Canyonlands National Park

2282 SW Resource Blvd.
Moab, Utah 84532

Phone
General Information
(435) 719-2313
Backcountry Information
(435) 259-4351

Welcome to Canyonlands!

Canyonlands preserves a colorful landscape eroded into countless canyons, mesas and buttes by the Colorado River and its tributaries. The rivers divide the park into four districts: the Island in the Sky, the Needles, the Maze and the rivers themselves. While these areas share a primitive desert atmosphere, each retains its own character and offers different opportunities for exploration.

People
People have visited what is now Canyonlands National Park for over 10,000 years. Over time, many different groups have moved in and out of the area in concert with the availability of natural resources and the technology for exploiting those resources.

Stories
The rich and colorful history of Canyonlands is perhaps best told by the individuals who witnessed it. As told by cowboys, scientists, park rangers, and former government officials, these stories paint vivid pictures of canyon country and all the characters that have called it home.

Picnic Area

• Elephant Hill
• Orange Cliffs Overlook
• Pothole Point
• Whale Rock

Nature

Canyonlands National Park preserves one of the last, relatively undisturbed areas of the Colorado Plateau, a geological province that encompasses much of the Colorado River and its tributaries. Carved out of vast sedimentary rock deposits, this landscape of canyons, mesas, and deep river gorges possesses remarkable natural features that are part of a unique desert ecosystem.

The foundation of Canyonlands' ecology is its remarkable geology, which is visible everywhere in cliff profiles that reveal millions of years of deposition and erosion. These rock layers continue to shape life in Canyonlands today, as their erosion influences elemental features like soil chemistry and where water flows when it rains.

Known as a "high desert," with elevations ranging from 3,700 to 7,200 feet above sea level, Canyonlands experiences very hot summers, cold winters and less than ten inches of rain each year. Even on a daily basis, temperatures may fluctuate as much as 50 degrees.