The Nelsons Go Southwest - Canyonlands National Park

When we woke up in Moab on Friday morning, we were ready for a day of exploration and fun! Our plan was to spend the day in Canyonlands National Park, specifically in the Island in the Sky District. We grabbed breakfast at the hotel and set out for the Island in the Sky Visitor's Center which was about a 40 minute drive away. 

Just the drive toward Canyonlands National Park was breathtaking. The sun was just peeking out for the morning and seeing it reflect on all the red rock was incredible. 

Excited to see what the park has to offer!

Our first stop in the park was the Island in the Sky Visitor's Center. This turned out to be an experience that was a little more than the kiddos bargained for when we went to use the restroom before continuing our journey into the park and discovered there was no running water, even at the visitor's center. The kids had never seen toilets that didn't flush - what I like to call "stink pots" - and they were less than impressed, ha! 

We didn't really have a plan regarding what hikes we wanted to do at Canyonlands, but armed with our maps from the visitor's center and a few suggestions from a park ranger, we set out toward Upheaval Dome. This hike was rated moderate by the NPS, but mostly appealed to us because it was fairly short.

On the way to the Upheaval Dome trailhead, we stopped at an overlook to take in the scenery. 

 

Parking was limited at the trailhead, but we were there early-ish (around 9:30am) so it wasn't a problem for us. It helped that it was the off-season and still very chilly at that time of the morning. 

Ready for our first hike!

The 0.6 mile hike to the first overlook was fairly easy and quick. 

Momma and Brooke

The kiddos were high energy, and we kept having to remind them to wait for us!

Brecklyn and Brooke

Upheaval Dome - overlook one

You'll notice that as the sun came out more, we started stripping layers of clothing off. That desert sun warmed the temperature up quickly!

Brenson, Brianna, Brecklyn, and Brooke

Chris

Momma and Brianna with Chris in the background

A nice lady volunteered to take a family photo for us. I rarely turn that down!

Chris and I were a little reluctant to plan hikes or get our hearts set on going a certain distance because we just didn't know how well the twins would do. Taking these types of hikes with two six year olds can be a bit unpredictable, but they did so well! Everyone agreed that we were up for hiking to the second Upheaval Dome overlook.

The second overlook was another mile down the "trail". I put trail in quotes because it was often a little difficult to see where exactly the trail was because we were mostly hiking on slickrock. Slickrock is smooth rock that has collected sand and dirt, and hiking on can be just how it sounds . . . slick! This was a new experience for us. Chris and I did great on it as we were both wearing hiking boots, but the kids struggled a little more to keep their footing at times. 

That view though!

The second part of the trail was a little more rugged than the first, but we were up for the challenge.

The second Upheaval Dome overlook was much better than the first! We were glad we went the extra  mile (literally!).

We spent some time at the second overlook and just really soaked in the scenery. This kids had a small snack, we walked around a bit, and we just let the awe of the 360 degree views sit with us.

Brooke Ellie

Brecklyn

Brianna and Brenson (always with the binoculars!)

Momma and Brecklyn

Brooke and Brecklyn

Brecklyn, Daddy, and Brooke

Chelley

Bren had a great time hiking! He said, "This feels so good! It's been a long time since I've been hiking like this!" I agree, buddy!

This is part of the trail we took leading to the overlook (you can barely see people at the top). As you can see, it was steep and all rock. Coming down was harder than going up, though!

There were a few places on the trail where we used our hands to help us along. I was thankful I didn't have to carry a backpack! 

Brianna thought since this was our 20th anniversary trip then she needed to take a photo of us kissing, haha. 

Since we were in the desert, we expected that we wouldn't see many trees. What we didn't expect, however, were the trees that look like this:

So interesting!

On the way back down to the parking lot, the kids were super cute on the trail. They made up a game where one kid gave the others clues about an animal, and the other kids had to guess what animal they were thinking of. They just hiked and talked and laughed and didn't complain at all about anything. Several other hikers made comments to us about how cute they were. It is a special memory, for sure. 

We finished the total 3.2 miles of the Upheaval Dome hike right about noon. Since we had snacked a little at the second overlook, no one was quite ready to have lunch. Instead, we got in the van and drove to the Green River Overlook. 

Momma and the girls

The Crew

Near the overlook were a few picnic tables, so we decided we wanted to eat after all. 

The kids ate quickly so they could run and play (still SO much energy!). Of course, Brooke fell into a cactus and got prickles in her shoes and socks. It took us a while to get all those picked out so she could walk 😁.

Once we packed up lunch, we continued along the scenic drive to the park until we reached the Buck Canyon Overlook.

Beautiful!

Then, we drove on to the White Rim Overlook.

Finally, we reached the Grand View Point Overlook. 

Brianna, Brenson, and Momma

Daddy, Brecklyn, and Brooke

Brenson thought it would be fun to look like he was holding the Candlestick!

The afternoon (and our energy) was starting to get away from us, but we had one more thing we really wanted to do before leaving the park. We wanted to see the famous Mesa Arch!

The hike to Mesa Arch was easy and short (only 0.6 miles), but we are SO glad we took it! The kids were definitely wearing down at this point, and Brecklyn said, "Whew! My legs aren't really keeping up with me on this hike!" 

But seriously . . . SO amazing!

The contrast of the rock against the starkly blue sky was incredible, but throw the mountains in the background and we were pretty much speechless!

Daddy and Bri

The twins were more interested in playing in the sand than they were in seeing the arch. Or maybe they just wanted to sit down :-).

Brooke, Brecklyn

More unique trees

Upon completing the Mesa Arch hike, we used the restroom and started making our way out of the park. It was around 4:30pm, and it was amazing how different things looked in the late afternoon sun (sunset was around 6:00pm). Canyonlands National Park had been one wonderful surprise after another for us!

That evening, we drove into Moab to go to the {small and busy} grocery store to replenish our food bin. None of us were really interested in dealing with parking and crowds to eat in town, so we ate out of the food bin back at our hotel instead. It had been a great day!