turn south
on scenic CO Rt 91 six miles west of Frisco to US 285 to US 50 west The Black Canyon of the
Gunnison National Park. Both the Black Canyon and Canyonlands are big holes in the ground,
but they are as different as different can be. At Montrose head south on US 550. In 20 miles at
the intersection CO 26 comes a dilemma. Here starts the loop road around the San Juan Mtns.,
one of the best mountain drives in North America. If you don’t have time for the whole loop,
which way to go? US 550 to Durango(home of the famed Silverton Train) is a bit more scenic,
but the other side of the loop enables a visit to Telluride. Whichever way you choose, at US
160, go see Mesa Verde National Park. Then contiune west on US 491 (until a few years ago,
this was US 666, but the right wing religious nuts got GW Bush to ban the "Devil’s sign" as a
highway number). US 491, né 666, crosses the heart of the America’s pinto bean farms. North
on US 191 brings you to Canyonlands.

For the return to Denver, take scenic UT 126 just north of Moab to I-70 east to Denver, with a
visit to Colorado National Monument.

Maybe the Best Place in Town, Maybe not

by Wasatch on February 22, 2009

Long time Moab visitors will recall the popular BBQ joint, Fat City, the only eating
place in town deserving a recommendation, but it is now closed. The owner/chef went
into catering. So that leaves the newer Moab Brewery as the top BBQ candidate, and in
many respects, it is up to the challenge. But there are flaws, including some big ones
like the pedestrian $6.50 burger and coleslaw that loses the taste test to milk soaked
cardboard. On the bright side, the smoked chicken and beef are excellent. Both have a
nice smoked flavor and the beef, sensibly tri-tip rather than the ubiquitous dried out
brisket, is outstanding. Chicken and beef are served with a fine BBQ sauce on the side.
Ribs, compared to the chicken and beef, were a let down– dry and chewy, albeit nicely
flavored.

The excellent BBQ sauce was commendably served on the side with the chicken and
beef but regrettably, the ribs were drowned in it. I used the chicken and beef to mop up
the excess sauce on the ribs, which turned out to be enough for all three meats on the
combo platter.

Onion rings are superb. They gave me indigestion all night long. That’s because I’m
allergic to onions, but every now and then I break down and do something foolish like
order onion rings. Actually, I finally did get sleep about 2:00am when I remembered to
take a tipple dose of allergy pills. I relate my stomach distress so that you understand
when I say that I would order these onion rings again, that is the highest compliment
because by that, I’m doing so at peril to my health. That’s how good they are.

Starters with the diners, but not the hamburger, were a nondescript Romaine lettuce
salad and a good baked roll.

Servings are very large. Who can eat desert or an appetizer with one of these meals?

Service was surprisingly fast and friendly for as busy as the place was.

Eight beers and ales, brewed on the premises, were offered. We had Derailleur Ale
because the waiter said this amber ale came closest to being a dark beer. It was good
enough that we ordered it again the next night in another local restaurant that carried
it.

The Bottom Line: stick to the smoked chicken or beef and onion rings, avoid the
coleslaw and burgers, and you will have a fine meal, the best we’ve found in Moab.

The menu in 2009 offers five kinds of ale, a stout, and an amber lager. We’ve tried several here
and elsewhere, and all are fine examples of their kind. Beer is served as pints or pitchers.

There are seven fish dishes on the menu including fish & chips, Mahi-Mahi, blackened tilapia, a
smoked salmon wrap, tilapia sandwich, and salmon. Should you eat fish in Moab? Look at far
it is to the nearest ocean. I wouldn’t bother, except for smoked salmon which is made to survive.

There are six burger variations, made with various sauces and cheseses and such. The 13
appetizers include fries, baked potato, crab & artichoke dip, squid, some Mexican stuff, and
wings. The 12 chicken offerings include several sandwiches and dinners such as chicken Alfredo
and various smoked chicken dishes. There is an extensive list of veggie dishes and salads
including some pasta dishes, cheese enchilada, burito, the ubiquitous graden lasad, Ceasar salad,
smoked salmon salad, and gyro salad.

