Currently, we are also seen here: https://www.feedspot.com/?followfeedid=5037245
We have to admit. Canyonlands National Park was not at the top of our list for parks to visit. But as we were driving in there the sights were great. We are glad we went. Some compare it to the Grand Canyon although not as crowded.
We used Ballard RV Park in Thompson Springs, UT as home base for Moab, Arches, Dead Horse, and the Island in the Sky part of Canyonlands. Thompson Springs feels like you are in the middle of nowhere. It’s kind of a ghost town but there is a gas station. We went around Memorial Day so much of Moab was full. The bathroom and shower was clean, and there was a laundry but other than that no frills. Easy to manuever here - not cramped.
In Canyonlands we walked the Mesa Arch Trail. It is an easy ½ mile walk. If you are bringing kids be careful once you reach the Arch because there is a big drop off behind it. For pictures sunrise is a good time to go because the underside of the arch is lit. Also try to be patient because, as with the arches at Arches National Park, many people feel like they have to be inside the arch to experience it so you will have to wait to get a picture without them in it.
Later we went to the Grand View Point. It is the southern-most spot on the mesa. We walked about half of the Grand View Trail. By this time it was afternoon and was starting to get hot. There are some great views up there. But I also like taking pictures of flowers, plants, lizards, and other small animals. If you do too you can spend a lot of time there. It’s a nice spot to sit on a boulder and eat lunch.
On our way back to camp we stopped at Peace Tree restaurant in Moab for an expresso shake.
One day we went to Lion’s Park in Moab. There’s a covered shelter there for a picnic and there’s a pedestrian bridge over the Colorado River. We took pictures from there, watched people launch their floatables and saw some people jumping into the river. That looked kind of scary since the water levels are up this year and the current is fast.
Dead Horse State Park
Another day we went to Dead Horse State Park. Spent time here walking the trails, taking pictures of cactus flowers, lizards, chipmunks, and ground squirrels. We could see people waaay below on the canyon floor driving a jeep trail. There was a very small shop there (didn’t look like it was run by the park) selling sandwiches and smoothies, etc. All I had was a smoothie and it was good.
I don't love the name of this park or the story behind it. Legend has it that some horses were left to die. I don't know if it is true or not. But I did love this park for all that I saw there.
Next we moved to Mountainview RV Park in Monticello, UT. Bathroom and showers were clean and we did use the laundry. There were horses next door. Restaurants were close enough to walk to.
We thought we were going to drive to Bears Ears National Monument but the GPS took us to a dirt road where we drove for 5 miles before deciding we were in the wrong place. So next we drove to Natural Bridges National Monument. The bridges here weren't much fun to photograph because you couldn't get an an angle to get sky through them. All you could see was rock behind them so they didn't stand out very well. This may be remedied by walking a trail to each one but it was fairly hot and we chose not to. Then we found out from the ranger there that you could see Bears Ears from there.
The next day we drove to the Needles which is another section of Canyonlands National Park. There were some nice things to see there including Newspaper Rock which is an area with a lot of petroglyphs on it.
