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CANYONLANDS — The Island in the Sky district provides the easiest route for beginners to experience Utah's largest national park.
Located only 32 miles away from Moab, this section of Canyonlands sits atop a 1,500-foot mesa, giving spectators plenty of lofty panoramic viewpoints.
The Neck Spring Trail is the first trail that visitors to this section of the park will encounter. The Neck refers to a narrow natural land bridge that connects the Island in the Sky with the wider plateau to the north.
The parking lot for the trailhead is shared with the Shafer Canyon Viewpoint, about a half mile south of the Island in the Sky Visitor's Center on the left side of the road.
The trail itself is a loop that can be hiked in either direction, but signs in the parking lot will direct hikers to use the trail in a counter clockwise direction. Hikers will cross two springs along the trail, Neck Spring and Cabin Spring, but don't expect anything more than just a trickle of water during most of the year.
Along the trail are historic ranching features, from old watering troughs to remnants of a lifting crane used to lower supplies from the cliff to the plateau below.
Most of the trail is nothing more than a pleasant venture through the diverse desert, except for a roughly 250 foot climb up a fairly steep slick rock slope. The trail is well marked, and hikers should have an easy time following the path.
No restrooms are available in the parking lot, so make sure you stop at the visitor's center as you enter the park. Also there isn't any drinkable water, so be sure to have enough water for each hiker in your group, roughly a gallon per person during the hot summer months.
The trail is 5.8 miles roundtrip and will take the average hiker 3 to 4 hours.
