June 2019

The paths of the Green River and Colorado River divide Canyonlands National Park into three districts. The high mesa, known as Island in the Sky, is where we spent our day. Once you enter through the Island in the Sky Visitor Center, the road climbs to over 6,000 feet as you approach the Grand View Point Overlook. Along the way we stopped at Mesa Arch and took the half-mile loop trail to the small natural arch carved from the rim.

We continued towards Grand View Point Overlook, taking in the beautiful views along the way. After parking the car I walked along the 2-mile Grand View trail with stunning panoramic views of Monument Basin below.

We backtracked up to Green River Overlook where we caught sight of the Green River running through Stillwater Canyon far below.

Instead of heading straight home we decided to explore Horsethief Trail, a dirt road leading to the Green River just outside the park. The road was well maintained and we had no trouble with the CRV.

After about 20 miles we came to a gate that we drove through and then the road dropped sharply towards the river below with hairpin turns and a single-lane dirt road. Yikes, this was getting a little too hairy for me! Although I wanted to get to the river below, I asked Richard to turn the car around and get us the heck out of there and he did!

As I mentioned earlier, Canyonlands National Park has three districts and we only saw one. The other two are Needles and Maze. You really need a 4WD, high clearance vehicle to explore these other two areas of the park. Maybe next time we’ll rent a Jeep and go for it!?!