Canyonlands News

Aside from a bevy of devoted mountain bikers who pay homage to the place every year in the 24-Hour Mountain Bike National Championship, Moab, Utah, doesn't usually hover at the top of most people's vacation wish lists. That's a shame, because it's one of the most uniquely beautiful destinations in the country.

Live long enough, travel enough, and sure enough, one day you will return to a favorite destination to find it overcrowded, overcommercialized and unable to regenerate itself. Sadly, that's happened in Moab, Utah.

Pssst. Want to know a secret? Southern Utah, that geologic and scenic wonderland, is dazzling in every season — but in autumn the annual invasion of sightseeing visitors from around the world drops to a trickle. As desk manager Ron Stensfors notes from behind the service counter at Zion Lodge, seasoned (so to speak) American travelers, especially savvy locals from Utah and the rest of the West, know fall is a great time to take in Zion National Park.

The fight over a disputed route in Canyonlands National Park is finally in the courtroom after years of behind-the-scenes legal wrangling.Lawyers gave their opening statements Monday in U.S. District Court about the fate of a remote canyon corridor leading to Angel Arch, one of southern Utah's most spectacular sights.The case could influence future claims under an 1866 law, called R.S. 2477, that assured passage across federal lands.

While the majority of Salt Lake City's hiking is buried under the snow, there is still plenty of adventure and warm weather to be found farther to the south!

Albert Mitugo, assistant manager at the OAC, will guide a group of SMU students through the basics of backpacking and camping on the floor of the Salt Creek Canyon at Canyonland National Park in Moad, Utah. 

Ten people died after a twin-engine turboprop plane crashed last night shortly after takeoff from the Canyonlands Field Airport in Moab, Utah, said Grand County Sheriff James Nyland. The National Transportation Safety Board is on site and investigating the accident today, Nyland said.

Why go to a national park if you can experience one via an Internet podcast? Park officials across the country are hopeful the podcasts themselves will make people want to visit their parks. But if a trip just isn't possible, podcasts are seen as the next best thing.

A 65-year-old professor and avid outdoorsman from Minnesota backpacking alone in a rugged section of a national park in Utah has been missing since late last week without a clue to his whereabouts.Searchers in the air and on the ground with canines in the Needles area of Canyonlands National Park tried for several days running to find Jerry O. Wolff, an internationally known expert on animal behavior at St. Cloud State University.