Utah Spring Break 2022 Part 3: Arches and Canyonlands

You would think after a night in the car, followed by a night in a teepee followed by 2 nights backpacking in Needles district of Canyonlands that we would be ready to get to town and get cleaned up but we were eager for more. We drove about 30 minutes then stopped to see some old graffiti at Newspaper Rock in Bears Ears National Monument.

While there we cooked up some shells and cheese and chili beans in the parking lot and had a nice lunch and met up with our friends the Noels who had skipped the backpacking part of the trip but had their own adventures at the Sand Dunes.

Canyonlands National Park is divided by rivers into 3 parts and you can’t get from one part to another. We had backpacked in Needles and had to drive about 2 hours around to reenter the park and visit the Island in the Sky.

Our first stop was the visitor center to get the the kids Jr. Ranger Badges.

Then we checked out the view at an overlook right across from the visitor center.

It was a pretty sweet view and actually the island in the sky had sweet views all over. We hiked around the rim a bit and checked out views in a few spots.

One thing we didn’t do but looked like a lot of fun was these Off road driving trails that wound around the park. I think I heard there was a 100mile trail and you could go drive it and camp in the middle of nowhere out there. You can see part of one way down in the canyon and another up on the ledge by Bean here.

We hiked over to this one sweet arch.

and checked out the view behind it too.

On the way out we stopped at Dead Horse Point State Park.

It’s a cool view but not totally different then the national park and we had to pay $20 per car to get in to check it out. It was getting late and we headed back into Moab and checked into our Airbnb. I got started on dinner, unpacking, laundry, showers, camp dishes etc. with the kids while the other parents went and got a couple days worth of groceries. After dinner we discovered the dryer was not working and got setup for an early morning and went to bed.

We got up at 6am, loaded the van and drove into Arches National Park.

We got in before the sunrise and started a cold and bit windy hike to Delicate Arch.

It was a great hike and I think one of the most popular hikes in the park so it was really nice getting to it before most of the crowds.

and the sun made for some nice pictures.

Once down from this hike we went to a picnic area, wiped snow off the table and got cooking breakfast.

We were able to leave the vans there and walk to some sweet arches. I don’t remember all the names but a few had signs.

Then we headed back to the vans.

We drove to another spot and we went to check out some more arches.

After all those arches we were pretty hungry so went to another picknick area and had some lunch.

After lunch we checked out some more arches and other stuff on the way out of the park.

Last thing we stopped at the visitor center to turn in the kids books for another badge.

Then we headed into Moab and wondered around town some. The kids climbed around a park some and we stopped for some beers and ice cream at one place then Bean and I went back to the room because her stomach hurt and she took a nap. The rest of the group did a little touristy shopping. The dryer was not repaired so I got our wet clothes drying and made dinner.

The rest of the evening we hung out in the room and relaxed and got ready for another early morning. The Noels drove back to arches to look at the stars but we we stayed and got ready for the next part of the vacation.