Four soups, including chili, are offered either by the bowl or served in a home made bread
bowl($3 extra).

The main dinner menu features their smoked meats– sausages, chicken, ribs, beef, and the combo
of chicken, beef, and ribs. There are also steaks and prime rib.

Full dinners run $14-22, sandwiches are $7-8. (2009 prices)

The restaurant is one very large room done up in sort of modern rustic. The "tavern", like a bar
in the real world, is off to one side. Big, bustling, and fairly noisy, tthis is not the place for a
quiet candlelight dinner.

Now a word about Utah beer. 3.2 beer is easily available. Just walk into the Moab Brewery and
order one. Stronger beer is more complex. It is so complicated that you are well advaised to
forget it, but if you want to go to the trouble of solving the maze of Utah’s booze laws, seek out
Devastator Bock. At 9% alcohol, it will knock your socks off, and its good tasting stuff.

Stick with 3.2 and it won’t drive you crazy. You can even buy it in some grocery stores and 7-11
type places. In a strange way, the state enforced-- wait, make that the Mormon Church enforced–
limit on the alcohol content of beer is a good thing because, unable to rely on a hagh alcohol
conttent to impress (render unconscious) beer drinkers, Utah’s brew pubs are forced to stress
taste quality, and on this they do a fine job. Utah brews have an impressive history of scoring
high at beer competitions (the same cannot be said for Utah’s insipid wines which should only be
drunk for their novelty).

The 3.2 limit is not as bad as it first seems. There are two ways of measuring the alcohol content
of beer. Most places use a system that shows Utah’s 3.2% beer to be 4.6% alcohol, still weak but
getting close to the 5.5-6% of real beer in most states.

The bottom line: if you like beer with your BBQ, thank your lucky stars and head straight for the
Moab Brewery.

Canyonlands Famous Neighbor

by Wasatch on February 22, 2009

Three miles north of Moab, UT, Arches and Canyonlands(see journal on) National Parks sit on
opposite sides of US Rt 191, only 12 miles apart. Arches has some 2,000 identified arches.
Most of the biggest and best can be seen from or by short walks from the park’s three
paved roads. The main road runs 18 miles from the Visitor’s Center to
Devils Garden trail head (restrooms) and campground. Two roads branch off
the main road, the very scenic Windows Road(rest room), and the road to
the Delicate Arch view point (restroom) and trail head.

There is more to Arches than arches. Leaving the Visitor’s Center, the
road climbs about 1,000 ft. up a red rock cliff, with good views of the
Moab Fault, the depression where the highway runs. The first of the
park’s major stops is at the top of the cliff on the left, the Park Ave.
area which bears a resemblance to Monument Valley. The Park Ave. trail ( one mile, o.w)
cuts across a curve in the road, so if you have someone to pick you up, it can
be walked one way. We walk Park Ave. on the installment plan– we park at one end or the
other, walk halfway, and turn around and walk back. Since these rock formations look different
depending on which way you are going, this is not repetitious.

The next place of interest is the Petrified Sand Dunes pullover on the
right, from which you look out across a filed of ancient sand dunes which
turned to rock when they sank beneath the sea eons ago. In the spring, the snow covered La Sal
Mtns. rise up on the horizon behind the frozen dunes.

Next on the right, the very short flat trail (0.3 miles, r.t.) around Balanced Rock is much more
interesting than it looks from the road. Do it.

The turn off to The Windows runs through some of the best roadside
scenery in the Park, ending at the Windows parking lot(restroom). On
about three out four visits, we skip the Windows Trail(one mile) , but always take
the short and easy Double Arch Trail (0.8 miles), one of the best in the Park. The
parking lot is oval shaped. The Double Arch Trail is about 3/4 the way
around the parking lot.

There is a spot about 80% of the way from the parking lot to where they trail turns into a climb
under the first arch where the cliff to the right produces a remarkable echo of hands clapping.
Face the cliff, clap your hands until you find it. Others on the trail will look at you oddly until
you hit the spot, then everybody starts clapping. Once you locate echo central, try snapping your
fingers. The result is amazing.

