Postcard from the Canyonlands – Island in the Sky

Of all my visits to national parks this year, Island in the Sky, part of the Canyonlands National Park, has to be the most disappointing, at least for Jim the photographer. I only spent part of one day there, saw what there was to see, and vamoosed back to Moab.

If you remember my previous blog about Canyonlands, you might remember that the park is divided into three parts…The Needles, which I personally loved; The Maze, which is for serious 4 wheel drive vehicles only, and Island in the Sky.

Ignoring the Maze, which of course I have not seen, the big difference between “Island” and “Needles” is that the latter is actually down inside the Canyonlands and the former is on a large mesa that overlooks most of the park. Look at the first photo…the large mesa you see is Island as seen from the Needles.

As a photographer and a bit of an explorer, I would much rather be down in a canyon than up on top looking at the vistas. While the views are very nice, they don’t make great photos…and Island is mostly about the views. Curiously, Island receives far more visitors annually than the other two parts of the park combined.

The entrance to Islands is only a few miles further down the road from the entrance to The Arches National Park, one of my favorite places on this trip…and both parks are only a few miles from the very interesting town on Moab, UT, population around 5,000.

The highlight for me, and probably for many people, is Mesa Arch, a lovely arch that sits on the edge of a canyon, so when you look through the arch, you see a fantastic view. But the main attraction of the arch for photographers takes place at sunrise. For a few minutes, when the first rays of the sun hit the inside of the arch, it glows bright orange and can make for a fabulous photograph.

Unfortunately for me, on the day I went, the sun was behind clouds so I only got a faint glow, as you can see in the second photograph. Interestingly, there were about five other photographers waiting for sunrise when I got there. You have to hike about a quarter mile off the road to get to the arch, which can be a challenge in the dark, but on a sunny day, it is worth the effort.

There are a few other interesting parts to Island that I won’t detail here, and maybe my disappointment at Mesa Arch jaded my view of this part of the park. Still, it was interesting and I am glad I went, but I would much rather spend time in The Needles.

But, if you are ever in the Moab area, go see the views at Island as they are very impressive.