Last Friday was the 101st birthday of national parks so for the whole weekend Canyonlands was doing free admission into the park. We didn't know about it but it was a great surprise. We got up early again and drove to the park and got there before the visitor center opened.
We stayed in the Island in the Sky section of the park. Our first stop was Mesa Arch. It was a short hike so we had Liam walk and he did pretty well. The only problem with him walking is that it takes a long time because Liam has to stop and play with every rock we see.
 |
| The edge is RIGHT THERE!! |
 |
| I didn't realize how close I was to the edge until I sat down....took me a minute to stand back up |
The arch has a beautiful view behind it but it is literally on the edge of a cliff so you can't go under the arch or you will fall into the canyon. Thank goodness for backpacks with leashes and that Daniel doesn't like to get close to the edge.
It was warm early on Saturday so we knew it would be a hot day. We had two hikes we wanted to do so instead of stopping at all the outlooks on the way in we decided to do our hikes first or at least the longest one first. This hike was to Upheaval Dome. They don't know how or why this formed but it was beautiful and amazing to see. The hike was difficult. It was straight up a mountain and very narrow. The trail was also very rocky so it was hard for Dan especially. He held Mike's hand though and walked about half of it. He did much better going down than up. He loved being at the top though and climbing on the rocks at the top.
 |
| He was going night night |
 |
| Upheaval Dome |
 |
| He wanted to look at the blue sky |
We also went to the Green River outlook and a couple other stops before our second and last hike of the day. Since you got to the outlooks by sidewalk and they had fences in place we let Liam stretch his legs too. The boys loved throwing rocks into the canyon and watching them fall all the way down.
 |
| Suddenly Daniel got brave...Don't worry he wasn't near the edge |
Our last hike was on the rim. It was a hot hike. We didn't do the whole thing because it was so hot. The view was pretty incredible though. The only way we got Dan through the hike was to have him find rocks to add to the cairns along the trail. That lasted until right before we got to the stairs leading back to the top of the rim and then he was done and so were we.
 |
| It looks like a dinosaur footprint right? I'm not the only one who sees it... |
Pros
- It is beautiful and amazing to see. Also if you can't get to the Grand Canyon this park gives you a great idea of what it looks like just on a smaller scale.
-The outlooks are paved so we could use the stroller :)
- Not as crowded so we had the trails to ourselves most of the time.
Cons
- Not as little kid friendly as I would like. It would be more kid friendly if you were in the canyons but on top....it was just scary to have kids close to the edge of a canyon at times without any fences or rails.
-You can't see much from the road.
Overall we had a nice time and it was incredible to see. Its always humbling to be in a place like this for me. The way to see this park though is to drive the 4 wheeling trails/roads into the canyon. Doing that would really give a better sense of the scale of this place because it is huge. I'm glad we went but I know we'll have to go back when the boys are a little older and go into the canyons and that will be a lot of fun!