On the way back to the main road, stop at the Garden of Eden Viewpoint
for grand views in every direction. Bring binoculars. Use the spotting
scope at the right hand end of the parking lot to locate the Delicate Arch, the parks most famous
feature.

Back on the main road, 2.5 miles from the Windows Road intersection, Panorama View Point
has a great view of Salt Valley Wash and the Fiery Furnace. From here, the road plunges down
the side of Salt Valley Wash to the side road to the Delicate Arch.

Next up, the Delicate Arch (see review of). The trail head(2-3 hrs. to the Delicate Arch.) or
parking lot(rest room) view point of Delicate Arch are reached by the
same road. If you go to the end of the road, the short trail from the parking lot up the slick rock
for a better view of the Delicate Arch is worth the little effort required. Do not be fooled by the
name ‘slick rock’. In reality, this rough sandstone is sticky rock, anything but slick. It got the
name slick because iron horseshoes can not get a grip on it. The old west’s horse riding cowboys
and explorers slid all over the place, but even with leather soled shoes, you feel like you are
nailed onto the rock face. With athletic shoes or hiking boots, especially with those with Vibram
soles, the effect is positively unnerving. You can walk straight up steep hills without slipping as
easily as strolling on a flat big city sidewalk. Feel the rock surface. Its like course sandpaper.

Back on the main road, we pass the Fiery Furnace, Arch’s toughest
hike. If you sign away your first born at the Visitor’s Center, they
might issue you a permit to explore Fiery Furnace on your own, but this
is no place for amateurs. The Fiery Furnace is a rugged rock maze, with
walls so high you can’t see out except straight up. Get lost here, and you
are really lost. A Ranger leads 1-2 daily hikes into the Fiery Furnace.
Very difficult hiking, and only by personal reservations at the Visitor’s
Center. Do not be surprised if you show up to register for the Ranger led hike and find it booked
full for 1-3 days ahead.

Next stop, Sand Dune Arch, a short 15 minute walk(0.3 miles) from the road. Both literally and
figuratively this is one of the coolest places in the park. When you reach the cliff, about 50
yards from the road, the trial enters a narrow crack in the rock face, shading the trail all day long
and keeping it cool. You climb up some sand dunes filling the crack from wall to wall a little bit
and then, above you to the right, is the arch, a cool trip and cool view.

Do whatever else you want in the park, butt do not miss the trails to Double Arch and Sand Dune
Arch.

The parking lot at the end of the road is very popular and the start of one of the park’s most
popular trails (there is also a campground and restrooms here). The flat trail runs past a string of
arches, including Long Arch, or at least it did. Long Arch, with a span of about 260 feet, was the
longest arch in the world. It collapsed in 2008. Now it is a plie of rubble at the bottom of a gap
in the ridge.

On our May 23 & 24 visit, Indian Paintbrush were in full bloom. Paintbrush is the most
spectacular desert wildflower, a bright red flower atop a stem looking like a spring of rosemary.
Technically, Paintbrush is not a flower. Rather, red is the temporary color of the new
growth leaves. If your schedule is flexible, it’s worth a call or email
to any of the Southwest’s National Parks to get an estimate on when the
Paintbrush will flower and time your trip for that. The rocks will always
be there. Paintbrush makes but a fleeting, awesome appearance.

Late afternoon is the best time to travel the park’s roads because that’s
when the setting sun best lights up most of features along the roads.

Always carry water with you, lots of water in the summer.

As the bird flies, Natural Bridges National Monument is about 60 miles south west of Arches,
but Canyonlands National Park is in the way, so it’s a 120 mile drive. Natural bridges and
arches, what’s the difference? A natural bridge is carved through the rock by running water, a
river or stream or a seasonal wash. An arch is created by temperature changes. The rock face of
the cliffs are covered with tiny cracks. If a little water gets into a crack and freezes, the force of
the expanding ice pops a little bit of rock off the face of the cliff. For reasons I can’t recall, the
process operates to create an upside down U shape on the face of the cliff. Given a few million
years to work on it, these little pieces of popped off rock can eventually eat right through a ridge,
leaving a hole in the rock and creating an arch. You can see arches being formed in many
places by looking for an upside down U shaped hollow in the side of cliff.

