Canyonlands for a day

[sleeping bear]

On Tuesday a friend and I are leaving to drive to Arizona. We've got quite the trip mapped out, camping reservations made along the way and a friend in the Tetons to show us around.

What we don't have, is a plan for Canyonlands. We'll be in Arches the two nights before, mostly because I could make reservations there. We're looking at the possibility of hitting up one of those drive in backcountry sites as we'll be taking my Forester. Other than that, the place is so big, I have no idea what we should do. We are just planning to dayhike and don't mind driving to get out somewhere. Our schedule is pretty tight and there isn't much chance of extending our time there. We'll be there on a Wednesday. Any thoughts?

 

[roadtripper]

Druid Arch from the Elephant Hill trailhead in the Needles District is an awesome but very challenging day hike this time of year. Bring 2 gallons of water (no joke).

Also, here's some suggestions for Moab:
~ hike the 7.2-mile Devil's Garden Loop in Arches
~ Delicate Arch for sunset
~ Left Fork swimming hole (off Powerhouse Lane; 3 blocks from downtown)
~ hike to Corona Arch to the west of town (a VERY impressive arch)
~ Tom Till Gallery downtown for amazing southwest photography
~ the Moab Brewery is AWESOME
~ chili cheeseburgers @ Milt's Diner 3 blocks east of downtown
~ canyoneering with Desert Highlights

 

[DougPaul]

The north entrance to Canyonlands (Island in the Sky District) is right across the highway from the entrance to Arches. You can easily spend a full day or more in the Island district. Don't miss Dead Horse Point State Park (essentially part of the Island district), Upheaval Dome (a ~1mi hike or longer), and Grandview Point. There are a number of other viewpoints and short hikes/walks in the area.

The only thing that you can do wrong is leave while there is some daylight left...

Doug

 

[halfmoon]

Canyonlands

OK, so we know you are going to be in Arches, and that you are driving to Arizona afterwards. You have a couple options.

1. Like a previous poster mentioned, The Island in the Sky District of Canyonlands is within a few (~20) miles of the Arches entrance. Here you will have the high elevation views of Canyonlands including the Maze. You could easily kill a full day driving the Island in the Sky and taking various short hikes. White Rim Overlook was my favorite.

2. If you are traveling to Arizona via Moab you will be driving past the road that leads to The Needles district of Canyonlands. Here you will have access to the world famous Chesler Park, and the previously mentioned Druid Arch.

I recommend Chesler Park to you if it can be accomodated within your schedule, it was my favorite park of the Canyonlands.

I did various dayhikes around Moab, Canyonlands, and Capital Reef this year. Here are some pics from my trip: http://www.pbase.com/pudgy_groundhog/sw07

 

[askus3]

I devoted a day and a half to Arches & Canyonlands (Island in the Sky) + a quick stop at Dead Horse State Park. Here are links to my albums. All pictures are captioned, so I recommend looking at the photos individually and reading the captions. This will give you an idea of times especially traveling times. My recommendation in Arches is to include a sunset hike to Delicate Arch a must. We went back from Canyonlands just to take that in. At Islands in the Sky rather than do one major hike we did three mini-hikes to get the flavor of the area (see album for details).

Arches: link

Canyonlands: link

 

[sleeping bear]

Thanks for the input! I guess I should have mentioned that we're going to spend Wednesday night at Canyonlands and then head to AZ in the morning. I'll probably just print this thread and we can discuss in the car.

Thanks again