Above: Balanced Rock at sunset, in Arches National park, Utah. Behind it, the La Sal Mountains reach 12,780 feet in elevation.

Left: Balanced Rock and a twisted tree at dusk, in Arches National Park, Utah.

    Below right: People admire balanced Rock at sunset. (The same photo is available without people in the image.)


Left: Landscape Arch at sunrise, one of the world's longest natural arch spans. Arches National Park, Utah.

       Below right: Landscape Arch at sunrise, by Carol Dempsey.

   

Above: Exploring a landscape of sandstone fins.

Below right: Courthouse Towers.



Left: the Windows Section seen through North Window. (A panorama stitched from 4 images.)
  
    Below right: Turret Arch in the Windows Section of Arches NP.




Below: North Window (a panorama stitched from 9 images).


Above: Courthouse Towers, with the Three Gossips on the left and the Organ on the right. (A panorama stitched from 3 images.)


Above: The Three Gossips.

Skyline Arch and a twisted tree.

Left: Double Arch, Arches National Park, Utah.
    Below right: A family visits Double Arch.


Left: Devil's Kitchen, Needles District, Canyonlands National Park.

       Below right: SDelicate Arch at sunset, by Carol Dempsey, Arches National Park, Utah.

Below: Newspaper Rock (panorama stitched from 3 images)

Petroglyphs on Newspaper Rock, Utah.

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Hovenweep National Monument, Utah
Left: Ancient Anasazi guardtower and grain storage building. Hovenweep National Monument, Utah.
More images available upon request.

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Canyonlands National Park, Utah:

Above: Mesa Arch at sunrise, in Canyonlands National Park. (Panorama stitched from 5 images.)

Arch View Resort makes a good base for visiting both Arches and Canyonlands National Parks

My wife Carol and I enjoyed staying in our Volkswagon Eurovan Camper at comfortable Arch View Resort www.archviewresort.com, an RV park 10 minutes north of Moab on Highway 191, halfway between Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. Arch View Resort offers pleasant views and a quieter setting than the urban bustle of Moab, and unlike the National Park campgrounds, includes full services: 14 cabins, 42 full hook ups for RV water and electricity, 20 tent areas, tree lined spaces, hot showers, general store, laundry, Shell gas station.
     Starting an hour before sunrise, we drove from Arch View Resort up to photograph Mesa Arch in Canyonlands NP. Standing room for the best photographs at Mesa Arch viewpoint is limited to about a dozen people looking through the arch to the sandstone pillars in the distance. On Palm Sunday April 9, 2006, Mesa Arch was crowded with other photographers until an hour after sunrise, after which they left, and I could finally move my tripod in to capture these images. If you want the best tripod spot and fewer photographers, try arriving 40 minutes before sunrise, midweek, and avoid Easter week.

Above: buttes seen through Mesa Arch, Canyonlands National Park.

Above: Self portrait at Mesa Arch, Canyonlands National Park, Utah.



From Orange Cliffs Overlook in Canyonlands NP, you can see the Green River in Stillwater Canyon, with the snowy Henry Mountains in the distance.

Above: Mesa Arch.