The visitor’s canter is just inside the park entrance.

The entrance fee is $25 per car, good for a week and for both Arches and Canyonlands National
Parks.

One of the Great Holes in the Earth

by Wasatch on February 21, 2009

Canyonlands is one of Utah’s five National Parks set on the Colorado Plateau.

The Green and Colorado Rivers merge in the middle of desolate Canyonlands National
Park to form the river that created the Grand Canyon. Although called "Colorado", the
Green contributes most of the water. The Colorado was discovered first, so the name
stuck. The Green River is nature’s greatest carving tool, cutting its way through the
Gates of Lahore in Dinosaur National Monument, Flaming Gorge, Desolation Canyon,
Canyonlands, Glenn Canyon (now flooded as Lake Powell National Recreation Area),
and the Grand Canyon. This immense canyon system, up to 21 miles wide, runs the
entire length of Utah and across most of Arizona. From the Wyoming-Utah border to
Laughlin, AZ, a road trip of over 600 miles, there are only seven places where paved
roads reach river level.

Canyonlands starts just north of Moab, only 12 miles across US Rt 191 from Arches National
Park. Canyonlands is immense,-- 527 sq. miles– a rough rectangle about 20 miles
east to west and 30 miles north to south. Three paved roads penetrate the park
bounders: 1] Island in the Sky, via US 91 and UT Rt 313, is 30 miles north of Moab; 2]
the Needles Overlook road turns off US 191 is about 30 miles south of Moab, the first
paved road on the left after La Sal Jct., then 22 miles to the overlook; 3] UT Rt 211, 42
miles south of Moab, then 20 miles to the end of the road.

ISLAND IN THE SKY is the most popular spot with visitors because of its proximity to
Moab and Arches National Park. Here the canyon rim reaches the highest point in the
park. From the viewpoints, we could see five mountain ranges, as far as 72 miles away,
and the seemingly endless expanse of Canyonlands reaching to the far horizon. If you
look south from Grand View Point and locate the brightest spot of green below, you see
the Colorado River, 2,200 ft. below. The Green River is easily seen from Green River
Viewpoint.

Mesa Arch is our favorite place on Island in the Sky. The view through the arch, about
10 minutes from the parking lot is incredible– cliffs, canyons, pillars, pinnacles, and
behind all, the snow capped La Sal Mountains. Just beyond Mesa Arch, the road splits,
with the left branch ending at Grand View Overlook and the right going to Whale
Rock, and odd shaped rock, and Upheaval Dome. There are pullovers and overlooks
along both roads.

The first view of Upheaval Dome tells you it does not belong here. Whatever it is, it is
out of place. Upheaval Dome is out place anywhere on this planet. To begin, it is
neither an upheaval or a dome, it is a pit, almost circular, four miles across, and 1,000
ft. deep. Upheaval Dome puzzles geologists, who aren’t sure what it is. The original
theory, which accounts for the name, is that an underground salt dome was uplifted as
an anticline and then dissolved and was carried away by ground water, causing the
surface to collapse into the hole left behind when the salt was removed. However,
recent research suggests Upheaval Dome is a meteor impact crater, like the craters on
the Moon. Also like the craters on the Moon, there is a small mountain in the bottom of
Upheaval Dome. Unlike the Moon, Upheaval Dome comes in Technicolor. There aren’t
many places in the USA where meteor craters are so easily and clearly seen, so plan to
make the short walk to Upheaval Dome. The 0.3 mile one way trial climbs about 120
ft. from the parking lot road to the rim of the crater and continues along the rim for
further views. Looking down into the crater, we saw, unlike the orderly stacking of
rocks of different colors in the surrounding canyon walls, a crazy jumble of colored
rocks, jumbled by some vast and mysterious force. Truly an otherworldly view,
probably a gift from a visitor from space and a scene not to be missed.

