Canyonlands National Park is 1 of the 5 national parks in Utah. It is located Southeast of Utah along with Arches National Park near Moab. Canyonlands National Park has 3 major sections. This includes Islands in the Sky, the Needles, and the Maze. These 3 sections are separated by Green River and Colorado River. Most visitors go to Island in the Sky because it is more accessible. Needles is further out and the Maze simply just require off road vehicles.
We got to Island in the Sky visitor center around 9AM in the morning and there were already many people there. The first place that we visited was Green River Overlook. We could see the canyon carved out by Green River far away. It was a beautiful site as we have never seen such canyon before.
We then drove all the way to the end of the scenic drive at Grand View Point and hiked the Grand View Point Trail. From here, we could see the canyon carved out by Colorado River.
Afterwards, we stopped by the view point for Orange Cliff, but this was not that interesting compared to others. Thus we didn't spend much time here. The next view point was Buck Canyon. This canyon was interesting in a way that it is shaped weirdly like a dagger.
We then went to Shafer Canyon Overlook and had a short hike. The Shafer Canyon used to be a mining area and thus there were roads used for truck to carry out the minerals. We were able to see off road vehicles venturing up and down the canyon.
The next day morning, we woke up extremely early to go to Mesa Arch for sunrise. There was a lot of people there, but the sunrise was beautiful. We really loved it.
Overall, Canyonlands National Park really has its unique landscape that makes the visit totally worth it. We did not do any long hikes here because it was too hot however.
EmoticonEmoticon