Canyonlands National Park - Park #1
Our first park! Okay, so technically it isn't our first park as we have both been to the Grand Canyon and the Petrified Forest, but for our quest's sake, it is our first one.
This park is huge size-wise, but there isn't access to most of it by road. There are two entrances that aren't connected. We opt for the one to the north of Moab as it is close to Arches National Park.
There is a pretty long drive heading into the park to get to the visitor's center. As we go, we pass lots of beautiful red mountains, mountain bikers parked on turn offs going up and down the trails, and many campground sites. The sign on entrance booth though says, "Campgrounds Full". Ashley and I were hoping to score a "First Come First Serve" spot, but no luck here.
The snow-capped mountains off in the distance are amazing! We decide to take some photos across the street from the visitor's center at Grand View Point after I buy a park patch (I have decided I must collect something from each park, and this is it.) There, we spot a curvy road heading down the canyon called Schafer's Trail. Just as we are eyeballing the width of the road vs. my suburban and thinking the road was built for a Smart Car, a ranger informs us it is a two lane road!
Ashley and I decide this ranger is NUTS and head further up the road to go check out Mesa Arch. Its a short mile hike round trip with more astounding views. We decide that we better head over to Arches to see if we can get a campground site there as we don't have a place for the night.
Stay tuned to see where we end up....