Dead Horse Point State Park, Canyonlands NP and Arches NP

Dead Horse State Park, Canyonlands NP and Arches NP - Moab Utah

Driving eastward from Capitol Reef NP to Moab, Utah took half a day, but it was well worth the trip. Located in the immediate area of Moab are two National Parks, a great State Park, sites of several famous movies (Indiana Jones, Thelma and Louise, Stagecoach) and for those inclined, great Jeeping and ATV riding. Our stay for the week was at Dead Horse Point State Park, twenty miles out on a mesa, with the Colorado River Gorge behind it. This is a great place and hard to believe it is not a National Park. The scenery is fabulous and we were fortunate enough to get one of the only 21 sites for our stay.

our first thoughts were - WOW!!!!

sights like this abound

There is no water up on the mesa, it has to be trucked in, so while our site had 50 AMP electric, no water. We made sure we had our tank full before coming in, along with our blue 5 gal can and a case of bottled water. A week is a long time.

our site at DHPSP - GREAT!

After setting up, including connecting the power, there was time and daylight to go see more of DHPSP. Everyone in the Jeep and off we went. The photos just don't do it justice.

lots of Jeep trails down there!!!

takes your breath away

The next morning we drove over the four -five miles to Canyonlands NP. Sharing the same gorge cut by the Colorado and Green rivers, CNP if also breathtaking. the Visitor Center offers maps, a movie worth seeing and a small museum. The movie points out that in the early 1960's the area was shown to Stewart Udall and proposed as a site for damming the  Colorado River. Udall got it set aside as a National Park!!!!

Arch at Canyonlands

view through the arch

Buttes and Mesas abound

glad this didn't get covered in water

Days were warmish and the nights cool. The sky in southern Utah is amazing for star gazing and most of the National Parks offer the occasional star party as did Dead Horse Point SP, which I attended. All good stuff. During the days we explored in the Jeep, worked on the blog at the Moab Library, while Cindy did the laundry and visited the last National Park on our list - Arches National Park.  Once again a trip to the Visitors Center, catch the great movie about the park and off to explore. This is a drive through and or hiking park. We did it fairly well ( considering it was off season) in about 3 hours. You could do 2 days there in season if you are fortunate enough to get in. Keep in mind these formations are hundreds of feet high!!

3 Gossips at Arches NP

balancing rock at Arches NP

Hundreds of arches to be seen

Turret Arch

Window Arch

That wraps up our stay in southern Utah. It was more that we had hoped for and we could easily see returning for more adventures in the future - perhaps some river rafting and more Jeeping???

Shaffer Trail- goes just below/beside Dead Horse Point State Park

Hundreds of miles of Jeep/ATV trails

Thelma and Louise Point, Moab Utah

take care

Cooper and CJ