Welcome to my Canyonlands National Park page! I traveled to Canyonlands from September 14-16, 2017. The months March and September are known as the ideal times to visit the park, as this is before/after the heat of the summer rises, and rainstorms are possible. You will see in the pictures several arid landscapes, sheer 2000 ft drop-offs, impressive rock formations, and overall beauty of southeastern Utah.
Canyonlands National Park is close to Moab, Utah. The photos for this national park all come from the White Rim Trail, a 100 mile trail loop along the Colorado and Green River basins. The trail is accessible via mountain bikes and 4WD vehicles only, and takes between 3-4 days to complete the ride when on bicycles, as we were. Parts of this trail consist of 25 DEGREE slopes, boulders, loose gravel, and the occasional mud-pits. It’s not an easy ride, but the views it lends itself to are mesmerizing and last a lifetime.
DAY 1: September 14, 2017
The first day begins at the Canyonlands National Park visitor center, with a descent 1000 feet downward that leads to the White Rim Trail.
A view from the visitor center
Looking out towards the white rim trail, 1000 feet below
The switchbacks descending down to the trail.
Canyonlands National Park is known for its immense cliffs and rock formations, but there is some wild vegatation that grows in the desert. Namely, cacti and trees with a strong root system are good enough to survive the long, dry summers. The greenery of the vegetation is a major contrast to the rest of the park.
One such example of greenery.
One of the thousands of large boulders that fell, but did not make it to the water below. Seen in the distance below is the Colorado river, red in color from previous rain waters stirring up the high-iron soil.
Another rock formation: Mussleman’s Arch! At it center point, it is about 4 feet wide. The drop below is over 2000 feet…don’t fall!
Another beautiful rock formation.
The time we visited was in September. This is after the dry season in the park, and all visitors are subject to unpredictable thunderstorms. The pictures below illustrate the approaching thunderstorm. These two photos were taken 5 minutes after each other.
Minutes before the downpour of water came and caused flash flooding over the dirt-covered ground. From here, we decided to pitch camp, as the ground was open and flat. The end of day 1.
Total distance covered on day 1: 31 miles.
DAY 2: September 15, 2017
The second day was my personal favorite: it started off with a beautiful, cool morning and a nice sunrise.
The vehicle shown in the right of the photo was hand painted and has been to over half the national parks in the United States.
A trail leads us down another 2000 feet to the Colorado River, for a nice lunch and pit-stop
Much of the vegetation lives next to the Colorado River, as this is the easiest place to get water in the area.
A cyclist riding the trail with typical vegetation in the background.
A classic bicycle photo.
Rock formations left from millennia ago.
Me, as close as I was willing to get to the edge of the cliff.
Looking out over the national park. Needles, another rock formation park in Utah, is seen in the distance.
Riding alongside the White Rim Trail.
A nice contrast between the tree and setting sun, above our campsite at Murphy’s here along the White Rim Trail.
Goodnight, day 2.
Total miles traveled today: 36.
DAY 3: September 16, 2017
Good morning day 3, from one of the best observation sites on the whole trail!
Looking west, away from the sun.
Looking east toward the sunrise.
Looking north from our campsite as the sun rises.
This was the final day of the ride: being 33 miles in length, it was comparable to other days in length, but had over 2500 vertical feet in elevation gain.
I biked ahead to get a view of our car coming down the trail. Look at how big the rock formations are! It really puts size into perspective.
Myself, with the Green River in the background.
One of the steepest climbs of the journey. It may not look like it, but this was 25 degrees in slope, enough that if you don’t balance your weight the correct way, you will slide backwards on the bike!
The final marker on the trail, as we begin to climb out of the national park.
Canyonlands is a beautiful national park. It receives several fewer visitors each year than Yosemite and Glacier, and offers a variety of different views and fauna for people to see. For more information about Canyonlands National Park, please visit https://www.nps.gov/cany/index.htm.