Canyonlands: White Rim and the Needles

The White Rim Trail was so cool, and I also got to hike the Needles area — so diverse.

If you go

Canyonlands is really three parks that don’t connect by road: Island in the Sky up top, the Needles to the south, and the remote Maze. The White Rim is the 100-mile 4×4 loop wrapping Island in the Sky (permit required, day or overnight), while the Needles is backpacking and scrambling country. Doing a piece of each in a day shows you just how different the districts are.