Another Great National Park in Utah: Canyonlands

Land of Canyons and Views

With national parks like Zion and Arches and extensive snowboarding, it's no surprise Utah is one of my favorite state to visit.  In this post I want to talk about one more reason I love Utah, Canyonlands National Park.  Canyonlands is comprised of a series of canyons cut by the Colorado and Green rivers.  I posted earlier about how the Colorado River formed the Grand Canyon, and the same process of uplift of the Colorado Plateau combined with erosion by the Colorado River formed the vast canyons of Canyonlands.  I guess we have the Colorado River to thank for more than one national park.

Taking in the view at the Island in the Sky at Canyonlands.

We visited Canyonlands the afternoon of the morning we spent in Arches National Park a mere twenty minute drive away near Moab, Utah.  Canyonlands is subdivided into two main sections, each with an out and back series of roads that explores opposite sides of the canyons.  We chose to explore the Island in the Sky section (the northern section) of the park.  

Heading into the Island in the Sky portion of Canyonlands National Park.

Island in the Sky is a shorter drive from the main highway, allowing us to spend more time exploring the park than driving to it.  Our first stop after checking in with our annual park pass at the visitors' center was a drive out to the Grandview Point Overlook.  This overlook is located on a peninsula of sorts which juts out into the canyons, equipped with views to the east and south. 

Views of canyons and snow in November in northern Utah

While the access road goes most of the way to the Peninsula tip, it doesn't reach the very end.  To truly reach the point of the Island in the Sky peninsula and take in almost three hundred sixty degree views of the canyons of canyon lands we had to hike about a half mile down a relatively flat and well established trail.  For the life of me I could not find the name of this trail.  I even looked for it online before writing this post.  While unnamed, it was a trail worth the hike and it was easy to find too.

Steep cut canyons at the Grand View Point Overlook at Canyonlands.

We hiked the Island in the Sky Peninsula just before sunset.  Photographers call this time of day the golden hour, because the sun beautifully illuminates the colors and hues better than any other time of day.  It was the perfect time of day to take in all the views of Canyonlands.  The deep burgundy reds and rusty oranges spotted with spiky green shrubs wouldn't look better any other time.

Hiking to the end of the Island in the Sky peninsula from the Grandview Overlook.

Unfortunately hiking near sunset meant a short stay at the trail end, unless we wanted to hike back in the dark.  Since much of the trail runs along steep cliffs, and I am afraid of heights I wanted to avoid hiking in the dark.  So after a ten minute break at the trail end we headed back to the car, with a plan to get to Upheaval Dome before the park went completely dark.

End of the Island in the Sky Peninsula.  

Upheaval Dome is a geologic anomaly located in the northwest portion of the dark.  It's a massive rock dome jutting out from a canyon.  The sea greens ad dusky grays of the dome contrast against the reds and browns of the canyons, making the dome hard to miss on the ten minute access hike.

Appreciating the unknown history of Upheaval Dome.  

I said Upheval Dome is a geologic anomaly because scientists have two hypotheses of how Upheaval Dome came to be, and they cannot rule out one or the other.  Much like Schrodinger's Cat, Upheaval dome is both a salt dome and an impact crater until proved otherwise.  The first hypotheses states that Upheaval Dome is a salt dome.  Long long ago Utah was under the ocean, evident by the red sandstone so unique to Utah.  When the ocean retreated salt remnants stayed behind within the sandstone sediment.  The pressure of the sandstone constantly pushing down on the salt crystals, much like how a heavy backpack weighs you down when you walk, forced the salt to flow and bubble up to the surface, forming Upheaval Dome.

Traversing the Colorado Plateau on our way to Colorado.  

The second hypothesis states that Upheaval Dome is an impact crater.  According to this hypothesis a large meteorite slammed into the earth in this area a long time ago, pulverizing the rock and sending it into the air where it would be carried on the winds elsewhere.  The remaining rock formations which were below the pulverized rock layers pushed upward in a process known as isostatic rebound.  Think of a raft floating in the ocean with a woman on vacation laying on it.  When she slides off the raft to cool off in the water the raft suddenly floats higher in the water, since it's no longer weighed down by her weight.  The raft isostaticaly rebounded when her weight was removed.  The same thing may have happened with Upheaval Dome.  When the top layer of rock was removed, the rock below it suddenly wasn't weighed down anymore and sprang upward in response.

Scientists may never decided which hypothesis about Upheaval Dome is the correct one, but I think these great mysteries and the ever present strive to solve them is what makes science fun.  Taking in the mystery of Upheaval Dome was a great way to finish our stay at Canyonlands National Park.