Should I spend more time in Arches or canyonlands?
You should plan on spending more time at Arches National Park than you will at Canyonlands National Park. We would recommend visiting Mesa Arch, Green River Overlook, Grandview Point and Walk, and Upheaval Dome.
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Two days in Arches is ideal though and would give you enough time to explore the Fiery Furnace on the ranger-led hike and do a few more of the longer hikes. One day is really all you need at the Island in the Sky district of Canyonlands National Park if you're sticking to the overlooks and shorter trails.
Of the two parks, Arches gets significantly more traffic than Canyonlands National Park. On average, 1.5 million people visit Arches every year, while only 500,000 make it over to Canyonlands per year.
Two days in Arches is ideal though and would give you enough time to explore the Fiery Furnace on the ranger-led hike and do a few more of the longer hikes. One day is really all you need at the Island in the Sky district of Canyonlands National Park if you're sticking to the overlooks and shorter trails.
Ideally, you need at least two days in Canyonlands National Park. With two days, you can visit both Island in the Sky and The Needles. Each additional day you add gives you more time for some epic adventures, such as the White Rim Road, white water rafting, backpacking in The Needles, or exploring The Maze.
You could easily spend several days exploring the trails here, so visiting Arches National Park in one day requires some planning ahead to make sure you don't miss the best scenery. Especially since the park often hits capacity by 8 or 9 a.m. during the busy season and the entrance gates close for several hours.
If you only want to see a few highlights in each park, then yes, one day in Arches and Canyonlands is enough time. For a better experience, add one more day to your itinerary, so you can spend one full day in Arches and one full day in Canyonlands.
Over 330,000 acres are filled with arches, buttes, mesas, canyons, hiking trails, dirt roads, campgrounds, and overlooks. It would take days, weeks even, to fully explore all that Canyonlands has to offer. However, if you only have one day in Canyonlands, you have just enough time to visit the highlights.
Over 330,000 acres are filled with arches, buttes, mesas, canyons, hiking trails, dirt roads, campgrounds, and overlooks. It would take days, weeks even, to fully explore all that Canyonlands has to offer. However, if you only have one day in Canyonlands, you have just enough time to visit the highlights.
Explore the best of Arches National Park on this incredible two-day vacation. There's a lifetime's worth of exploration to be had in the red rock desert of southeastern Utah, but a fabulous place to start is by spending two days in Arches National Park.
The distance from Canyonlands to Arches is only 27 miles, around 30 minutes of a drive. That is why it is so easy to combine both national parks in one day.
Timed entry reservations are not required to enter the park. You can make reservations for day-use, overnight, and river permits and for group campsites at The Needles.
Despite its larger size, Canyonlands gets only a little over half as many visitors as Arches! If you are looking for solitude, Canyonlands is the way to go. Still don't expect to be alone if visiting the Island in the Sky, but the crowds will not be as bad as you can expect in Arches.
Bryce and Arches are both stunning. But Arches offer more variety. You can see a good portion of Bryce just from overlooks. And while the view of the hoodoos is otherworldly, if you're not a huge hoodoo fan, the view can start to grow monotonous.
Is Zion or Arches better for a whole day? This one is tougher but it may depend on if you want to just do a couple of longer hikes or do a lot of short hikes. If you want a couple of long hikes, Zion.If you want a lot of shorter hikes with a couple slightly longer, then Arches.
The time it takes to drive through the Island in the Sky in Canyonlands will depend on how many stops you take. There's a Scenic Drive that runs from one end of the mesa to the other, about 25 miles, so you can drive to the end and all the way back in a little over two hours.
Half a Day: In addition to enjoying the scenic drive, hikers can explore the Slickrock Trail or walk to the edge of Chesler Park for a closer look at The Needles. Visitors with four-wheel-drive vehicles might consider driving to the Colorado River Overlook. Spend some time at the visitor center learning about the area.
Island in the Sky is the most visited and accessible district, offering expansive views from many overlooks along the paved scenic drive. You can park and view a variety of scenic wonders from the vista points without hiking. The most popular site in the park is Mesa Arch.
If you want to see some of the most iconic arches and rock formations in the USA, go to Arches National Park. This park is small and easy to visit. With many short hiking trails to choose from and unique places to photograph, Arches is a great park for families, photographers, and hikers.
To beat the crowds, try entering the park early in the morning or late in the afternoon. Temperatures are cooler and the light is better for photography.
But if you're reading this and wondering “just where is Canyonlands National Park, anyway” know that that's a good thing. The fact that people don't know much about it keeps the crowds low. It's never as busy as its other Utah neighbors, and even plenty of national park fans couldn't point to it on a map.
Visit Arches from the RoadIf you don't have the time or ability to hike, don't worry! You can still see many famous arches and rock formations from the scenic drive. You can drive the park roads and visit viewpoints to see some notable features of Arches National Park.
You can spend a couple hours or the better part of a day driving the 36 mile (round trip) road through Arches National Park. With plenty of places to stop and snap pictures and panoramic views for miles, you can enjoy the brilliant artistry and majesty of Arches without having to leave your vehicle.