Park Number: 27/63

First Visited: July 30, 2011

Canyonlands is expansive and gives visitors myriad options on how to experience the park. Island in the Sky is best for observation, rising above the surrounding erosion. This is where you will find the ever-famous Mesa Arch.

The Needles region sees fewer visitors as it’s more remote. Here you will find petrified palaces dedicated to the omnipotence of time. Hiking in The Needles is fun as trails are rigorous and exposed, showing you distant attractions and then guiding you to them. Jeep trails crisscross the terrain and can take you all the way to the Chesler Loop.

The Maze is the most isolated of the three areas (excluding the detached Horseshoe Canyon unit) and requires dedication to access (including a high-clearance, four-wheel drive vehicle). I have yet to visit this section.

There are so many crevasses to explore in Moab that you could spend the rest of your days covering new ground. But be careful: danger looms and help is sparse (as Aron Rolston found out when he got stuck between a rock and a hard place).

Tribes affiliated with Canyonlands include the ancestral Puebloans, Fremont, Utes, Navajos, and Paiutes.

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