Dead Horse and Canyonlands

Grandview Hike in Canyonlands

View of Monument Valley from Canyonlands

We went across the road from where we are camping and ventured into Canyonlands National Park. First of all, our expectations of Canyonlands was high since the other 14 or so national parks/monuments/sights we have visited on this trip has been great - so we were a tad disappointed.  Glacier is for hikers, Yellowstone is for camping and looking at geysers, Tetons is for boating and camping, Canyonlands is for ATVs and off-road vehicles.  Very little hiking, and very few places to stop and look/see. Most of the sights are from ATV view point - and there is one trail they talk about that if you do it right - should take you 2 to 4 days on the ATV (camping along the way).

We did do a small 2 mile hike called the Grandview - which walked along the rim of one of the canyons - pretty, breathtaking in vista views although the smoke prohibited you from seeing really far.  Talk about red rock country!  Canyonlands is split into 4 areas, only one is accessible by car and that is Islands in the Sky area.  We could only see across the canyons to the Needles district and also see the river district below us. Have only seen pictures of the Maze district - again best by ATV or by boat.  The Green and Colorado Rivers converge within the park and to go on a river boat ride would be awesome but it isn't in our plans to do.  First time on this trip where we realized we won't go back into a national park to see something - one day was enough and in our case - 4 hours.  Pretty, desolate, but kinda boring.

View of Colorado from Dead Horse Point - notice smoke in air

We left Canyonlands and drove back the same way we came in and adjacent to this park is Dead Horse Point State Park run by Utah.  What a gem this park is!  And the views are breathtaking!  The story behind the name is:  around the turn of the century cowboys rounded up the wild mustang horses found in the area and corralled them at the point of land where the state park is located.  They selected the ones they wanted and for some reason left the rest of the horses inside the corral, in view of the Colorado river, without food or water.  And thus, they died.  The state did a wonderful job with paths, interpretive signs, and the view points - WOW - did we have wows for this little place. Would have to say that if you want to see the Colorado and wide expanse of red rock and canyons - Dead Horse Point State Park is the place to come - forget about the Grand Canyon.

Razor type ATV

The wildfires are still raging - the one near where we camped in North Fork, Idaho has grown to over 405,000 acres - we wonder if the campground is gone.  And the fires in Jackson and Alpine Lake in Wyoming are also still going strong.  These fires' smoke has drifted down into this area and we are sad that the pictures we have taken show the sky as very smoky.  But, can't do anything about it, sadly.   With the jet streams shifting more north, the forecasters say that the smoke should now start to move back north and clear up the skies.  Our plans are to visit Arches National Park maybe tomorrow, if not Tuesday.  Calling for thunderstorms tomorrow - so we'll see.  We are having fun watching all the ATV and dirt bikers parade around in the morning, getting ready to head over to Canyonlands.  There are so many of these ATVs - look fun but I wouldn't want to eat the dirt from a fellow dirt biker.  2 seater, 4 seater, dirt bikes, off-road vehicles - so many toys here!