Camping Near Canyonlands National Park (North), Utah

I have to be honest, camping has been a bit rough on my back.  I find myself waking a few times at night shifting from one side to another trying to get comfortable.  Even with an air mattress, roughing it has definitely found a new meaning with me.

Aside from tossing and turning last night, my experience camping at the Horsethief campgrounds just outside the south entrance to Canyonlands National Park was pretty awesome.  The weather was perfect - low 60s and the sunset was pretty sweet.  The amazing thing with camping out in the high desert is how clearly you can see stars and planets in the skies.  I was blown away.  Right before I turned in, I laid on my back on the picnic table, with all lights off and stared into the sky - clearly seeing the big and little dipper, north star and some bright planets.  All you could hear were crickets and the desert breeze blowing against my tent every so often.  It was quite an experience.

I woke up early this morning and had intentions of checking out both Canyonlands (south) and going for a short bike ride but only managed to fit in a few stops in Canyonlands before heading onto Capitol Reef N.P.  I checked out Mesa Arch - which officially became my favorite of all the arches I have seen (even including Arches N.P.).  Check out my pictures of Mesa Arch here.  Also included in that photo series are some pictures taken from the Green River Overlook which offers views of the canyon floor and the erosion the Colorado river has caused over millions of years. 

I highly recommend Canyonlands to anyone visiting that Southeast Utah....and of course mountain biking in Moab - that was epic!