We devoted our first full day in Moab to exploring Dead Horse Point State Park and Island in the Sky in Canyonlands National Park. We left our house at 8 am and didn’t return until nearly 14 hours later. It was a long day, but well worth it to really experience these beautiful parks.

We stopped first at Dead Horse Point State Park, then continued on to Island in the Sky (~ 20 minute drive to the visitor’s center). The Colorado and Green Rivers act as natural dividers in Canyonlands and the park is divided into three districts: Island in the Sky, the Needles, and the Maze. Although the districts are adjacent to each other, they can not be visited directly from one another. Island in the Sky is the easiest to visit from Moab and also the most accessible of the three districts. Island in the Sky is a high plateau bounded on either side by the Colorado and Green Rivers. There are many viewpoints to take in the scenery, as well as hiking trails of varying difficulty and some popular 4WD roads.

We had four major stops in Island in the Sky; Mesa Arch, Grand View Point, Aztec Butte, and False Kiva; which provided us a great sampling of the beautiful scenery of Canyonlands. I was especially happy to make it to False Kiva after poor weather on my last visit dropped it from our itinerary. I think we used up all our adjectives on this first day - it was truly gorgeous and we had a terrific day.