News Release

Upgrades to Grand View Point parking lot will improve vehicle and visitor safety

News Release Date: May 3, 2024

Contact: Karen Garthwait, 435-260-0713

Moab, Utah— Canyonlands National Park is embarking on a multi-year reconfiguration of Grand View Point parking lot to improve vehicle and pedestrian safety. Construction work in 2024 will occur over a period of eight weeks in late summer between July and September. During this time, Grand View Point Overlook, Grand View Point Trail, and 0.3 mi (0.5 km) of park road will be closed from 6 a.m. Mondays to 4 p.m. Thursdays. The closure applies to all uses, including vehicles, tour buses, motorcycles, bicycles, and pedestrians.

The construction area will reopen for public use at 4 p.m. each Thursday and stay open through weekends, closing again at 6 a.m. Monday mornings. During these open periods, parking may be limited due to construction materials and equipment along the roadway.

Grand View Point is a primary destination at the Island in the Sky district of Canyonlands. Built in 1973 and expanded in the mid-1980s, it offers only 44 formal parking spaces. Visitation to Canyonlands has increased over 200% since the 1990s, with nearly half a million annual visitors. The parking lot is overfull most days, with 40-50 cars routinely parked along the roadside, contributing to road edge deterioration and damaging native plants and soils. Large vehicles parked this way sometimes prevent emergency vehicles from completing the one-way driving loop, delaying the arrival of rescue personnel. Crowding also contributes to visitor frustration and can negatively impact visitors’ experiences.

The new parking lot design will provide safe, formalized parking stalls, pedestrian walkways, and expanded toilet facilities appropriate for the number of visitors this popular site already receives.

“Upgrading Grand View Point is an important next step to address increasing visitation at Canyonlands, and to improve outdated and undersized infrastructure,” said Superintendent Lena Pace.

To minimize the impact on park visitors, work on this project has been scheduled for weekdays only during late summer when visitation traditionally slows down. This phased approach means that work will be spread across three years, occurring during eight-week-long periods between July and September of 2024, 2025, and 2026.

This project is funded by the Congressionally-authorized Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act. Under this program, parks keep 80 percent of all fees collected on-site and use the money to fund important projects that improve visitor services and protect resources for current and future generations to enjoy.