Will Lewis - Visit National Parks

04/18/2026

A bird’s eye view of a bison’s back.

04/17/2026

04/15/2026

Delicate Arch at sunset.

04/14/2026

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Chase those lower falls!

04/13/2026

Only about 150,000 people visit the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park. Those who do are treated to unique hikes with the overwhelming feeling that Fred and Barney are going to come around a corner in foot powered car.

Although I treasure Chesler Park Loop and the Druid Arch trail, my favorite thing about visiting the Needles District is the stunning drive through Bears Ears National Monument.

So if you want to beat the crowds and see something different, spend a day of your Moab trip exploring the Needles.

04/11/2026

Take your munchkins to the National Parks. In my experience, the hikes are shorter, but they complain less, if there are a lot of rocks to climb on.

04/10/2026

Walking through the red rock galleries of Arches National Park feels like moving through a living museum, but the most important part of the exhibit is often the one right beneath your boots. You might notice patches of dark, bumpy, and almost charred-looking earth lining the trails. While it looks like ordinary dirt, this is actually a biological soil crust, a complex community of cyanobacteria, mosses, and lichens that serves as the literal foundation of the desert.

When a hiker wanders off-trail, they aren’t just making a temporary footprint. A single step can crush a century of patient growth. This crust acts as the desert’s glue, preventing the wind and flash floods from washing the landscape away, while simultaneously pulling nitrogen from the air to nourish the plants that survive here. Because it grows so slowly, the damage from one shortcut can take decades or even hundreds of years to repair.

The best way to respect this fragile landscape is to keep your hike limited to established trails, sandy wash bottoms, or the solid expanses of slickrock. By choosing your steps carefully, you help ensure that the desert remains as vibrant and intact for the next generation of explorers as it is for you today. Remember that in the desert, the most impactful thing you can do is leave no impact at all.