Canyonlands – Dead Horse Point and Mesa Arch

I would like to share some of the favourite moments from our family trip in 2016 visiting some of American West’s National Parks. Canyonlands National Park was one of the most impressive!

We worked hard to wake up to get at Mesa Arch at sunrise, then we got lost a bit due to the lack of directional information on the road. And you cannot rely on GPS either in this wilderness.

We got lost and arrived at sunrise at Dead Horse Point instead of Mesa Arch. Well, I said: at least I’ll have some pictures of sunrise here until my husband will go ask for directions. See the result in the gallery below:

We still arrived at Mesa Arch, just in time to see the sunlight reflected onto the underside of the arch which was positively glowing red.

On the way back we stopped again at Dead Horse Point for a more relaxed photo shoot. The view shows another interesting meander of the Colorado River. The point is towering 2,000 feet above the Colorado River and provides a breathtaking panorama of Canyonlands ‘sculptured pinnacles and buttes. 

This is an arid desert environment – the park receives less than 10 inches of rain a year.

As we were wandering around my husband found there a tree that looks pretty much like a bonsai, but of course real life-size.  He always finds ‘bonsai’ everywhere he travels! It is a gift!

You can see more high-resolution pictures of these amazing places in my American West Travel Photo Gallery.