Canyonlands is a beautiful park with several distinct areas: Island In The Sky, The Needles and The Maze. Unfortunately no single road connects these areas. The Maze area requires you have a 4×4 or an organized tour. The Needles- Chesler Park is questionable depending on your research about 50% of the time you read a 4×4 and the other half- a regular car- all agree that the road is in rough shape. Island In the Sky is where the majority of visitors elect to spend their time. Here the roads are paved. Parking lots can easily fill up and some can overflow onto the single lane road. We traveled up from Bluff, Utah and arrived in Canyonlands later than we had originally planned. By 10:00 am- there was no stopping at the Visitor Center which is shortly after the park entrance as the parking lot was full and no parking was available on the sides of the road. It was disappointing to not be able to start the day armed with the most up to date information. After the Visitor Center, we encountered Mesa Arch- the must see arch. The parking lot was full but we were able to slip into a slot that opened up on the side of the road. Mesa Arch was a bit of a madhouse. The viewing area is compact so you may have to wait to get the view. It was particularly distressing to watch people ignore the “Do Not Stand On Arch” signs and scramble up the arch. If you are wanting to have a crowd free option- you will need to come early in the morning. Canyonlands, like most National Parks, has no wi-fi access. Additionally, there is no food (nearest town is about 35 miles away) available. Picnic tables are present. Water can be found at the visitor’s center and occasionally at some trail heads- check your trail head for water access so that you can arrive prepared. From Mesa Arch, we headed to Upheaval Dome. Here there was adequate parking. We opted to hike to both overlooks. The views are stunning. The climb is moderate in places- largely on slickrock.Take the time to sit down on the rocks and just soak in the scenery. Lastly we headed to the Grand Point Overlook. Here we enjoyed views of the canyons- and walked the trail to the far end to get a feeling of the beauty and size of Canyonlands. While we enjoyed Island In The Sky, we did not plan our time at Canyonlands well. First, we had originally planned to do The Needles- Chesler Park, but a member of our party sprained an ankle several days ago and wasn’t up to that hike so we quickly subbed in Island In The Sky. I also regret not taking a 4×4 jeep tour in the maze. The tours are expensive and for a family of 5 often reach $500-1000 for 4 to 6 hours, it cuts into the budget too much.Yet, being from the East Coast, and having no idea if we will ever get back to Canyonlands- I might have been a bit short sighted. Regardless- Canyonlands is a park that is stunning. Ensure your day is the best by making sure you have enough water, food, sunscreen, an itinerary and gas- remember the nearest services are about 1 hour away.