day 9: arches nat’l park, canyonlands nat’l park, dead horse state park.

Wednesday was a big day of exploring, so here we go!

We woke up early and reached Arches by 7:30am, which was the right choice. There were still more people than I expected, but no waiting line for park admission, and the air was wonderfully cool and pleasant. Also, we were given the unexpected gift of an overcast day, and it made all the difference.

I’m so glad that after the head we braved Arches a second time, because it was perfect. The kids were able to do more climbing on these trails. Delicate Arch is the most famous of the Arches, and is seen on Utah license plates and numerous postcards, billboards, coffee mugs, you name it.

Most of all, we enjoyed the trails to the North and South Window and Turret Arch.

 

Double Arch, Delicate Arch, the Windows and Turret Arch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Later in the afternoon, after a rest back at the condo, we drove 30 miles away to Canyonlands National Park, making sure to arrive at the Visitor Center before they closed in order to pick up Junior Ranger guides and get a stamp in our family National Park Passport.

I highly recommend buying one of these passports. Go ahead and order one now (they are also available at park visitor centers). And start wherever you live. Warning: it’ll be addictive. You can buy a sticker stamp for each park, and also get a date cancellation when you stop in the visitor center.

We were surprised by how different Canyonlands is from Arches, with its plant life and sweeping views, and all enjoyed it even more. My only experience has been Congaree National Park in South Carolina; so I just had no frame of reference for how large many of the parks are; it takes 45 minutes to drive through both Arches and Canyonlands.

We started hiking at the park at around 4:30, and there were few people around. We learned that our family preference, rather than choose one long hike, is to take the long meandering drives and stop for shorter hikes and walks along the way.

 

Canyonlands National Park

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Canyonlands was a incredible, but clearly there were many dizzying drop-offs. I stayed well away from them, and David took the camera up for the best shots. I couldn’t even watch him climb to the top of Whale Rock with Gabe and Noah, even when he kept them both firmly by the hand.

 

 

Sunset at Dead Horse Point State Park

David read on several travel blogs that most people crowd into the national parks to view the sunset, but Dead Horse State Park, just 4 miles from the entrance to Canyonlands, is just as beautiful, so we headed there for a picnic dinner.

We reached the entrance and saw that admission to the park was $20, and exchanged a look, wondering, “Should we pay it just for the sunset?” The girl in the ticket booth noticed that we had a fourth grader pass hanging from the rearview mirror, and said “That’s the only park national pass we accept!” So we were home free.

We drove to Dead Horse Point Look Out and found ourselves all alone at our picnic area for a snack-y dinner and a very peaceful sunset.

It was spectacular.

And as we saw the long line of vehicles snaking out of Arches on the dark drive home, we knew we’d made the right choice.