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Utah

Hiking Arches and Canyonlands National Parks

Program No. 6132RJ
Join natural history experts in Arches and Canyonlands National Parks to discover ancient petroglyphs, geological monuments and the colorful beauty of two national treasures.

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Prefer to enroll or inquire by phone? 800-454-5768
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Price will update based on selection
Prices displayed below are based on per person,doubleoccupancy.
DATES & starting prices
PRICES
Apr 7 - Apr 12, 2024
Starting at
2,149
Filling Fast!
Apr 14 - Apr 19, 2024
Starting at
2,149
Filling Fast!
Oct 13 - Oct 18, 2024
Starting at
2,149
Oct 20 - Oct 25, 2024
Starting at
2,149
DATES & starting prices
PRICES
Filling Fast!
Apr 7 - Apr 12, 2024
Starting at
2,679
Apr 14 - Apr 19, 2024
Starting at
2,679
Oct 13 - Oct 18, 2024
Starting at
2,679
Oct 20 - Oct 25, 2024
Starting at
2,679

At a Glance

From the countless spires to the deep canyons, our hiking journey through Utah’s Arches and Canyonlands National Parks reveals how nature's forces have jointly sculpted and scoured this dramatic landscape. During daily hikes with natural history experts, explore the spectacular arch and canyon formations and the geological record, view ancient petroglyphs and investigate salt dome collapses and ancient fault lines.
Activity Level
Outdoor: Spirited
Hiking 6-8 miles daily on rocky terrain, steep inclines and declines at elevations of 4,000-6,000 feet.
Small Group
Small Group
Love to learn and explore in a small-group setting? These adventures offer small, personal experiences with groups of 13 to 24 participants.

Best of all, you’ll…

  • Trek different sections of Arches and Canyonlands National Parks including the Needles Slickrock Trails and Island in the Sky White Rim Overlook.
  • Discover how the sedimentary layers have left a record dating back more than 250 million years.
  • Observe the geologic wonders of the Fisher Towers and Utah’s signature Delicate Arch.

General Notes

Due to the nature of this program, listening devices are not available.
Visit the Road Scholar Bookshop
You can find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.
Roadside Geology of Utah
by Halka Chronic
Informative travel companions about roadside terrain and geology with photos, diagrams, and glossary. Great for drives and rides throughout Utah.
Canyonlands Country: Geology of Canyonlands and Arches National Parks
by Donald L. Baars
"An easy-to-read geological history of the amazing red rock landscapes in southeastern Utah. Towering red buttes, plunging canyon walls, domes, pinnacles, spires, ten thousand strangely carved forms—what visitor hasn’t marveled at the land of rock in southeastern Utah that is Canyonlands Country? Canyonlands Country offers a unique geological history of this awesome landscape, in language understandable by the non-geologist. The story is as strange and fascinating as the land itself. Each exposed rock layer has a different geologic history: one is a stream deposit, another is an ancient field of dunes, another was deposited by shallow tropic seas. The Green and Colorado Rivers began carving canyons thirty million years ago, but to understand such relatively recent events Canyonlands Country takes us on a journey of two billion years. Tours include Arches National Park, Island in the Sky, Needles District, The Maze and Elaterite Basin, Labyrinth and Stillwater Canyons, Meander Canyon, and Cataract Canyon."
Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness
by Edward Abbey
"A passionately felt, deeply poetic book. It has philosophy. It has humor. It has its share of nerve-tingling adventures...set down in a lean, racing prose, in a close-knit style of power and beauty." Edward Abbey lived for three seasons in the desert at Moab, Utah, and what he discovered about the land before him, the world around him, and the heart that beat within, is a fascinating, sometimes raucous, always personal account of a place that has already disappeared, but is worth remembering and living through again and again. The classic drama of a year alone as a ranger in a national park. "This book may well seem like a ride on a bucking bronco."--New York Times Book Review





Important registration tip:
If you want to attend the live lecture, please do not wait until the last minute to enroll.
If you enroll after a lecture is complete, we’ll send you a recording of the event.