Canyonlands National Park - Overview

Canyonlands National Park Overview

Canyonlands National Park (Jeremy Woodhouse/Digital Vision/Getty)

Canyonlands National Park

Established: 1964
Acreage: 337,598
Average Yearly Visitors: 367,000
Location: East-central Utah, 15 miles southwest of Moab

Contact Details
Canyonlands National Park
2282 SW Resource Blvd.
Moab, UT 84532
Phone: 435-719-2313

In the far southern reaches of Utah, the Colorado and Green Rivers carved the high desert into a labyrinth of red-rock canyons that are sheer ecstasy for the hiker, mountain biker, and whitewater adventurer. The park is broken into three distinct districts: Island in the Sky, The Needles, and The Maze. The vast landscape offers hundred-mile vistas of rust-colored pinnacles, high mesas, sculpted buttes, sandstone spires, and sheer crimson cliffs.
There are two developed campgrounds within Canyonlands National Park. Squaw Flat, in the Needles District, is an ideal base camp for day hikes. Willow Flat Campground is located at Island in the Sky, about seven miles south of the visitor center.
Though most of the park’s wildlife comes out at night, during the day you might spot the sure-footed bighorn sheep that likes to impress technical climbers with its ability to clamber up canyon cliffs without any gear. Check the skies for red-tailed hawk, golden eagle, peregrine falcon, and turkey vulture—and be glad you're not carrion.
Camping along the White Rim Road Trail is open to mountain bikers and four-wheel-drive vehicles. A popular route, the trip usually takes two-to-three days by vehicle and three-to-four days by bike. Permits are required for all overnight trips along the White Rim Trail. Make reservations well in advance because demand for permits exceeds the number available.

By Travel Expert: Kim Lipker

With more than 60 miles of interconnecting trails, the Needles District offers many loop possibilities. Most trails can be done in a day, or you can combine them for a backpacking trip.
Land of Standing Rocks, at the heart of the Maze District, has groups of strangely shaped rock spires that are fun to explore. Hiking routes branch off to overlooks and down to Cataract Canyon’s first set of rapids.
Dramatic vistas await bikers at every turn on White Rim Road’s 100-mile length as it wraps around the Island in the Sky.
Almost any shallow-draft boat can navigate the Green and Colorado Rivers above their confluence. Boaters typically do 20 miles a day in canoes or kayaks and 15 miles a day in rafts.
The serious whitewater and remoteness of Cataract Canyon require big-water skills and equipment. Private groups will have the best chance of obtaining a permit by planning well ahead.

By Travel Expert: Bill Weir

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