Self Guided Audio Tour in Arches and Canyonlands

As the audio guides play commentary based on your gps location, you can create your own itinerary along the tour route(s) to match your interests and schedule.

Moab has long been a favorite place for adventure sport enthusiasts like mountain-bikers and rock climbers but simply driving the Arches National Park route as a sightseeing day trip is incredible in its own right. With an introductory explanation of the complex geological forces required to create features like The Windows, and the slow, constant affect weather elements have to change the landscape, you’ll appreciate how remarkably unique it is. Hear stories about the characters who were drawn here and the fragile ecosystem that supplies a lifeline to a surprising amount of diversity. But with over 2,000 arches located throughout the park, and most travellers on a limited schedule, we’ll lead you to not to be missed features like Double Arch and Landscape Arch. More time may allow you to visit Skyline Arch and Devils Garden areas, as well as many more.

Canyonlands offers a vastly different experience even though it is only across the valley from the more famous Arches National Park. Starting in Moab, we travel to the Island in the Sky District continuing along Grand View Point Road. Enthusiastic photographers should get up early if the want to capture Canyonlands’ most famous image – sunrise through Mesa Arch. If we start later in the day, arrange your time so you are still in the Park for a spectacular sunset.

The longest span arch in Arches National Park, Landscape Arch stretches 300+ feet (94m), but only 11 feet (3.5m) at its center point. Enjoy this arch while you can. You can see the debris from a fall back in 1991 when a large 60 foot (18m) slab fell in 1991. Since then the trail beneath the arch is closed. The trail begins at Devils Garden trailhead. It is hard packed, with a few rolling hills, and around 1.6 miles (2.6 km) return. Photograph in the early morning for best colours.

Each area of Arches National Park has its unique features. Devil's Garden might be one of the best to see 'fins', examples of these narrow rock walls before they have eroded away into the formation of arches. And of course the longest arch, Landscape Arch at 300 feet (94 metres) - while it lasts!

One spectacular arch not enough for you? Try Double Arch! Windows is a 'must see' section to explore within the Park, packed with a number of features in a small area, and easily accessible by a series of easy walks.

You may never get to see all the 2000 arches of the park, but the Windows section is a great opportunity to see several arches in close proximity to each other. Looking through Windows, you will feel like you are staring into a completely different place.

Going to Delicate Arch is like meeting a celebrity. This is the unofficial symbol of Utah and the most famous arch in the Park. We'll drive to the viewpoint, or you can get closer by taking an uphill hike.

Do the sheer cliffs of Park Avenue and the Courthouse Towers remind you of a downtown city sklyline? There is an easy and paved trail to the Park Avenue viewpoint. Continue on another (1.6km/1 mile) deep down into the canyon onto the Courthouse Towers.

If you are flexible with your timing, try saving Skyline Arch for the late afternoon. It's a short, easy 1/2 mile trail, but takes spectacular photos when the sun is low.

The name suggests a Grand View and that is what the overlook here delivers. From this southernmost point of the Island in the Sky, we peer down across the valley, further deepened by a maze of canyons. Where the canyons cut down, it's like we are looking into a billion years of the earth's history.

Another excellent location with sweeping panoramic views from an elevated position and a superb place to enjoy the sunset. Named for the rock carving actions performed by the Green River and also a viewpoint where you can imagine famous Grand Canyon explorer John Wesley Powell testing out his wooden boats before venturing into the unknown canyon.

You've seen the iconic images splashed online, this is THE classic image of Canyonlands National Park. As you peer through the window of the arch admire the expansive view of the canyons below and on clear days, all the way to the Le Sal Mountains on the horizon. Expect many photographers jostling for space to capture the perfect sunrise image.

Upheaval Dome is something of a mysterious oddity. No one has been able completely explain what it is and support it with factual evidence. Was it caused by a meteor? Was it caused by the earth underneath being thrust up and then collapsing? Once you see it, you will understand why it even has a nickname of Utah's "belly button."

This 1.2 mile round trip hike to see the ancestral Puebloan structures called granaries is well marked, but a little steep right at the end where you need to scale up a slickrock slope. The thought of scrambling back down can be a deterrent for some. These are the most easily accessible Anasazi ruins in Canyonlands.

Located about a 90 minute drive south of Moab, Needles is a District of Canyonlands National Park that is known for its colorful spires of Cedar Mesa Sandstone. Though it receives far less visitors than the more popular Island in the Sky District closer to Moab and Arches National Park, those who venture there are wowed by the unique rock formations and enjoyable slickrock hiking. Even the approach to Needles on Highway 211 is beautifully scenic - you'll love the petroglyphs at Newspaper Rock. If you have a spare day available from Moab, or if you are traveling between Moab and Mesa Verde, or even the Grand Canyon, Needles is a side trip that you won't want to miss. The drive takes approximately 40 minutes from the turn off from 191.