My favorite National Park has always been Canyonlands.  Since High School, my friends and I would go on roadtrips during breaks.  We’d always drive west and always end at (or near) Canyonlands in southeast Utah.  Since moving out here though, I haven’t been back.  With Katie’s PhD nearing its end and a departure from Utah on the horizon, we decided that she should see the Moab area.

We started with an 8-mile loop hike near the Needles district on the south side of the National Park.  Although it started with great early summer weather, it rained on us for the last hour.  We weren’t worried about the rain, but the entire area is in danger of flash floods so we picked up our pace for a couple miles at the end.

Adjacent to Canyonlands, is the more widely known Arches National Park.  The iconic Delicate Arch is featured on the license plate and is considered a landmark of southern Utah.  It was hot and crowded so we didn’t stay long.

However, on our way out of town and back to Salt Lake City we stopped by the Island in the Sky overlook at Canyonlands.  This is definitely one of the best views I’ve ever seen and I recommend everyone going.  In High School we had been here as well.