Canyonlands National Park- June 2021

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 Many Canyons, as Advertised.

This was a hot day for some hiking. The layout of this park makes it easy to see a lot without a lot of hiking, as there are many turn-offs on the road through the upper part of the park called Island in the Sky. This is mostly on top of the canyon with a lot of cool overlooks down. There is SO MUCH MORE to explore in the park other than this drive, but being peak summer and with a group of several of us (as in I was not the one in charge of making my friends hike all day in the desert), we stuck to the road through Island in the Sky. There is a whole other section in the park down in the canyons called The Needles that can only be accessed via ATVs that I'll get to one day, but not during that trip. Even still, we had a really great time detouring and exploring. 

Mesa Arch 

This short hike (0.6 miles out and back) comes to one of the most popular spots in the park, as it photographs amazingly from any angle. Be ready for a lot of people posing in pretty dresses and somehow not looking like it's 100* outside (I was not one of them). 

Upheaval Dome via Crater View 

Another short but well worth it hike, about a mile total out and back, takes you around the rim of a large dome in the ground. I will be completely honest that I am the worst at retaining any natural history knowledge, I don't know the origin of this crater, but it was cool to see none the less. After hiking was done for the day, we went out to Dead Horse Point State Park to watch the sunset. 



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