Canyonlands National Park

Images from Canyonlands National Park - Utah

Shafer Canyon

One of the more scenic routes from Moab into Canyonlands National Park is a drive along Potash Road (UT 279) that leads to Shafer Canyon Trail. From this vantage along the trail. looking east, you clearly see Dead Horse Point State Park and the La Sal Mountains in the distance.

Shafer Canyon Trail looks easy here, but just to the west is a very steep and narrow set of switchbacks leading up a cliff face to join Grand View Point Road near the Island in the Sky Visitor Center. The road requires a 4x4 vehicle and should only be driven by experienced people in ideal conditions. On this July day, we were lucky to be ahead of the clouds you see here, which later deluged Moab for about 45 minutes.