This trip took my brother David and me to the southern end of Canyonlands National Park. We drove to Monticello Utah and got a hotel room so we would be able to start the next morning. We still had some daylight once we were in Monticello so we drove up the mountain north of Blanding to enjoy the fall colors.

The next morning we drove north and then west towards the Needles section of Canyonlands National Park but turned off the paved road before entering the park and headed south on the Beef Basin Road. It is a long drive on a dirt road but we finally made it to the Cathedral Butte area so we could turn off on the Cathedral Point jeep trail. This rocky trail is less than two miles long and provides access to my favorite overlook. In this case, you can look into Salt Creek Canyon or Lavender Canyon.

Lavender Canyon

Just off the rim, you can view Mastodon Arch in a side canyon of Salt Creek Canyon.

Mastodon Arch

Here we could hike off the rim and down to the layer that included Wedding Ring Arch. (There are no safe trails to the bottom of the Salt Creek Canyon from this area.)

Wedding Ring Arch
Cathedral Butte

The days are getting shorter but we were able to hike to the arch that we wanted to see and still make it home that night.

A good day in one of my favorite areas!