ALL PERSONAL PICTURES AND TEXT ARE COPYRIGHTED BY DON AND SARA SCHULTZ. (ACQUIRED GRAPHICS CREDITED)

The last major National Parks at the top end of the Grand Staircase are Canyonlands and Arches. Both parks can best be explored by using the unqiue town of Moab, Utah, as a base, as it is centrally located. In fact the entrance to Arches is located just outside the city limits.

The name Moab has biblical origins referring to an area east of the Jordan River. Most historians believe an early postmaster gave the city this name as it lies just east of the Green and Colorado rivers. But the Paiute Native peoples also use the word “moapa” for mosquito and there are definitely a lot of those near the town. The Moabites in the Bible were demeaned as incestuous and idolatrous which prompted several attempts of the citizens of this now 4,000 plus town to change its name, but Moab stuck as well as the deep red soil that dominates the region will stick to your shoes.

Moab has become the ATV-cross county biking and Jeeping capital the for four state area which is not to suggest and its main industry has changed from mining and movie sets (Wagon Train and Thelma and Louise are among the many movies filmed here and passed off as the Grand Canyon) to tourism, much to the displeasure of many longtime locals. In fact one will want to avoid Moab on a national holiday like Memorial Day (we didn’t) lest you be run over by a roaring ATV or one of the thousands of OHV (off highway vehicles) that often invade the town like ants at a picnic, stirring up clouds of red dust and clogging the downtown streets to an almost standstill. Thank God these mechanical monsters are not allowed in any of the parks.

And red is the overwhelming color of the Canyonlands-Aches landscape. Every shade and hue of red is present. Even the rivers, the Green and Colorado, run red. This is all due to many layers that make up the original rock profile. (See pictures for profile) A vast, deep salt water ocean covered the entire area over 320 million years ago. As the climate turned hot and dry the ocean evaporated to form a thick salt bed. In some places this layer was over two thousand feet thick, and by the way, it would take a depth of 25 miles, yes miles, of sea water to produce a salt layer that thick. The salt was covered with layer after layer of red sand and rock to form what is called the Paradox Formation which was 4 miles below the top layer. As the layers built up (there are over 24 above the salt) these layers compressed the salt at the bottom which became molten and unstable under the tremenous pressure. This caused the top layers to become tossed and turned like a cork, if you will, on a sea of liquid salt. Each layer was a different color of red, pink, tan, gray, yellow and white. The layers ran together and were pushed and heaved to almost every conceivable angle. When it was all over, the rivers, the Green and the Colorado took over, about 70 million years ago, to create the present landscape. Because so much of the rock was sandstone, which is relatively soft as rocks go, the results include the highest concentration of stone arches in the world, the longest over 270 feet from end to end. (See arch formation in pictures)

Citing its “superlative scenic, scientific, and archeological features,” President Lyndon Johnson established Canyonlands National Park in 1964 “for the inspiration, benefit and use of the public.” Today Canyonlands remains without question Utah’s largest National Park, consisting of 337,570 acres carved over millions of years into three topographically distinct districts by the Green and Colorado Rivers: Island in the Sky, The Needles, and The Maze. In 1971, President Nixon signed into law the formation of Arches National Park which added another 73,000 of parkland to the Moab area for a total of over 400,000 acres.

Today Moab has become a center of a growing recreation area, with thousands of visitors flocking to the spectacular red-rock cliffs and canyons for mountain biking, river running, cross-country skiing, and other outdoor activities. Arches and Canyonlands are two of the most popular destinations among the many national parks in the USA and thousands of tourists from all over the world visit them each year. The danger today is not from mineral or other types of development, but that Arches and Canyonlands, like most other National Parks, will be simply "loved to death".

We loved both of these parks as they were the crowning glory of our trip up the Grand Staircase of the Southwest. What follows are pictures of the highlights of the national parks of Zion, Bryce, Canyonlands and the Arches. These four national treasures are a must see for any visitor to the area.