Canyonlands National Park

Canyonlands is a huge park, divided into four districts. Of these, the mesa-top Island in the Sky District is closest to Moab, and features birds-eye views of the Colorado and Green rivers converging 1300 feet below. The Shafer Trail Road drops down from the mesa top to river level, where it meets the 100-mile-long White Rim Road, which runs along the base of the cliffs of the Island in the Sky. Canyonlands' Needles District, south of Moab, has fantastic hiking; just outside the park, Newspaper Rock is a huge wall full of Native American petroglyphs. Rock walls just east of the Needles district offer world-class climbing. The aptly named ...

Canyonlands is a huge park, divided into four districts. Of these, the mesa-top Island in the Sky District is closest to Moab, and features birds-eye views of the Colorado and Green rivers converging 1300 feet below. The Shafer Trail Road drops down from the mesa top to river level, where it meets the 100-mile-long White Rim Road, which runs along the base of the cliffs of the Island in the Sky. Canyonlands' Needles District, south of Moab, has fantastic hiking; just outside the park, Newspaper Rock is a huge wall full of Native American petroglyphs. Rock walls just east of the Needles district offer world-class climbing. The aptly named Maze district is rugged and remote, requiring a high-clearance 4WD vehicle, a horse, or your own sturdy legs to get around. In the Horseshoe Canyon unit, find the Great Gallery, full of ancient rock art. The park's River District includes portions of the Green and Colorado rivers, including their spectacular convergence.

About the Expert

Judy Jewell and W.C. McRae are frequent collaborators: together they have written Moon Handbooks to Montana, Utah, and Zion-Bryce and updated the Moon Handbooks to Oregon and Coastal Oregon. Judy wrote the Compass American Guide to Oregon.