Canyonlands National Park

Vast. That’s the descriptor. This newer park, dedicated in 1964, is all about wide open space. It is where the Green River, a good sized river, joins the Colorado River giving it the extra kick to have carved out the Grand Canyon as it progressed south. Both rivers did plenty of handiwork locally, too. Canyonlands is just, well, vast.

You enter onto a grassy plateau and follow a road along the top. There are many turn offs for viewpoints and they all are OMG moments. You look down thousands of feet to the bottom to see the canyons carved and the snaking path of the rivers. The plateau is at 6000 feet and the distant vistas are something to behold. Various signs point out this and that mountain off 60 miles distant. Our recent rain washed the air and we caught Canyonlands on a wonderfully clear day. Crystal visibility. Once again, as has been consistent in our National Park visits, the attendance was high, parking at a premium and the crowd about 70% foreign visitors. Cathy remarked that it feels like we have heard every language spoken on earth over the last few weeks and it does seem like it. It is fun. As I wrote earlier, we feel like we are sharing the natural wealth of our country with the world. See the USA in your rental Chevrolet. Thank you Dinah Shore.