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You will have to visit each district of the park separately; no bridges or roads connect the districts within the park.
- From US 191 north of Moab, UT 313 leads to Island in the Sky.
- From US 191 south of Moab, UT 211 leads to The Needles.
- Only unpaved roads reach The Maze (graded dirt or high-clearance, four-wheel-drive). These roads may become impassable when wet.
Check park road conditions.
Plane
Most people coming to Canyonlands fly into these airports:
Bus
Greyhound travels along Interstate 70, making stops at Grand Junction, Colorado, and Green River, Utah. Commercial vans/shuttles operate between Moab and Salt Lake City as well as Grand Junction.
Train
Amtrak stops at Grand Junction, Colorado, and Green River, Utah. Commercial van services operate between Grand Junction and Moab.
Public Transportation
There is no public transportation to Canyonlands.
Getting Around
Travel to Canyonlands generally requires a car. Once in the park, each district offers different opportunities for exploration. The Island in the Sky is the most accessible district and the easiest to visit in a short period of time. All other destinations require some boating, hiking, or four-wheel driving to see the area's attractions.
Alternative Fuel Vehicles
Do you plan to travel to the park in an alternative fuel vehicle? Your actions help us reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reduce petroleum use. Plan your trip with the from the Department of Energy (search for zip code 84532).
There are three districts in Canyonlands, two of which are easily accessible by car. The Island in the Sky District is at the end of UT-313, 22 miles southwest of US-191. Drive 10 miles north of Moab on US-191 to reach UT-313. To access the Needles District, drive 14 miles north of Monticello or 40 miles south of Moab and turn left on UT-211. Follow this road 35 miles to the Needles Entrance.
If you’d like to plot directions from your location use the interactive map below. The marker shows the location of the Island in the Sky Visitor Center in Canyonlands.
Flying to Canyonlands
Below you will find a list of airports most convenient for a trip to Canyonlands, listed in order of distance. For each airport we provide direct links to browse available flights and cars. For price searches, simply enter your origin and dates.
Grand Junction Regional Airport (GJT)
markerLocated in Grand Junction, Colorado, 122 miles by car to Canyonlands (Island in the Sky)
planeGrand Junction flight schedule and price search
carGrand Junction available rental cars and price search
Montrose Regional Airport (MTJ)
markerLocated in Montrose, Colorado, 179 miles by car to Canyonlands (Island in the Sky)
planeMontrose flight schedule and price search
carMontrose available rental cars and price search
Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC)
markerLocated in Salt Lake City, Utah, 247 miles by car to Canyonlands (Island in the Sky)
planeSalt Lake City flight schedule and price search
carSalt Lake City available rental cars and price search
Official Park Map
Below is the official park map provided by the National Park Service. You can view either the original PDF file or a simple JPEG image file (some of these files can be quite large). Note that while this map is useful for general navigation around the park, if you plan to do any hiking, you should really have a proper Canyonlands Trail Map.
View a map with driving directions using your preferred map provider: Google Maps, Bing Maps, or MapQuest.
More trip calculations
Driving distance from SLC to Canyonlands National Park
The total driving distance from SLC to Canyonlands National Park is 289 miles or 465 kilometers.
Your trip begins at Salt Lake City International Airport in Salt Lake City, Utah. It ends in Cortez, Colorado.
If you are planning a road trip, you might also want to calculate the total driving time from SLC to Canyonlands National Park so you can see when you'll arrive at your destination.
You can also calculate the cost of driving from SLC to Canyonlands National Park based on current local fuel prices and an estimate of your car's best gas mileage.
If you're meeting a friend, you might be interested in finding the city that is halfway between SLC and Canyonlands National Park.
Planning to fly a plane instead? You might be more interested in calculating the straight line distance to fly from SLC to Canyonlands National Park.
Driving distance calculator
Travelmath helps you find driving distances based on actual directions for your road trip. You can get the distance between cities, airports, states, countries, or zip codes to figure out the best route to travel to your destination. Combine this information with the fuel cost tool to find out how much it will cost you to drive the distance, or compare the results to the straight line distance to determine whether it's better to drive or fly. You can print out pages with a travel map.