Utah offers five National Parks: Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Arches and Canyonlands. Each has distinct features, and each provides an unusual and sometimes spiritual experience.
It has been 50 years since I last visited Utah. I remember the beauty and the experience of sharing it with my parents. This time I am travelling solo and can stop at any pull-offs or scenic overlooks to get to know the park on my own terms.
Canyonlands, the largest of the five Utah parks, was carved by the Colorado and Green Rivers, wind, rain and gravity over time. It offers visitors hiking, stargazing, camping and rock climbing.
The park, established in 1964, preserves 1,364 square kms of colourful landscape that have evolved into countless canyons, mesas, arches and buttes. The park, divided into four districts, includes Island in the Sky, the Needles, the Maze and the Rivers.
Canyonlands is high desert with elevations ranging from 1,127 to 2,194 metres above sea level. Visitors experience sweltering summers, frigid winters, and less than 25 cm of rain each year. Temperatures may fluctuate as much as 40 degrees in a single day.
Today, it’s nearly 32C.
A lot of focus is on hiking and biking in the national park. Still, I witness a great deal by driving along the 32.2 km of well-maintained roads and pulling over at scenic overlooks to take in the vistas and photograph the beauty. From these lofty viewpoints, I can see as far as 161 km in any given direction. These panoramic views encompass thousands of square kilometres of canyon country.
I don’t spot any wildlife, but Canyonlands does support a variety of animals, reptiles and birds that have adapted to extreme temperatures. Of course, the weather and seasons play a significant role in determining which animals are active. Most of the park’s wildlife is nocturnal. Still, rock squirrels, chipmunks, lizards, snakes and eagles are all primarily active during the day.
Amazing to me are the many flowering plants making their home in the desert. The flowers, along with evergreens, frame the colourful landscape adding another dimension to the beauty.
HISTORY
People have visited what is now Canyonlands National Park for more than 10,000 years. Over time, various groups moved in and out of the area in concert with the availability of natural resources.
The first humans known to visit Canyonlands were Paleoindians, who searched for large game animals and edible plants. However, it was not until about 5,000 years ago that people routinely lived in the area. From about 5000 BC to AD 250, people continued to gather wild plants and hunt, utilizing stone tools and throwing devices like the atlatl.
By AD 250, techniques from Mesoamerica had reached the southwest, and the hunter-gatherers were cultivating corn and constructing slab-lined cists for storing the collected grains. Initially, the agriculturalists did not have much use for Canyonlands’ hot, dry climate. However, growing populations in nearby Mesa Verde and new techniques of flood-water farming caused people to take advantage of the bottomlands. You can see the storage structures or granaries used by the ancestral Puebloans in the Needles District at Roadside Ruin and the Island in the Sky on Aztec Butte. Then, around AD 1300, the Ancestral Puebloans left the region and moved south to Arizona and New Mexico, probably due to climatic changes.
Utes moved into the area as early as AD 1300, living without permanent dwellings, much like the hunter-gatherers in the Archaic period. Ute, Navajo and Paiute Native Americans occupied southern Utah when Spanish explorers entered the area in the late 1700s.
It was in the 1950s and early ’60s when nearby Arches National Monument Superintendent Bates Wilson began advocating for creating a “Grand View National Park” in what is now Canyonlands. Wilson first visited the area by horse in 1951. He spent four years working on a National Park Service archaeological investigation of the Needles District.
The Secretary of the Interior, Stewart Udall, visited the area in 1961 and began lobbying Capitol Hill for a national park on Bureau of Land Management lands.
In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the law establishing the park.
MOAB
You won’t find lodging or dining facilities in the park, however, there are two camp sites. Backcountry camping opportunities are also available.
I am not a camper, so my option was nearby Moab. This community of just over 5,000 has evolved as the jumping-off point for tourists visiting Canyonlands and nearby Arches National Park.
Between 1829 and the early 1850s, the area around what is now Moab served as the Colorado River crossing along the Old Spanish Trail. Latter-day Saint settlers attempted to establish a trading fort at the river crossing called the Elk Mountain Mission in April 1855 to trade with travellers trying to cross the river. Abandoned after repeated Native American attacks, a new group of settlers established a permanent settlement in 1878.
The streets, lined with hotels, restaurants, boutiques and souvenir shops, also offer several art galleries and the Museum of Moab. The museum interprets the stories of the Moab area through exhibits and programs. Exhibits span many facets of the area’s history.
I stay at Radcliffe Moab. The new hotel, geared toward all visitors, including hikers and bikers, features Il Posto Rosso, a modern, coastal Mediterranean-inspired restaurant. The restaurant is open for breakfast and dinner.
I stroll along Main Street from the hotel, checking out the many locally-owned shops. I have lunch at Moab Garage Co., a creative restaurant with the look of a gas station and excellent sandwiches, salads, tacos and all-day breakfast.
I spend the better part of a day in Canyonlands and two days in Moab. From friendly park rangers and excellent viewing points to the delightful community of Moab, it is a highlight of my Southwest US road trip.
For IF YOU GO information, visit www.seniorlivingmag.com/articles/canyonlands-national-park
IF YOU GO:
Canyonlands National Park is normally open year-round, 24 hours a day. Try to get there around 7 or 8 in the morning to avoid a lineup at the entrance. Each district within the park has its own visitor centre with operating hours that change with the seasons. There is an admission charge. For more information: www.nps.gov/cany.
A great website and overview of everything Moab has to offer is www.discovermoab.com.
Newly opened Radcliffe Moab is located at 477 S Main Street. If you wish to dine for dinner at Il Posto Rosso call 435-355-1088 to make a reservation. For more information: www.radcliffemoab.com.
Moab Garage Co. is open 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and is located at 78 North Main Street. For more information: www.moabgarageco.com.
SkyWest Airlines, operated by United Airlines, offers daily flights between Moab and Denver, Colorado, and seasonal flights from Salt Lake City.
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