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Trip Report

Hiking Utah National Parks

In my itinerary you will find hikes in Moab outside of Arches and Arches National Park hikes. We hiked for 3 days, I will tell you how to make the most out of it.

  • Needles District Canyonlands+ 20
  • Island in the Sky
  • Island in the Sky
  • Hiking Utah National Parks
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About Me:A student of the performing arts in the Netherlands, while still catching as much abroad experience as possible. On top of all the cities and countries visited with my mother, who works as a cabin attendant with the airlines, I am taking a... read more

North AmericaUnited States1 day / April 2022

Highs & Lows

The most beautiful sunrises you will ever see.

Running out of time is very annoying, get up early so you can do all the hikes you want.

Itinerary Overview

Since we only had three full days to spend hiking in Moab we had to rush and were not able to do the longer hikes we normally like to do, but we looked for the best hikes to do and do it in a way that we made best use of our time. Moab is a town five hours car drive away from Salt Lake City, and has the national parks Canyonlands and Arches nearby. Arches has one road and a couple of hikes you can do, you could spend one or two days doing Arches, and Canyonlands has three districts, with their own entrance. You cannot drive through the national park, you have to drive around it to get to each entrance, you could spend two or  three days PER DISTRICT in Canyonlands National Park! We only had 3 days in total, so we did Arches National Park and skipped one of the three districts of Canyonlands and only did Island in the Sky and The Needles. After some research we figured that the third district, The Maze, wasn't worth it for these three days. One important thing we did is that we got up very early every day, it was easier because of our jetlag, and really worth it because you can catch the sunrise and start your hikes early before it gets too crowded.

We left Salt Lake City early in the morning and stopped halfway at a supermarket to stretch our legs and get some groceries for the rest of the day, because we didn't want to waste time going to a supermarket again that day. In Moab, we wanted to sleep in our tent on a campground, and you have to arrive early at these campgrounds because otherwise they will be full. They are non-commercial campgrounds and are scattered around the place, they have compostable toilets, no water and you put the money in a box when you leave. We quickly set up our tent  when we arrived in the early afternoon to claim the spot and we hopped back in the car for our first hike in the Island in the Sky district. After this we had dinner in town, did some groceries for the next day (you need to do it in the evening) and went to sleep right away.

The second day we woke up at 5:00 pm, packed our stuff and drove 20 minutes to the entrance of Arches National Park where we had to wait in line with the car to enter. We watched the sunrise and did a good hike in the park, but we had to leave in time because we had to drive to The Needles district of Canyonlands National Park, which is a two hour drive, claim a spot on the campground and catch the sunset.  We did groceries for the next day on the way and were lucky to have a spot for the car and the tent when we arrived since we got there in the evening.

The last day we got up at early again to watch the sunrise and do a short hike. We had breakfast and did another short hike of around two hours, before having to drive 7 hours back to Salt Lake City and catch our flight back home the same afternoon.

  • Day trip: Island in the Sky
    We wanted to try to see if we could catch the essence of this district in one hiketrail, and catch some views with the car.
  • Day trip: Arches National Park
    We wanted to do the Devils Garden trail and catch the sunrise.
  • Day trip: Needles District Canyonlands
    It is very different from the Island in the Sky district and really worth a visit.
Island in the Sky - We wanted to try to see if we could catch the essence of this district in one hiketrail, and catch some views with the car.
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Island in the Sky We wanted to try to see if we could catch the essence of this district in one hiketrail, and catch some views with the car.

Island in the Sky - We wanted to try to see if we could catch the essence of this district in one hiketrail, and catch some views with the car. - null
Island in the Sky - We wanted to try to see if we could catch the essence of this district in one hiketrail, and catch some views with the car. - null
Island in the Sky - We wanted to try to see if we could catch the essence of this district in one hiketrail, and catch some views with the car. - null4+

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.

Arches National Park - We wanted to do the Devils Garden trail and catch the sunrise.
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Arches National Park We wanted to do the Devils Garden trail and catch the sunrise.

Arches National Park - We wanted to do the Devils Garden trail and catch the sunrise. - null
Arches National Park - We wanted to do the Devils Garden trail and catch the sunrise. - null
Arches National Park - We wanted to do the Devils Garden trail and catch the sunrise. - null6+

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.

Needles District Canyonlands - It is very different from the Island in the Sky district and really worth a visit.
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Needles District Canyonlands It is very different from the Island in the Sky district and really worth a visit.

Needles District Canyonlands - It is very different from the Island in the Sky district and really worth a visit. - null
Needles District Canyonlands - It is very different from the Island in the Sky district and really worth a visit. - null
Needles District Canyonlands - It is very different from the Island in the Sky district and really worth a visit. - null4+

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.

Q & A

  • What would you have changed?

    I would have wanted more time!
  • Restaurant recommendations?

    A really good quesedilla/taco foodtruck in Moab, ask the locals, i forgot the name and it might not be there.
  • Tips you would give a friend?

    There is no water at the campgrounds, so you cannot shower there. You can shower in town or just break into another campground and shower there. You also need to buy jerrycans and take them with you, otherwise you will have nothing to drink and you have to drink a lot, since its basically desert.
  • Packing tips?

    Mornings are super cold, afternoons are super hot, dress in layers and keep in mind you have to carry around the clothing you take off during the day.
  • Transportation Tips?

    No, you need to do everything with your own car, or be lucky enough to be able to hitch hike.