Tuesday May 23, 2023
After packing all of our luggage into the car in preparation for the next stay in Torrey, Utah, we headed to Canyonlands National Park.
The drive was not as scenic as the past the days however we drove through a few well known towns such as Moab, Utah.
Our first stop in Canyonlands, National Park was of course the visitors center. My Mom and I bought stickers and then, the four of us filled up our water bottles in preparation for our hike and the adventure packed day ahead. While my Dad listened to an educational talk led by a park ranger and my Mom made her final purchase in the gift shop, Anna and I walked across the road to do some sightseeing.
Our view point at the area across from the visitor’s center
The first activity in Canyonlands National Park was the Grand View Point hike. The trial was a mixed terrain, some downhill and some uphill with stairs however, all parts were rocky and sandy. You were able to glance to your left all throughout the hike and see an extraordinary view of the vast land containing the unique rock structures and hollow craters. After hiking about a mile of enjoying of enjoying the incredible views and stopping for several pictures, Anna and I climbed up a tall rock structure to see a vast and breathtaking view of Canyonlands National Park.
Following our first hike, we drove the other end of the park and did another hike. This hike had the Upheval Dome, laying at the end of the trail. Compared to our first hike, this one was shorter but more strenuous being that it was uphill all the way to the top, and had a great number of stairs. However, the view was very worth it. The Upheval Dome was high mounds of rock that were in the shape of a dome. One side of the dome was 2 miles long, which is a lot longer than it looks from a high view point. Since our hike was uphill to the top, this meant we had an easy hike to the bottom.
Our last hike was a short 0.7 mile trail to view the Mesa Arch. This trail was very easy and had very few steps or hills. After reaching the arch we took several pictures and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. The arch was seated along the edge of a cliffside and overlooked a landscape of flat and orange colored desert with tall rocks along the sides.
We made a few final stops at various view points as we made our way to the exit of the park and that concluded our wonderful day at Canyonlands National Park!
The four of us were hungry and ready for a meal that was not a sandwich so, I found a dinner spot called Arches Thai. It was located in Moab and had a nice outdoor dining patio where we ate our delicious meal.
After dinner, we drove about 2 1/2 hours to our next stay, a tent like dome in Torrey, Utah 5 minutes from Capitol Reef National Park.
Once the car was unpacked, we went to bed to get some much needed rest and get ready for our day at Capital Reef National Park.
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