Canyonlands National Park

We got a much earlier start yesterday - 10 AM - to see our second National Park in the area - Canyonlands National Park. It was a bit disappointing to us. Don't get me wrong, it was absolutely beautiful, but for anyone who has seen the Grand Canyon, it is no comparison. The canyons were outstanding, but the grandeur of these canyons paled in comparison.

We still took many photos, and some of them are below. Starting with our entry into the park:

and, of course, our stop at the Visitor Center. This one was not as large as the Arches Visitor Center but was nice nonetheless:

Below are some shots of the canyons. The Green River and Colorado River join within the boundaries of the park and they can be seen in some of these photos:

As you can see, the canyons were spectacular. A big difference between the Canyonlands and The Grand Canyon was that we had to drive several miles between turnouts and viewpoints in the Canyonlands, and the total area is much smaller than the Grand Canyon in AZ. We still enjoyed the visit which ended at about 3 PM.

We decided to return to the Arches National Park to get a photo of the Delicate Arch which is the hallmark of the National Park. This is the one that is the most popular arch and is seen in most photos of the National Park:

We attempted to walk to this arch the day before - notice all the people around the arch - but the walk from the parking lot to the arch is three miles of sometimes strenuous terrain. Yesterday, we took the shorter hike - although still strenuous in places - which brought us to this viewpoint which, although further away, still gave us a great view of this special arch. Below is a photo of the trail we took to get to this viewpoint:

It also was strenuous in places, but only about a mile long.

What a fabulous two days we spent here in Moab. Today we will move on to the Monument Valley and spend one night there before heading to AZ tomorrow...