A Journey Through the Utah Mighty 5: Canyonlands National Park
This September, my husband and I decided on the journey through the Utah Mighty 5 as our long vacation. The Mighty 5 are the five National parks in Southern Utah - Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon and Zion. Our trip was a total of 8 days, and we opted to travel from east (Arches National Park) to west (Zion). During this post, I’ll replay our time during the second park, Canyonlands!
One thing to note: of course, we couldn’t see and do everything in every park. And maybe there are some things I would have done differently…instead of calling these “regrets”, I’ll call them “Notes for next time!” and post them at the bottom at the bottom of each post.
Did you miss the first post on our journey? Click here to learn more about how we got started!
Background on Canyonlands:
Canyonlands National Park is 527 square miles, with three distinct districts to visit: Island in the Sky (closest to Moab), The Needles (110 miles from Island in the Sky) and the Maze (remote, rugged, backcountry section). On the way to the Island in the Sky is the Dead Horse Point State Park, which some have said is better than the view at Canyonlands.
Photography Equipment I Used at Canyonlands
Mighty 5 Day 2, afternoon
After our morning at Arches…and filling up on some food…we made our way to Canyonlands National Park. Due to the limited amount of time that we had, we opted to visit the Island in the Sky district since it’s closer to Moab…the entrance to this part of Canyonlands is about 30 minutes from Arches National Park.
The drive to Canyonlands is desolate, driving you past red rocks, open fields that are reminiscent of the Great Plains, and then dry desert terrain…with the occasional warning of free range cattle! There is nothing out there - no homes, no businesses, and definitely no cell phone service!
This is when you realize that for much of the driving, from park to park, it’s an opportunity to take in the silence, and appreciate the great land in the U.S., and the Earth in general. After we entered the park, we drove about another 30 minutes to get to the Grand View Point Overlook and trailhead.
The trail is about 2 miles round trip (out and back), along the rim of the canyon with long range views over the canyon landscape. The hike is easy…but windy! So be sure to hang on to your hat! This trail was also low on the number of visitors - despite the crowds at the overlook. This allowed us an opportunity to take our time and enjoy the trail.
After our hike, we cleaned up and spent some time exploring Downtown Moab and enjoying some delicious pizza at Antica Forma. It was an early night for us, because we were heading back to Canyonlands for sunrise!
PHOTOGRAPHY TIP! Planning on photographing the sunrise? Pack everything you need the night before so that you can simply wake up, get dressed, grab your bag and go. Yes - even have your batteries charged and pack before you go to bed…trust me on this one! It will make your morning, and your life, easier! Because really, who wants to worry about whether they’ve packed the battery at 4:30 in the morning???
Mighty 5 Day 3, morning:
We awoke at 4:30am to slowly get up, get dressed, and then go to Canyonlands. We made sure that we left our bungalow by 5am so that we could allow an hour to get to our sunrise location, and set up for sunrise at 6:55am. Remember how I said that there’s NOTHING out there? That includes street lights. In fact, most of the trip had no lights. Which means, I felt anxious anytime we were driving in the dark (and because of this, my husband is a saint!)
We arrived at the Mesa Arch with plenty of time to walk the 1/2 mile trail to the arch and set up the tripod. Now, I will tell you - in reading up on Mesa Arch, visitors are warned to not step close to the edge of the arch because it’s a sheer drop off and and there are no guard rails. So now imagine walking on a trail in the pitch dark except for your headlamps and suddenly you realize that you are no longer on a trail…and the only other place to go (besides back to the parking lot) looks like there’s a drop off because you can SEE NOTHING beyond your headlamp. And there are no other people around us at the time…besides the person we followed in the wrong direction. Sooo…I watched in fear as my husband walked to what looked like the cliff of no return…and was relieved when he said “Mags! The arch is right here!” Sigh. of. relief.
There were already a few photographers set up. And the arch? It’s small. I mean, not tiny, but not as big as the Delicate Arch by any means! Based on where you can stand, it’s short…and you’re very close to it. getting a wide shot of the entire arch at sunrise is nearly impossible because of the number of fellow visitors. Now, there weren’t a ton of people there, but it felt crowded. I set up off to the side, not sure where the sun would be visible from although I knew I would at least get a beautiful glow under the arch. My husband walked around and got some incredible blue hour shots with the Sony Rx100 VI.
Photo credit: my husband!
And I stood firm with my tripod, begging the other visitors to, ya know, not step directly in front of my camera. And yes…some did. Literally just 2-3 feet in front of my camera - and I didn’t mind those who just wanted to step in to get a quick shot. That didn’t bother me at all. But when you see someone set up their tripod DIRECTLY in front of your camera? Yeah, that’s when it’s time to take action and kindly ask them to move since they’re directly in your shot. :) (I mean really, who does that?!?!) This was also a good reminder to me to be mindful of the people who arrived behind me so that I wasn’t the offender!
My husband stood off to the side with his GoPro and coffee, watching the sunrise from the edge (yeah, remember that warning??? I was terrified!)
As the sun was coming up and I captured some glow from under the arch, I had to step over to get the sun rising over the mountains in the distance. And this, my friends…this was a truly magnificent site. I can’t describe how beautiful and magical this sunrise appeared. I’ve been to sunrise at Haleakala - which is like watching the sun rise from heaven - but I have to say…I think this sunrise at Mesa Arch might be better. The haze and the colors - it was all Mother Nature. What an incredible landscape that was painted for us. I could have stayed there forever watching that sunrise, if only it had stayed that way!
By 7:45, we packed up and made our way back. Initially, I thought we could do a side hike either in Canyonlands, or at Dead Horse Point State Park because I thought we would have some time. But we had to check out of our Bungalow by 11 am (no extensions!). And since nothing is “quick” on this trip, we made our way back to Moab for breakfast and packing. This time, the drive afforded us some beautiful haze over the canyons, and the site of the occasional deer grazing on the side of the road.
The next stop on the journey? Tropic, UT and Capitol Reef National Park!!
Tips that worked for us:
Don't rush
Leave plenty of time for setting up gear before sunrise.
Hold on to your hat!
Spend time in downtown Moab - it's a cute town with a lot of beautiful, local art to offer
Notes for next time:
Visit the Needles district
Hike at Dead Horse Point State Park
Hike Upheaval Dome at the Island in the Sky district
Try a different angle for Mesa Arch sunrise
Generally...spend more time in Canyonlands!