Hi there! Are you ready to plan an exhilarating trip to Canyonlands National Park?! As you explore the wild and scenic canyons in this remote area of Utah, you are sure to find something here that everyone in your group will love.
Canyonlands is a place you will never forget — and likely somewhere you will talk about for years to come. Sheer sandstone cliffs, deep canyons, beautiful rivers, and spectacular vistas are waiting for you. This incredible place will leave you speechless!
There is so much to do. You may have already looked at a map and been a little overwhelmed — and eager — to make sure that you don’t miss the best sights.
I’m a former park ranger, and I’ll help you plan your vacation down to the details. I’ve extensively explored Canyonlands and am here to help! Whether this is your first time at Canyonlands National Park, or if you are returning after many years and would like to be reintroduced to the park, this list of 12 things is for you.
What You Need to Know About Canyonlands
- Don’t miss out on anything during your trip! For the best experience, get an early start to your day and have a solid plan.
- No lodging is available within Canyonlands National Park, but camping is available. Campsites are primarily first-come, first-served, and you can learn more about them here. The towns of Moab and Monticello offer numerous lodging options if you’d like to stay in a hotel.
- This park is made up of three districts: Island in the Sky, the Needles, and the Maze. Island in the Sky and the Needles are the easiest areas to access and are the best for the first-time visitor. The Maze is an incredibly remote area that is only for adventurers who are experienced and well-prepared. For that reason, I do not include activities from the Maze on this list.
- Island in the Sky and the Needles are separated by about a two-hour drive, making it worth your time to set aside at least one day for each section of the park (more time if you have it!).
- Many hiking trails take you to remote locations in this park, so you don’t want to be caught hiking without a map. This is the map I use and recommend for Canyonlands National Park.
I’ll make sure that you don’t miss the sights that make this park so famous, but I also want to provide a few treasures that are off-the-beaten-path as well. Let the adventure begin!
Click NEXT to see this exciting list of 12 things you can’t miss on your first visit to Canyonlands National Park!
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means that (at no extra cost to you) I receive a small compensation if you make a purchase. I only recommend products that I personally love, and I appreciate your support and welcome any questions you may have about any products featured on my site. Thanks! Ash
Ash,
You have been my “guide” for countless trip. I have purchased itineraries for Yellowstone, Glacier, RMNP, Grand Canyon, Arches, Zion, Yosemite, Bryce Canyon and I have used your “Can’t Miss” lists for Badlands, Mt. Rushmore, Kings Canyon and Sequoia. I appreciate the work you do so very much. We are planning to visit Canyonlands this summer and only have one day. I have read through the comments on your must see list, and it seems that we should concentrate our time in the Islands in the Sky section of the park. Is that correct, and if so, can we accomplish the “Can’t Miss” spots on that list from that section of the park in one day?
Hey Kathleen! I just emailed you back :)
Do you have an itinerary for Canyonlands?
I don’t at this time, but thanks for asking!
Hi, Ash. I’ve “traveled with you” via your itineraries to Glacier, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Zion, Bryce, Acadia, Grand Canyon, and soon-to-be Arches National Parks in October. Your suggestions for hikes, routes, lodging, and dining are always spot on!
That being said, do you have a suggested order for the above mentioned “Must Sees” for Canyonlands National Park?
Many thanks,
Patricia Huff
Hey Patricia! Contact me here so I can give you a more detailed answer to that question :)
I loved reading about your experience in Canyonlands. Your descriptions really made it come alive for me. Happy travels!
Thank you!
Hi Ash,
What a great site, so much useful info. Using it for a couple stops on our August trip. I had one day set for Canyonlands, with Dead Horse West Rim at the end. I was going to do Eye In the Sky, but your post on Elephant Hill in Needles looks so good. Is it too much of a stretch to do part of that hike in the morning, and then do Dead Horse around sunset, maybe something easier in-between?
It’s quite a drive out to the Needles. If it’s your first time to Canyonlands and you only have one day, I’d stick with Island in the Sky. There are some fabulous options in that part of the park, and you’ll be much closer to Dead Horse!
Thanks for all these awesome tips. My daughter and I are knocking out all 5 NPs at the end of May and this is so hopeful in trying to plan hikes and stops. So glad I found this site!
Thanks Jenn! Have a great time!
Thanks so much for all this information!!
We are heading to all 5 NPs in April. Just planning Canyonlands at the moment and have all the 6 spots you listed for Island in the Sky. I was wondering if the drive to all 6 locations is safe to drive? I presume there won’t be paved roads which is fine but just a bit worried if any of the roads will be super close to a cliff edge!
Hi Amy,
The roads to the points of interest at the Island in the Sky district are paved :) You’ll have no problem safely navigating them if you’re just going to the places on the list. Have fun!
Ash
Thanks for all the info. We have been camping at the Needles campground for years. I’m itching to explore more areas, but am going this spring with some people who want the water/toilets/etc that Needles has to offer. I understand that it is a long drive from Island in the Sky to Needles. But, is there a way to do it without going back to Moab? Would you need four wheel drive?
Thanks,
Leigh
The river is in the middle of the two sections, so you do have to drive around through Moab to get in there as far as I know. Have fun — we love Needles!!
I plan to sleep in my car at camp site instead of sleeping in the tent. Is this allowed.?
It should be ok as long as you are in a designated camping spot. They don’t allow camping in any of the pullouts or trailheads. Have fun!
