Outdoor Adventures in Canyonlands National Park
There are places in Utah’s Canyonlands National Park, where as a visitor, you can see nearly 100 miles in any given direction. Imagine the panoramic canyon country views.
Established in 1964, Canyonlands National Park has more than 2,500 square miles of canyons, cliffs, hoodoos, and mesas around the confluence of the Green and Colorado Rivers. The landscape consists of deep canyons, bright orange mesas, buff-colored pinnacles and maroon buttes—the colors of which intensify at sunrise and sunset.
Located just outside of Moab, Utah, Canyonlands is found within the geologic region of the Colorado Plateau. The park is essentially composed of five unique areas: the Island in the Sky District in the northern part; the Needles District in the southeastern portion; the Maze District, which is the least accessible district; Horseshoe Canyon, which contains some of the most significant rock art in North America; and the Colorado River and its tributaries, which are corridors providing relatively easy access to some of the park’s most remote backcountry areas.
Canyonlands National Park offers a variety of recreational activities including rafting, mountain biking, hiking, backpacking, and camping. The most popular seasons to visit are spring (April through May) and fall (mid-September through October), when daytime highs average 60- to 80-degrees F and lows average 30- to 50-degrees F. However, this high-desert region can experience wide temperature fluctuations, sometimes over 40 F degrees in a single day.
Canyonlands National Park Vacations with OARS
If you are considering a national park vacation this year but don’t have time to deal with all the necessary logistics, OARS offers all-inclusive national park vacations in Canyonlands National Park. Visiting Canyonlands with OARS may include multiple days rafting through the heart of the park on the Colorado River through Cataract Canyon, a short scenic interpretive backcountry tour, or a combination of several adventures.
Insider Tip: Cataract Canyon rafting in late spring often offers massive Class IV+ rapids. Snowmelt from the Rockies yields big runoff and some of the country’s most renowned whitewater. It’s Canyonlands National Park for the adrenaline junkie.
O.A.R.S. Canyonlands, Inc. is an authorized concessioner of Canyonlands National Park.
