Part #5: Canyons For As Far As the Eye Can See

Part 1: Road to Arches
Part 2: Arches Galore
Part 3: Delicate Arch
Part 4: Hiking Dead Horse Point

Canyonlands National Park is home to, well, canyons. It is much larger than Arches and much less populated. The park offers many hikes, mountain biking trails, and off-road routes. But we were dead tired after our hike around Dead Horse Point State Park, and all I really wanted to see was Mesa Arch. Mesa Arch is one of Utah’s famous arches, dressing the walls of many a Moab hotel (including our own).

You might be wondering, how many pictures can one person take of a single arch? Wonder no more. The answer is: A sh*t ton of pictures. That’s how many.

It’s a short quarter of a mile hike to the arch. Calling it a hike is a bit generous, but it is uphill. And then all of a sudden – bam – there it is. Miraculous and captivating. By mid-afternoon, the sky had turned a stormy grey/purple which made for a dramatic scene through the window of Mesa Arch.

After Mesa Arch, we made a short stop at Grand View Point Overlook before heading back to our hotel. I’ve seen a lot of canyons in my travels, and sometimes, they blur one into the next. But Grand View Point Overlook offers a unique view of Canyonlands. We were exhausted, but it was definitely worth the drive.