That. Was. The. Worst. Sleep. Ever.
Between the scorching heat, severe wind, rain, thunder and eventually lightening, Jordan was in and out of the tent putting the rain fly on, taking the rain fly off, putting the rain fly on, taking the rain fly off… needless to say, neither of us got longer than 30 minute stretches of sleep. We slept through our 5:30am alarm, finally rolling out of bed around 7:00am, and stumbled out of the tent and into the car.
We didn’t have a ton of hikes or areas to cover in Canyonlands National Park, so it was going to be a more laid-back day of exploring (thank goodness since we were both exhausted!). It was about a 30-minute drive to the entrance of the park, so I tried to plan our day on the way. I suggested we hit up Mesa Arch first, since it’s one of the most popular sights and it was still early enough to beat the crowds. The easy hike to Mesa Arch is less than 1-mile and leads you to a remarkable stone arch that is perched on a cliff, offering beautiful views of rock spires, vast canyons, and the La Sal Mountains in the distance.
After glimpsing the last of the sunrise over Mesa Arch, we also hiked to Grand View Point, Green River Overlook, Aztec Butte, and Upheaval Dome – covering about 6 ½ miles before noon.
Grand View Point is located at the southernmost point of the Island in the Sky scenic drive, and leads to a spectacular view of what appears to be a huge dinosaur footprint in the canyon!
Green River Overlook is a quick pit stop that provides an excellent perspective of Green River meandering through the expansive Soda Springs Basin.
Aztec Butte is a unique hike, consisting of the ancestral Puebloan structures called granaries – several one and two room structures used to store their harvest.
Upheaval Dome Overlook Trail offers views of an incredible geological formation – a mile-wide crater of mysterious origins. This dome doesn’t quite seem to fit with the terrain within Canyonlands, as it isn’t the result of gradual erosion like the rest of the park, but rather a dramatic deformity in which rocks have been pushed up into a dome-like structure. At one point, it was believed that Upheaval Dome was formed by a hidden volcano!
With it still being relatively early in the day, we started throwing around ideas about what to do next. Should we start driving home? Should we just stroll around Moab and leave first thing in the morning? Should we continue our road trip to another destination since Jordan received word that his teleworking had been extended??
We eventually went with the last option, making our way back to our campsite to pack up the car and head further away from home – to Durango, CO. Now why Durango you might ask? Well, one of Jordan’s groomsmen lives in Durango and was actually planning to visit us in Moab but ended up having to work, so we decided we’d go to him!
It was a 3-hour drive, so we gassed up Pebble, picked up some iced Americanos from Starbucks, along with a massive sub sandwich to split for $7.99 from the grocery store, and hit the road again.
Must-sees: Mesa Arch is a definite must-see in Canyonlands, and I would highly recommend catching the sunrise there if possible. There’s a reason you’ve most likely seen this iconic view on screensavers and across social media at some point – because there’s nothing else like it! The Upheaval Dome Overlook is another worthwhile hike. The mysterious history behind this crater adds to the uniqueness of this spot!
On Reflection: We didn’t know that the park is divided into sections, without an accessible road connecting them. Due to this, we were only able to visit the Island in the Sky district, as it would have been at least another 1 ½ hours to reach The Needles district. That being said, Island in the Sky is the most accessible district in the park, whereas the other two offer more of a backcountry experience, so I don’t feel as though we missed out on a ton of the main attractions.