Hiking Utah National Parks

We got to Island in the Sky at around 2 in the afternoon and started walking right away. Initially we wanted to do the Syncline Loop trail, which is the only big loop trail in this district, and very challenging, but after some research we found that it would take us too long to finish the hike in time.  Since the descriptions told us that Syncline Loop is a good way to see a good portion of the district we went to the start of the trailhead and did the first and second overlook of the Upheaval Dome, the natural construction the Syncline Loop goes around. We went offtrack for about wo hours, for some more adventure and to stretch the hike, but if you get the chance I would advice you to do the entire loop. After this we drove back to the entrance of the park and stopped at some points to watch the view, there is many of these points along the way. If you want, you can catch the sunset at one of the viewpoints in the south, but we wanted to go back to town in time to catch some sleep.

We got up at 5 in the morning and drove to the entrance of the park, which is just outside of Moab, to be in time for the sunrise and the opening of the park. At the time we were there they would only let in a certain amount of booked entrances to the park during opening hours, so if you arrived at the entrance before they opened they would let you in without the booking, but this meant getting up early. For us it was the perfect way to catch the sunrise and to avoid the crowds that would pour into the park in the late morning. We drove to the Windows Section and watched the sunrise while hanging out in the big North Window, and did the short loop trail going around the arches right after. Please keep in mind that even though its at an ungodly hour there will still be other people, so don’t think you will have the place for yourself.

After an hour or so we drove to the start of the Devils Garden trailhead, and started on the big loop trail going around the entire area, at around 8 o’clock. The trail will take several hours but you can see everything the Devils Garden has to offer, especially if you take the short trails to the sights and arches along the road, but it will add around two more hours if you do all of them. As soon as you start working your way back in the direction of the parking lot you will encounter many more people that just want to see some arches and do the super short trails, keeping in mind it is rush hour at this time. Don’t let yourself be annoyed by them.

We finished our day in the park at around 2 in the afternoon and drove back to Moab, where we did some shopping, had dinner and got some groceries for the next day. We drove two hours to the Needles District of the Canyonlands National Park all the way in the south, just in time to be there before dark and watch the sunset. We set up our tent at the Hamburger rock and went to sleep right away.

After getting up very early again we drove into the park to walk to a place to catch the sunrise. If you drive to the southern campground you will be able to park your car at a small parking lot where many trails that go through a big portion of the area start. Between the two campgrounds there is an interesting pale-looking rock formation that will take you 45 minutes to an hour to walk around and is a perfect trail to do while watching the sun rise. You will probably be on your own here.

Since we didn’t have time to do the bigger trails and we wanted to make the most of our time, we decided to do the Slickrock loop trail all the way in the back of the district. It took us 20 minutes with the car to get there and we had a quick breakfast before starting the two hour hike from the parking lot. This trail is really worth it, it will take you around some canyons and you will be able to see the “needles” all the way in the distance. You will have 360 degrees view and almost no climbing and descending. But still, if you have the time do to more hikes, I would certainly advice you to walk through the needles. Seeing them from a distance was a good alternative.

We finished our day in the Needles at around 10 in the morning and we had do drive the seven hours all the way back to Salt Lake City, to be in time for our flight home.