Dead Horse Point State Park and Canyonlands National Park

While staying at Arches National Park, Alice and Robbie told us we must visit these two places.  They were only a little over 30 miles away, so a day trip was definitely in order.  Just when we thought we had seen it all, and nothing more could compare, we visited these two places, and we were unprepared for all we took in that day.  Even on the way in to Dead Horse Point State Park, the beauty was such that I kept wondering when I was going to come to the booth to pay the entrance fee.  It seemed to be several miles of such beauty that I couldn't believe we weren't already there.  Then finally we saw the sign and then the booth.  So, we stopped here first and spent a couple of hours before heading to Canyonlands National Park.

You probably think this is a very funny name for a state park.  There is a legend about how it got it's name.  Actually, there is more than one version, but one of the versions is that cowboys corralled wild mustangs to the point, then chose the ones they wanted and left the rest to die.  They were fenced in and couldn't get out, so even though there was water within their close vicinity, they couldn't get to it.

We are at the overlook, so pretty!

I loved the colors here. 



I know many people don't believe God had a part in this.  How can you look at this and not believe!



Looks like natural stairs.  We just loved the rock formations here!



 

After we left the State Park, we headed a short distance to Canyonlands National Park.  Canyonlands is a very large park and there are three districts.  Since there are no roads in the park that link them to each other, it would take 2 to 6 hours to travel between them.  We visited "Island in the Sky" which was the closest to us and considered to be the easiest one to visit because there are so many overlooks. 



There's those mountains again!  So pretty and the rock formations are beautiful.

Kinda looks like someone dug this out. 

Another beautiful overlook

This is one of those photos I'd love to put in a frame.  Loved the foliage here.

Another overlook.  There are so many in this park.

Ok, it's hard to choose, but I think maybe this one is it.  Aren't the colors something?!

Nice!

Another overlook, something different everywhere you look.



This panoramic photo was taken by Al while at Dead Horse Point State Park.  For some reason, it got out of order when I loaded it up.  He does a  great job on the panoramas.  I just loved the contrasting colors here.  I have to confess, it has been hard for me to distinguish some of the photos from the two parks.  Those mountains are everywhere you go and so are the red rocks.



Hope you have enjoyed our blog this past year.  We are now home and I plan to take a break from blogging.  We hope to be able to continue our journey again starting in late October.  Meanwhile, we plan to enjoy our time here at home and hope to spend time with our family and in particular our wonderful grandchildren.