Canyonlands National Park

The Green and Colorado rivers meet inside Canyonlands and carve it into three districts that do not connect by road. Island in the Sky is a mesa that stands above both, ringed by cliffs, where a short walk from the car brings you to Grand View Point and a drop of hundreds of metres onto the White Rim bench and then again into the river gorges beyond; Mesa Arch at dawn, with the underside of the arch lit orange by the rising sun, is the single most photographed spot. The Needles district in the south is for walkers, a maze of banded sandstone spires reached on long trails. The Maze in the west is among the most remote and difficult country in the lower forty-eight and takes days of four-wheel-driving to enter.

What you actually see

• Grand View Point - the drop from the mesa across the White Rim to the rivers.
• Mesa Arch at dawn - the arch underlit orange at sunrise.
• The Needles - the banded sandstone spires and the trails between them.
• The White Rim Road - the hundred-mile four-wheel-drive loop below the mesa.

When to go

Spring and autumn are the sensible seasons; summer is dangerously hot with no shade and winter is cold with icy trails. Mesa Arch at sunrise draws a crowd of tripods, so arrive well before first light. Book White Rim permits months ahead.

Honest expectations

There is no water at Island in the Sky beyond the visitor centre, and people underestimate how much they need in that heat. The three districts are hours apart by road, so trying to see more than one in a day does not work. The Maze requires serious four-wheel-drive experience, self-rescue capability and permits, and is not a casual outing.

Nearby

Arches and Moab are 40 minutes away; Dead Horse Point State Park is on the same mesa.