Canyonlands - New Mexico/Utah Trip - January 14, 2026

My parents told me that Mesa Arch glows orange just after sunrise and so we headed to Canyonlands National Park to witness this glorious event.  Our timing was just perfect.  I walked ahead of them and watched the sun begin to rise but it wasn't until they had made it to the arch that it truly turned a glowing orange color.  What a sight to see!

I climbed up on this rock for a different view.

My Dad and I talking photos of each other

From Mesa Arch, we continued through the park and stopped at a few overlooks.

A Common Raven photo my Mom took with her phone as she was waiting for us in the car!

Our next stop was Grand View Point.  There is a trail from the parking lot that follows the rim of the canyon.  At one point, you can actually look both ways down into the canyon.  I decided to follow that trail for a while and the views and perspective was just breathtaking.  My Dad chose to wait back for me at the start of the trail and was able to capture a few really cool photos of me to show some perspective.  

The hike reminded me of how really small I am yet how interconnected I am to everything as I walked on layers of rock that were more than 300 million years old and had been walked on by millions of people before me.

There is a trail at Canyonlands that takes you up onto what they call Whale Rock.  The trail is labeled family friendly with a mostly gradual climb up the tail and then a bit of a scramble to get up its back.  It has magnificent views of the area.  I'm not sure my parents were as keen on the trail but my Dad obliged me in hiking it, although he left me to do the last scramble on my own.  It's a neat trail, although not super well-marked, that I enjoyed.

From there, we stopped at a few more pullouts for some more views.

After a full day at Canyonlands, we headed back to the hotel for a late lunch/early supper.  I don't recall where we ate.  We then had a little time in the hotel before my Dad and I went back out after sunset to see what stars we could see in Arches National Park.  It is one of a number of locations in Utah that is known for its dark skies.  A lot of recommendations suggested Panorama Point which even had a set of benches for group stargazing but we wanted formations in the background for our photos and we knew there were none at Panorama Point.  I imagine it is recommended for true stargazers who want as much of an unimpeded viewpoint.  We were astrophotographers though (or at least trying to be) more than stargazers.  

We started at the parking lot for Balanced Rock where we set up our tripods.  What a sight it was.  It's hard to capture it on camera but this is my best attempt.  

We also checked out the Windows where I captured this photo.  We had carefully walked partway down the path before setting up our tripods.  There were others closer to the arches who at times could be seen painting with light.  It wasn't until we tried to capture these photos that I realized how many planes flew by on any given moment.  Each streak of light is most likely a plane.

We also stopped at the Garden of Eden and Double Arch before leaving the park for the evening.  By that point, I was more focused on just taking in the stars than I was in trying to capture them.  As much I tried to claim to be one earlier in this post, I'm not really an astrophotographer - it's not a serious interest of mine.  Sometimes I just like to stretch myself and try new things and a place like Arches was the perfect place to do that.