Canyonlands National Park Parks and Outdoors Vacations

Canyonlands National Park Parks and Outdoors Travel Guide

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Colorado River running through Canyonlands National Park, Utah
Colorado River running through Canyonlands National Park, Utah (courtesy, National Park Service)

Canyonlands National Park Parks and Outdoors Highlights

By Travel Expert: Kim Lipker

  • 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.

Canyonlands National Park Overview

Utah's largest national park is not for the sightseer out for a Sunday afternoon drive. Instead, it rewards those willing to spend time and energy -- lots of energy -- exploring the rugged backcountry. Sliced into districts by the Colorado and Green rivers, which are the park's primary architects, this is a land of extremes: vast panoramas, dizzyingly deep canyons, dramatically steep cliffs, broad mesas, and towering red spires. Read More

Hotels

from: $30 expert favorite hotel
White Rim Road Campsites
Canyonlands National Park, 2282 SW Resource Blvd.
Moab, UT 84532
Hotel Class: Not Yet Rated
Distance: 19.9 Miles
(from destination center)
Parks Expert Rating
5.0 out of 5
5.0 out of 5
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Not Yet Rated
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Parks and Outdoors travel Active and Adventure travel
expert favorite hotel
Mayor's House
555 Rose Tree Lane
Moab, UT 84532
Hotel Class: Not Yet Rated
Distance: 30.1 Miles
(from destination center)
Parks Expert Rating
5.0 out of 5
5.0 out of 5
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Not Yet Rated
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Parks and Outdoors travel
from: $15
Squaw Flat Campground
Canyonlands National Park, 2282 SW Resource Blvd.
Moab, UT 84532
Hotel Class: Not Yet Rated
Distance: 3.3 Miles
(from destination center)
Parks Expert Rating
5.0 out of 5
5.0 out of 5
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Not Yet Rated
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Attractions

expert favorite attraction
Needles area
Utah Highway 211, Canyonlands National Park
Moab, Utah 84532
Distance: 0.0 Miles (from destination center)
Description: The Needles district forms the southeast corner... Read More
Parks Expert Rating
5.0 out of 5
5.0 out of 5
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Island in the Sky area
Utah Highway 313, Canyonlands National Park
Moab, Utah 84532
Distance: 0.0 Miles (from destination center)
Description: The Island in the Sky District offers access to... Read More
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Dead Horse Point State Park
32 miles northwest of Moab
P.O. Box 609
Moab , Utah 84532-0609 Map
Distance: 23.3 Miles (from destination center)
Description: From this narrow neck of land at an elevation of... Read More
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Feature Articles

More Canyonlands National Park Parks and Outdoors Feature Articles (11)
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Canyonlands National Park Parks and Outdoors Travel Guides

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