Topic: Arches & Canyonlands (Pic Heavy)

[Blackx]

Just got back from a great week in Arches & Canyonlands.  This was my first trip to the Moab area and it was as good as everyone says it is.  This trip was planned by my wife and was more exploration/hiking focused than off roading focused.  We camped in Canyonlands for 5 nights.  First three nights were at Shafer campsite which is an hour into the park via dirt road and then two nights at Airport campsite which is two hours into the park.  These sites made us very isolated.  Just what we were looking for. 

There are several things I learned that might be useful to anyone planning a trip out there.

All of Arches NP can be hiked in a long day.  The park is huge but there just aren't that many trails and visitors aren't supposed to leave marked trails.

I wasn't able to do all of the White Rim Trail in Canyonlands.  It takes two long days to drive it but I'd suggest 3 days at least to allow for exploring side trails.  Anyone into mountain bike riding would love this trail over 4-5 days.

The Charles A. Wells book is great especially used in conjunction with waypoints that can be uploaded into your gps.  The other great thing about the book is his description of the difficulty of the trails with accompanying pictures which usually included his close to stock Cherokee.

I am definitely going to try and make it to goneMOAB in 2010. 

Airport Campsite

Arches & Canyonlands (Pic Heavy)

Arches & Canyonlands (Pic Heavy)

Arches & Canyonlands (Pic Heavy)

Balanced Rock

Arches & Canyonlands (Pic Heavy)

Delicate Arch

Arches & Canyonlands (Pic Heavy)

Arches & Canyonlands (Pic Heavy)

Double o Arch

Arches & Canyonlands (Pic Heavy)

Navajo Arch

Arches & Canyonlands (Pic Heavy)

Park Ave.

Arches & Canyonlands (Pic Heavy)

Partition Arch

Arches & Canyonlands (Pic Heavy)

Petroglyph

Arches & Canyonlands (Pic Heavy)

Arches Hike

Arches & Canyonlands (Pic Heavy)

Canyonlands

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Arches & Canyonlands (Pic Heavy)

Road to Pyramid Butte

Arches & Canyonlands (Pic Heavy)

Slickrock hiking trail

Arches & Canyonlands (Pic Heavy)

Colorado Gooseneck

Arches & Canyonlands (Pic Heavy)

Walking across Musselman Arch

Arches & Canyonlands (Pic Heavy)

Landscape Arch

Arches & Canyonlands (Pic Heavy)

Arches & Canyonlands (Pic Heavy)

Newspaper Rock

Arches & Canyonlands (Pic Heavy)

Shafer Rd.

Arches & Canyonlands (Pic Heavy)

Truck hits 30K miles on White Rim Trail

Arches & Canyonlands (Pic Heavy)

[FrankB]

That looks like great fun Jeff. Nice pics too.  I really like the various arches.

[Paul]

Brilliant pictures!

It's a long drive but photos like that make me want to make it.

[SuperSlideStyle]

Absolutely amazing pics.

[AV Xterra]

Very Nice.

[Blackx]

Thanks guys.  I can't even describe how awesome that place is. 

Yes, it's a long drive, but it's easy.  Once you get past Vegas there's no traffic.  I broke up the drive there into 2 days, about 7 hours each day.  On the way home we headed south on 191 toward Canyon De Chelly in AZ and then down to I-40.  Made the trip all the way to Big Bear (to pick up our dog at my aunt's house) in 1 day.  17 hours on the road! 

[XterracerX]

Spectacular! Definitely add this one to the list of places to visit! Thanks for sharing Jeff!

[jefenger]

Great photos Jeff!

I was out there last summer with my family and those parks are extremely beautiful.

[Goldfish]

Jeff, those pictures look like they should be on postcards. Denise has been hinting about going to Utah for a while. Looks like we may have do that trip next spring.