From San Francisco we caught the California Zephyr train across to Salt Lake City, where we would begin our trek down through the many red rock national parks. Throughout the 14 or so hour train ride we witnessed some stunning scenery as we passed through the Sierra Nevada, listened to many podcasts, ate 2 minute noodles for dinner and struggled to get any decent sleep before arriving in Salt Lake at 4am.
Salt Lake City to Moab - first stop Canyonlands National Park
We hung about at SLC airport for a couple of hours whilst we waited for the car rental shop to open, then collected our car - a Nissan Frontier Pickup Truck (we were expecting a Hyundai Elantra so were quite taken aback, but at least we looked the part!). A quick pit stop for a McDonald’s breakfast later, we were on our way along the four hour journey towards Moab. Our first stop was Canyonlands National Park, a dramatic landscape of canyons carved out by the Colorado river. Most of the trails here were quite short and you could hop between them in the car which was very convenient in the heat.
Arches National Park
As the name suggests, this national park is full of arches: Double Arch, Landscape Arch, The Windows, Double O Arch… there are many. The colour of the sandstone is so intense and the rock itself is made up of thousands of fine, brittle layers. We spend a good part of the day exploring the many trails in the intense heat before heading back into town for a margarita and some enormous Mexican fare.
