A trip to Utah-Canyonlands in Moab

5/13/2019 Comments

A trip to Utah-Canyonlands in Moab

As a part of my blog series about Utah, now I’m going to continue with Canyonlands, Island of the Sky District. If you didn’t have the chance to see my last blog about the beginning of this journey in Utah, you can take a look at it before you continue with this one. http://www.karlamoralesphoto.com/blog/a-trip-to-utah-arches-national-park-in-moab.

Canyonlands is the second national park I visited while I stayed in Moab. It is divided into three districts, Island of the Sky District (the nearest to Moab), The Needles District in the southeast corner of Canyonlands, and The Maze District, at the western part of the park, is the most remote and challenging district, accessible only by unpaved roads.

This park is an incredible sight of geology, where you can see the remarkable effects of millions of years of erosion on a landscape of sedimentary rock. The Green and the Colorado River have carved the geologic layer cake, exposing buried sediments and creating the canyons of Canyonlands. In addition, the wind, and the rain of summer thunder storms also contributed to the erosion of the canyons. On September 12, 1964 President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the legislation establishing Canyonlands National Park.

For this park the challenge was to arrive on time to see the sunrise at Mesa Arch, a beautiful arch located on a cliff edge. From there I got the chance to photograph the sunrise, a view of the canyons, and the distant La Sal Mountains. That moment was priceless.

Here are the photos of Canyonlands, some of its overlooks, rock and cliff details, and a few flora macro shoots. Enjoy!