Laninga's Travel Blog

Although we’ve been to Moab before, we’ve never been to Canyonlands NP so it was high time we went.  We left mid afternoon so we could get late light, especially because I hoped to get some sunset pictures.  We took our sunset pictures at the Green River overlook, and although the sunset was not the most spectacular, we got some nice pictures.

We started at Grand View, aptly named because the view is just spectacular.  You look down into the valley below, and further into the canyons carved by the Colorado and Green rivers.  We stopped and hiked at several locations to get as much in as we could.

Another short hike took us to Arch View.  Pictures of this Arch are some of the popular sunrise photographs that you will see all over Moab.  Although not as spectacular in the afternoon, it still was quite a site to see this arch, perched right at the edge of a 1,000 ft. drop off.

But I think for us the most spectacular view was of Upheaval Dome.  To get there, you have to traverse a short but steep climb, at which you are greeted with an unusual sight.  Inside a huge crater is a strange upthrust of greenish rock.  In fact, popular theory has it that this was a meteor, hence the crater and the strange colored rock found nowhere else.

Anyway, if you have a chance to visit Canyonlands, do it.  It’s worth the trip.

Our visit to Canyonlands NP was spectacular.