Day 6 (August 12, 2023): Canyonlands National Park

We set out from the hotel in Torrey (adjacent to Capitol Reef National Park) at 8:30AM, bound for our fourth national park of this tour — Canyonlands National Park — in the east of the state.  As impressed as we were by day’s end with Canyonlands, we were equally impressed with the drive from Torrey to Canyonlands.  The sheer scale and variety of the mountains enroute were jaw-dropping.  We couldn’t stop snapping pictures or pulling over to look closer.

All that stopping enroute to gawk meant that what should have taken 2.5 hours took 4!  We pulled into Canyonlands around 12:15 and started with a picnic lunch at the Visitor Center.  Then we started out to explore the various sights along a 17-mile Scenic Drive in the park.  

At 4:30PM, as we had done at Zion, Bryce and Capitol Reef, we stopped by the Canyonlands Visitor Center to watch a documentary on the park, which pulled everything together nicely.  

By 5:30PM, we arrived in Moab, Utah’s eastern hub-town, checked into our hotel, and then ate a delicious roast beef dinner at a popular local diner on Main Street.

It’s hard to believe that national park #5 — The Arches — lies ahead of us tomorrow, before starting the journey back to Las Vegas.


Roadside pea hens, as we were passing through Capitol Reef National Park this morning.


Sights along the 150-mile route between the eastern border of Capitol Reef National Park and the border of Canyonlands National Park:


As we exited Capitol Reef National Park, a completely different type of topography opened up before us.  They seemed like massive sand mountains, although what looked like sand is actually rock.












When we pulled off the highway to photograph this scene, the utter silence of the desert was almost deafening.












These are ‘buttes’ 10 miles from Canyonlands.  Buttes are stand-alone hills with steep sides and flat tops.


Every formation we passed today left us with questions — mostly, “HOW?!” and “WHEN?!”  Such as, how did that massive red mountain get those holes?


The entrance sign to Canyonlands National Park.


Shafer Canyon:


Shafer Canyon provides visitors with their first canyon view in the park.
 

The canyon roads, such as these in Shafer Canyon, are downright scary.  We didn’t drive any of them, preferring instead to stick to the main roads on top of the plateau.


Shafer Canyon






Mesa Arch:


The Mesa Arch is one of the park’s most photographed sights.  It overlooks this canyon:



The Mesa Arch.  And us!


Candlestick Tower Overlook:


At the Candlestick Tower overlook, you can see the Green River.  The Green and Colorado Rivers flow through the park and meet up in the park’s south end.

Candlestick Tower


Buck Canyon Overlook:






Orange View Overlook:






Grand View Point, at the end of the Scenic Drive:










Green River Overlook:






The Green River actually looked green!




View of Taylor Canyon from Alcove Spring Trailhead:








Whale Rock actually looks like a giant whale:




Upheaval Canyon:


It was a short but brutal hike into Upheaval Canyon in the 91F heat.



Upper West Basin:


A rainstorm was soaking these two buttes.


Another butte in the Upper West Basin.



The golden grasses in the flat areas of the park were quite beautiful.


Taylor Canyon:





Views along the route from Canyonlands border to Moab:











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