The White Rim Trail, the relatively flat step at the bottom of the first of a series of cliffs
dropping down to the rivers is a popular mountain biking and 4-wheeler trail.

At one point, the road crossing the ridge connecting Island in the Sky to the "mainland"
is only about 15 ft. wider than the road, with shear cliffs dropping off 1,000 ft. on each
side.

There is a visitors center before the end of the road.

NEEDLES OVERLOOK is our favorite view point, an immense panorama of canyons
spreading as far as the eye can see and almost beyond comprehension. Not that any
place in Canyonlands is crowded, but Needles Overlook is the least visited of the park’s
easily accessible areas. About half the space of the overlook is occupied by an odd pile
of rocks, an easy and fun spot to climb around on.

On our first visit, we stayed 90 minutes and had the place to ourselves for all but 15
minutes when two other people showed up, took their pictures, and left. Don’t do that.
Hang for awhile. It grows on you.

RT. 211. Canyonlands descends from the surface of Colorado Plateau to river level in
series of steps– shear cliffs, then a broad flat spot. Rt 211 goes down to the first flat
area. The road ends about 20 miles away from where 1,100 ft. the drop starts. There is
a visitor’s center. Summers here are very hot, well over 100°, and dry, with humidity
as low as 2%. Carrying water with you is a must, and if you buy a cowboy hat, you will
understand why they have wide brims-- shade on your face and neck all the time.
There are several scenic trails of varying length, some are signed nature trails
explaining the geology and plant life of the park. All are about equally interesting, with
more variety than you would first think. There is a trail to the confluence of the Green and
Colorado Rivers.

The view down here looks like the setting for any classic Hollywood western you ever saw.

Be sure to stop at Newspaper Rock State Park on the way down. Newspaper Rock is a shallow
cave in the side of the cliff whose walls are covered with a fine collection of prehistoric
Indian petroglyphs.

Accessible only by 4-wheel drive vehicles from UT Rt 95 or Rt-24, the Maze District lies
west of the Green River. This is one of the most remote spots in the country, a
bewilderment of weird rock shapes. You can rent 4-wheelers or take guided tours from
nearby towns, nearby being a very relative term because there is nowhere that is
nearby.

In addition to visiting everything reachable by car and taking all the shorter hikes in the
park, we also enjoyed the jet boat trip into Canyonlands on the Colorado River which
starts just outside Moab where US 191 crosses the Colorado, and a small plane sighting
trip over Canyonlands from the Monticello, UT airport. There are also helicopter sight
seeing flights from the airport(?) north of Moab on US 191.

There are both day and night jet boat rides. During the summer, the Moab Music
Festival features dinner and concerts set in a natural amphitheater on the banks of the
Colorado with transportation by jet boat.

Other amusements popular with those who like such things are, back country hiking,
mountain biking, and 4-wheeler adventures. Dedicated 4-wheelers know Canyonlands
as home of the Elephant Hill Climb.

One of the remarkable features of the canyons carved by the Green River is that each is so
different from the others that if you have seen one of them, you haven’t seen them all, or even the
next one in line. We can’t explain it, but we like Canyonlands better than the very different
Grand Canyon.

It is tough to visit Canyonlands without a car (or 4-wheel drive vehicle). There are fairly regular
bus tours that visit Canyonlands as part of a trip from Denver to Las Vegas, but these tours spend
most of their time around Moab at Arches National Park. Some skip Canyonlands altogether,
others only visit the Island in the Sky. An easy quick visit to Canyonlands, using only the paved
roads, will take 2-3 days because of the distances involved, and there is more to do in the
neighborhood. Arches National Park is just across the street. Ut Rt 126 running along the banks
of the Colorado River at the foot of great red stone cliffs is a very scenic drive, as is the La Sal
Mountain Loop road. Monument Valley is 2-3 hours south on scenic US 191, and Mesa
Verde National Park about 2 hours away.

The $25 per car entrance fee includes both Canyonlands and Arches National Parks. There is a
separate $10 fee for Dead horse Point State Park.

http://www.igougo.com/journal-j72241-Moab-Canyonlands_National_Park.html

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