Minds Blown by Arches and Canyonlands National Parks
Heading out of Colorado for the last part of our camping road trip, we were exhausted and brain dead (but inspired!). So what did we do? We leaned even further into the madness by frying ourselves in the unrelenting sun of Arches National Park and forcing ourselves to explore Canyonlands National Park at sunrise.
Why not? You only live once! And are we ever happy that we pushed ourselves.
A couple of weeks ago, we thought Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park had to be the best in Utah. Then along came Arches and Canyonlands, and we now have to rethink that conclusion.
While we haven’t made any “best of” decisions, we have decided that a return visit is in order.
Here are a few shots from Arches:
And some from that particularly early morning in Canyonlands:
Killer, huh?
You can see why we’re having a difficulty selecting favorites. Oh well, there’s plenty of time for that once we get all rested up. For now, we have to get our final park entrance photos and the last cancellation stamps for our National Parks Passport.
And then, it will be time to catch up on sleep and make those “best of” decisions.
Help! Have you been to Zion, Bryce, Arches AND Canyonlands? Which of these 4 was your favorite?
Those are the biggest parks I haven’t been to yet. A road trip to that part of the country is definitely in order. I imagine I’ll enjoy Arches the most because of the unique sights, but I could be totally surprised.
Also, Canyonlands needs to get a new welcome sign. That silly ’80s font is not cutting it anymore.
I know… we almost turned around because of that sign
We’ll be excited to hear your take once you make it to all 4.
Yes, I have! The first three in 2002 and then Arches again and Canyonlands last year. My absolute favorite parks in the country. So stunning.
Do you have a favorite?
I’ve only been to Arches NP and it was breath-taking – literally, as we trekked to the Delicate Arch (of course it was worth it).
This summer I plan to skip to Yosemite NP, visit Antelope Canyon and Petrified National Forest NP in Arizona – can’t wait! And this from a person who after a week of nature is going crazy!
We are yet to get to Yosemite. Report back!
Ahh Arches National Park… what an amazing park filled with wonder. I mean you really look at the rock formations and go how? Did you find the penis shaped rock? I know leave it to me to mention it, but you must have…lol!!! I know Utah is filled with so many amazing National Parks that I wanna visit one day. The good thing is I should have a place to stay for most of them. One of our Call Centers is located near all of the parks and luckily I still have friends down there. Anyway it looks like yall had a great time.
So you were only able to hit Arches? You’ve gotta get back. No, we didn’t see a penis shaped rock. But, who knows… we were tired. I’ll have to have another look at the pictures.
Did them all on our trip last year. We still love Bryce the best, for the cooler temps and star-gazing opps.
Did you hike the Narrows in Zion? We loved that 2nd most.
When visiting Bryce, especially, we felt as though we were on another planet.
We did not hike the Narrows. The biggies we did in Zion were Angel’s Rest and Observation Point.
Sad to say I haven’t been to any of them… yet!
You have a lot to look forward to when you return!
I just got back from a 10-day road trip through there although I haven’t had time to blog about yet – it was amazing!
Let’s compare notes!
Really breathtaking shots! I really like your sunset pictures, I think I’ve just found my new wallpaper!
It’s our too. Every once in a while we bust out the “good” camera and get a pretty decent shot.
I haven’t been to any of these but I can’t wait to visit them – all of them look amazing!
And you were (are?) so close in Arizona.
Just went to these parks earlier this year! I would have to go with Zion as my favorite. Loved the early morning shots of Bryce that you guys took!
Zion is outstanding. I’ll never forget the killer hikes we tackled there.
So close, yet… I’ve always wanted to go to Zion!
It’d be good for a photo shoot
We’ve visited all four and loved all of them (of course), but I think Arches is my favorite, followed by Bryce… or maybe Canyonlands? It’s so hard! I just know that I wasn’t as impressed with Zion as I thought I’d be, but it’s still beautiful. I think it just has so much hype around it that I thought it’d be a little different.
Agree totally about Zion. The expectation is SO SO high whereas you don’t hear as much about the others.
Wonderful pictures. I specially like the second one. Love your blog.
Doesn’t it look like another planet?
Beautiful pictures and stunning landscape!
Thanks, Angela. We just installed an update to our theme, so the photos aren’t turning out the way we intended (and we had to leave a lot off!).
My best friend is up in UT all the time and tells me all about the wonderful parks there. Your pictures are great, and I totally want to take a trip to UT now!
Utah has clearly got it going on from an outdoors perspective. Next time – skiing
This is why I want to focus on the Americas over the next year, Europe and Asia are amazing but we have so much beauty and diversity in our backyard.
Is Seattle still a possibility
I went to Zion, Bryce, the Grand Canyon and Yosemite when I was on a road trip on the west coast aged 11. Yosemite really made an impression on me. I remember enjoying horse riding in zion, having the biggest ice cream ever and getting confused because ‘mountain Utah time’ was different from standard Utah time! Fantastic memories. Perhaps I’ll have to go back, see it from an adult’s perspective and check out Arches and Canyonlands.
These things are much better as an adult because you can do the things that parents don’t want to do
And that ice cream is still all over the National Parks. We saw ice cream cones at Zion that were absurdly high. Of course, we stuck to water and granola bars. At least that’s how I remember it.
Arches is high up there on our list of places to see. I must make it happen after these photos!
Good gravy. Grab Scott and jump in the car and go. This summer.
Utah is a treasure chest of awesomeness!. I’ve been to these parks, too and would love to see them all again. Great pics, guys!
Do you have a favorite, Cathy?
Can’t say I’ve been to any of these parks, but apart from food, I love nothing more than hiking through incredible scenery. The sunset is breathtaking!
I really think you’d love it, Mark. And just think… you can camp and do an entire “Mark’s Campsite Eats” series. Done!
We’ve never been and I agree with Ayngelina that there is so much beauty in our own backyard that we have to discover. Wonderful photos guys, that sunset is pretty breathtaking.
You two are due for a big USA road trip.
That first sunset shot is simply stunning. Good job!
Thanks! It was our reward for getting up at, oh, 3 AM. Whatever it takes to get the shot.
Amazing shots! And those sun pics are just so beautiful. It must be a real experience to witness the sun breaking through up there!!
We’ve learned that it’s always worthwhile to catch at least one sunrise when visiting any destination. Now, if only I could remember that when the alarm clock goes off.
Gorgeous photos, gents – I was a bit concerned about the open running of a passport forgery operation until I realised that it’s the National Parks passports you were talking about a while ago (at least, I think that’s what’s going on in the pictures?!)
On a non-Utah related note, I was doing some painful hiking today up South Korea’s highest mountain, and while I freaked out and hyper-ventilated near the summit, I thought how much you two gents would enjoy it!
Oh… wish we could have been there. You have to get a hike in when you’re here in the USA.
SO beautiful. I’m definitely inspired. I haven’t been to those parks. I drove through Utah with a moving truck and a cat in the truck with us. I wanted to stop at the parks we passed so bad but couldn’t. Some of the scenery and canyons from the highways are pretty amazing, too.
That must have been torture to not be able to stop!?
These are great parks. I have a desire to go back and revisit in a proper 4WD vehicle so I could really get into the back country of Canyonlands- I have an idea that is where the real adventure lies.
I visited these back in 2003, before I got my first DSLR camera, a return visit in definitely in order.
Yes, get back there with that DSLR. You’ll be glad you did!