June 26, 2017
Canyonlands National Park
Island in the Sky Region

Today we got up early again to beat the sun. We headed 31 miles northwest on Hwy 315 to Canyonlands National Park.

The park is divided into 3 regions, Island in the Sky, The Needles, and The Maze. The Maze is only accessible via jeep trails or hiking. Each region is accessed independently and the roads into each region are many miles apart. Today we decided to go to the Island in the Sky region as it is only 31 miles from Moab. The Needles region is 76 miles away.

We first hit the Visitor Center and, unlike Arches, both the Main Entrance to the Park and the Visitor Center were open at 8:30.

Canyonlands is a beautiful park with great roads and facilities. It is very accessible even for old folks who don't like to hike very far.

Now that we have hit all 5 of the Utah National Parks we would rate them as follows:

1) Bryce Canyon
2) Canyonlands
3) Capitol Reef
4) Zion
5) Arches

As I said, we tend to rate parks based on how easy it is to see all of the sites. Younger folks who like the hike would rate these parks much differently....to each his own ;>)

Well that's it we have officially completed the Utah Big 5, so I'm sure we'll be receiving our completion certificate any day now....(Knock, Knock, Knock)...hang on a minute there is someone at the door, it could be the Governor with our certificate..........................never mind, it was just some blond haired, blue eyed kid in a white shirt and tie handing out pamphlets ;>).....anyhow I'm sure our certificate is in the mail ;>)

Now on to Colorado.........