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We kick off a seven-day Utah parks road trip with Canyonlands’ Island in the Sky, moving from the quick drama of Mesa Arch to the long horizons of Grand View and the unsolved geology of Upheaval Dome. Short hikes, big views, practical tips, and a standing question: meteor strike or salt dome collapse.
• Mesa Arch hike overview and viewpoints
• Trail etiquette and protecting cryptobiotic soil
• Grand View Point rim trail highlights and river layout
• Parking pressure, timing, and safety around crowds
• Upheaval Dome theories: meteor impact versus salt uplift and collapse
• Route-finding with cairns and a second overlook payoff
• Recommendations on best spots and day pacing
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Please stay on trails and establish roadways, as you can damage the fragile crust
Think about subscribing to the channel
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Episode Transcript
Hey there, this is Craig the Natural Medic.
I'm in Canyonlands NationalPark.
I live in the sky districttoday.
Gonna do a little hike down toMesa Arch.
This is officially day one of myseven-day road trip checking out
all the Utah National Parks.
(00:22):
Come on with me.
Okay, the moment of truth.
There it is.
Mesa Arch.
Let's get a closer look.
Okay, I'm standing on the farend of it.
Not actually on the arch part,but I'm on the far end.
The arches over there wherethose people are.
(00:45):
I mean, I wouldn't say it's asspectacular as arches.
But still pretty cool.
It's not a very long trail downhere.
Took me maybe about 10 minutes.
But nice view.
(01:07):
And I guess it's Mesa Archbecause it's right on the top of
the mesa.
On the edge of a cliff.
Alright, a little bit closerview of the arch.
Everybody's lining up to taketheir pictures.
(01:28):
But that's pretty cool.
So that's pretty much it forthis viewpoint.
I'll get down there and kind oflook through the thing here in a
moment.
Pretty crazy view down there.
I don't know how far of a fallthat is, probably 200 feet or
more.
(01:48):
Wow.
Okay, there's the arch behindme.
Pretty cool view.
Lots of folks here today, sowe're gonna go into the next
spot.
Keep following.
If you're liking this video,make sure to give it a thumbs up
so other people can see it onYouTube.
I've reminded you already, butI'll remind you again.
Please stay on trails andestablish roadways as you can
(02:13):
damage the fragile crust.
The fragile soil.
Thanks.
Okay, now I'm at GrandviewPoint.
I'm walking on the rim trail,which is about a two-mile round
trip.
So let's see what we can findout.
Let's keep going.
Gorgeous views out here.
(02:35):
This trail takes you toGrandview Point.
Properly another half a mile orso down the trail.
So come on with me, let's keepgoing.
Okay, this is actual GrandPoint.
The other is a overlook of GrandView Point.
(02:55):
The Green River is comingthrough here.
Colorado's to the east.
unknown (03:07):
Wow.
SPEAKER_00 (03:09):
There are some old roads down there, but don't know
if those are still active.
You can see the parking lot.
There's vehicles up thereparked.
There is White Rim Road again.
And that's the Colorado Riverarea there.
Alright, that was about it forthat hike to Grand View Point.
(03:36):
I thought I was seeingeverything at Grand View
Overlook, but you actually seemore going the other direction.
And going down the trail alongthe rim to get a lot more stuff.
They are continuing to expandthis area for more parking.
I've run into that several timestoday.
There's not a lot of parking andit's mid-October.
(03:58):
Still a popular park and a bitmore popular than they can keep
up with.
You may have to park on theroadside.
Just use caution when gettingout because people are not
necessarily watching, they'rekind of taking in the scenery.
Alright, so I'm doing UpheavalDome is my last hike of the day
here at Canyon Lands Island inthe sky.
This is what it looks like.
(04:19):
They don't really know how I gothere.
Either it's a meteorite impactor a salt dome uplift.
But if you do this inclinetrail, which goes around there,
really don't have a view of thecrater.
I'm gonna go to the secondoverlook, is my plan.
Should take about an hour to anhour and a half, about 1.8 miles
total.
(04:39):
Not too bad.
Like going to the Grand ViewPoint trail I did earlier today.
Let's take a look and see whatwe can find.
I don't really know what formthis here at Update.
Upheaval dome.
One theory is it's a salt domethat might have collapsed.
The other theory is it's ameteor.
(05:01):
Upheaval dome from the firstoverlook.
Pretty cool.
And two theories about it areout there.
One is that it's the salt domethat fractured and kind of
collapsed over time.
The other one is a meteoriteimpact.
Both happened millions of yearsago.
(05:22):
According to the sign, there'stwo those two prominent theories
are there with good evidence,but nobody really knows what
happened.
We'll take a look at those signsin just a second.
Here's the two pre-revalingtheories.
As you see, it's a largedepression in the earth.
It could be seen from space.
(05:44):
It's about two miles wide.
And regardless of what youthink, it happened hundreds of
millions of years ago.
Okay, I'm at the secondoverlook.
Do you think a meteor hit andcaused this?
Or do you think it was a sawdome that collapsed?
(06:06):
I don't know myself.
Both of them have reasonableexpectations and answers.
The climb was definitely a loteasier than I anticipated.
So I'll take it.
(06:29):
Not gonna be good to it today.
Gonna try to go to Dead HorsePoint for a little bit.
Definitely let me know youranswer in the comments.
Was it a meteor?
Was it a salt dome thatcollapsed?
Yep.
Yep, into the trail.
(06:51):
It's not super well signed, butit's not super well unsigned
either.
Just watch for signs and cairnssetup.
So good transition point betweenoverlooks.
The second overlook is on top ofthis mound here, kind of where
that person is standing.
Over there.
(07:11):
Alright, that took an hour and15 minutes to go 1.5 miles to
the second overlook and back.
Not too bad.
Really interesting view upthere, so I definitely recommend
this one.
It's unusual.
I don't think you'll seeanything like that anywhere
else, really.
If you like the video, give it athumbs up.
(07:33):
Think about subscribing to thechannel.
If you have any questions orcomments about Canyon lands or
about that particular trail oranything in particular, just
drop it below.
If you're listening on thepodcast, send me an email.
Until next time, I'll see you onthe trail.
Okay, bye.
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