Thanks Ash. I like your stuff. Heading for Canyonlands and Capital Reef soon, my 3rd go-around. Love mountains, desert, rivers, but love canyons most of all. Hey, give Big Bend in Texas a try.
Awesome! Have fun! We did give Big Bend a try and loved it…..can’t wait to go back!
Thank you Ash! This is very informative and helpful as we plan to travel this week.
Happy to help Richard. Safe travels!
Can we drive from Moab straight through canyonlands to Monticello?
You’ll have to take a separate road through Canyonlands as you drive to Monticello. The park road doesn’t connect the two towns. Have a great time!
I drove the Shafer Trail last week! I too saw it from the overlook and I just had to see it in person. It was so much fun!
http://www.welovetoexplore.com/intrepid-potash-mine-shafer-canyon-road-moab-utah/
That’s awesome! Thanks for sharing!
Hi!
I love this post! I just wrote down all 10 locations and your pointers in my little Utah trip journal haha. Anyways, I’m planning to go to Canyonlands this august (18th-23rd) mostly for astro-photography, but also to hike. I have two questions!
1) I’ve heard Canyonlands is one of the best dark parks for star gazing at night, so I’m sure anywhere I go will be great, but do you have any recommendations for your personal favorite locations to star gaze?
2)Any camping location recommendations? I saw that in the comments you mentioned the Needles. Based on my previous question, I planned on camping near sites where I can shoot great photos at night, but any location recommendation would be great as well!
Thanks a bunch regardless, this was really well written!
Hi Deric! We actually met a professional astro-photographer on the trail to Druid Arch and he showed us some of his work. It was phenomenal! So based on that, I would recommend the Needles for sure. It’s an amazing section of the park and is far enough away from any towns and lights to make the stargazing incredible!
On the way to Island in the Sky we highly recommend Dead Horse State Park!! A local suggested this & we were sooooo glad!!
Definitely a great spot in the area…so glad you stopped to see it!
Hey! So I went to island in the sky & enjoyed everything you mentioned.
However, I think it would be extremely useful to mention that getting to the needles area of canyonlands is a 100 mile drive from island in the sky. I didn’t realize this until the ranger at island told me. Because of our travel plans, this made going to the needles impossible. Originally we thought one day at each of those two parks, but when we discovered it would be such a little my drive to the second park, we had to cancel that part due to money & time constraints. Just thought visitors to this page could use that information!
Thanks for the good blog,
-rachel
Hey there Rachel,
Thanks for the comment….the post actually does include that info on the first line of the second paragraph, but I’m sorry you missed it. I’ll try to make that information a little more obvious so that future readers don’t run into the same problem. Hopefully you still had a great time on your trip!
Ash
We are planing to visit the areas surrounding Grand Junction CO in July. We know it will be hot, we traveled the areas surrounding Flagstaff in July a few years back. We are both in our later 50’s, but, like EZ hikes of 0.1 – 4 miles round trip. I appreciate your details about the hikes! We were thinking Arches, Canyonlands, …. Any ideas would be helpful!
Hi Kim! Anything on my list of 10 things you can’t miss will fit that criteria, so that’s definitely where I would start. Just be sure to hit the trails early in the morning to avoid the heat! Have fun!
That road under the Shafer Overlook is called Shafer switchbacks. One of the locals told us about it and we started from just outside of Moab, climbing out at the overlook. It was awesome and even included the site where Thelma and Louis drove off the cliff! Four wheel drive is not really needed, but I would NOT do it if there has been any rain. There are some really steep sections. It will take a few hours too since it is pretty rugged. Well worth the trip!
Very cool that you actually drove it! I got knots in my stomach just looking at it!
I love your blog- so much specific information! We are staying in Green River SP for the Memorial Day weekend because it’s the only reservable campground that still had spaces when I looked in February. We were thinking of heading closer to Canyonlands for sunday night but have no reservations- how likely do you think it will be for us to find a BLM campground spot? Maybe Hamburger Rock will have a space? I’d hate to spend my sunday night wandering in the desert for a place to park.
Hi Michelle, thank you so much for your kind words. I honestly would really hesitate to try to get a first-come, first-served spot on the Sunday night of a holiday weekend. My guess is that most everything will get snatched up on Friday or Saturday and nobody will really check out again until Monday. Canyonlands Needles is an amazing place though and definitely worth a stop. The other option is to just plan on dispersed camping if you are unable to find anything in an established campground. There are lots of different places that you can stop and just camp for free! The established campgrounds in the area don’t have running water anyway, so you’re experience wouldn’t be that different if you decide to go the dispersed camping route :)
Go to freecampsites.net ! We found a great place overlooking the river to camp for free. No facilities of course, but who needs them?
The ranger also told us that any dirt road out there, you can drive a half a mile down it and it’s BLM – you can park for free up to 14 nights.
Heading to Utah in October to hit all 5 NP’s.
Your website is a great source of information!
Will be coming back to it often to plan hikes at each park.
Thank you very much Harold! It’s a pleasure to help out and I hope to hear from you regarding your upcoming trip!
We are headed to Moab in about a week and a half…for the first time…so if you have any other pointers, I would love to hear them! We are saving Canyon lands for another trip when we can put our focus there since it is so big!
You will have a great time! I am happy to give you more Moab information, and I am also getting ready to post on Arches so hopefully that helps :)