Island in the Sky is a breathtaking adventure on a plateau with red rocks, steep vistas, and fantastic hikes. There’s the short and spectacular Mesa Arch hike (.5 miles roundtrip), the longer trek to Murphy Point (3.6 miles roundtrip), and those in between with sweeping views of the Abajos, Henry Mountains, La Sals, canyons, buttes, needles, basins, rivers, and a meteorite impact crater at Upheaval Dome (2 miles roundtrip)! There’s the Grand View Hike (2 miles roundtrip), White Rim Road Hike (1.8 miles roundtrip), Aztec Butte with some Anasazi / Ancestral Puebloan Ruins (1.2 steep miles roundtrip), and the fun Whale Rock (1 mile roundtrip). Don’t get too scared at the dizzying 1,000 feet drops as you gaze onto the Colorado Plateau’s most glorious features. You can easily spend one day here and see almost the entire Park but there are plenty of longer hikes for those who need ‘em. Some of them go down to the bottom of the mesa and others go down to the Green River or the Confluence or around the Upheaval Dome.

At Island in the Sky there is one first come first serve campground and I have had the pleasure of staying there, although it was indeed quite windy. There are 12 sites with toilets at Willow Flats within the park. Just outside the park on the road is one more with toilets known as Horse Thief Campground and it has 56 sites. It is also first come first serve.

And don’t forget about the spectacular 4WD road that is the White Rim Road, which is visible from so many of the lookouts.