Off to Canyonlands National Park

Arches National Park has a lesser known neighbor--Canyonlands National Park. It’s divided into four districts by the Green and Colorado Rivers and the canyons they create. The northernmost district is called Island in the Sky, and that’s where we went today.

We stopped first at the Visitor Center and watched the orientation video and picked up a hiking map. We decided to go first to the Upheaval Dome Overlook trailhead, where we ate lunch. Then we walked up to the first overlook. Although short, this hike is rather steep, and it was in the 90s today. Current theories are that the crater was caused by the collapse of a salt dome or by the impact of a large meteorite.

While we were at the overlook, a family was there. The father had an infant in a front pack and a toddler in a backpack child carrier. Mom had a toddler in a backpack. Three other kids ranging up to about 8 years old were walking along. It takes dedicated parents to want to walk up a steep trail carrying three small children!

We stopped at a few overlooks for views of canyons, rivers, buttes, and other formations. Then we hiked the short trail to the Mesa Arch. The arch is not as large as some we've seen in Arches, but the vista of the canyon seen through the opening is quite dramatic.

These two buttes are said to resemble the Merrimac and the Monitor, two Civil War ironclads.

From the heights of the Island in the Sky mesa, you can look down 1,200 feet to the white rim level and below that another 1,000 feet to the river gorges.

Mesa Arch seen from the trail as you approach.

View through Mesa Arch of the canyons and mountains beyond.

We went into Moab to do some grocery shopping and pick up some water.

This evening we noticed a large mulberry tree in the campground, and I picked some after dinner.