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The Canyonlands and Arches National Parks, located in the stunning Moab region in Utah, are among the world’s most extraordinary nature destinations.

The parks afford a unique view of the architecture fashioned by nature itself, featuring imposing rock formations sculpted by rivers and natural arches that seem to hail from a fairy-tale world. However, the parks’ beauty doesn’t simply lie in their geological configurations, but it extends to the night sky, where the Milky Way seems to almost brush the Earth.

Magical Canyons.

The Canyonlands National Park has cast a spell on us: its huge, imposing canyons, with sheer rock walls and a vibrant colour palette ranging from intense red to golden yellow, create a peerless visual spectacle. At dawn and when the sun sets, sunlight transforms the landscape into a symphony of vivid, breath-taking colours.

Walking amidst the canyons, you feel humbled by nature’s magnificence, as you perceive its millennial beauty and might.

GALLERY

The Colorado river has played a key role in creating these natural wonders. Over millennia, its waters have sculpted and shaped the landscape, carving out deep ravines and canyons. This awesome force of nature has transformed rocks in layered works of art, telling a geological tale that is millions of years old.

Walking along the Colorado river’s banks is an experience that prompts admiration for the power of nature, and respect for its ability to shape the world around us.

Arches that touch the sky.

Arches National Park offers a unique experience thanks to its natural wonders. Its sandstone arches, created by erosion, seem like sculptures hewn by superior craftsmen. Each corner of the park reveals a new arch, as though nature itself wanted to surprise and amaze us.

These giant arches turn us into explorers in an enchanted world, immersed in an open-air museum whose artworks have been created by the patience and power of nature. Dawn at Delicate Arch morphs into a magical, surreal vision.

When the sun’s first rays start to filter among the desert landscape’s rock formations, the sky is bathed in an array of warm hues and the rock’s colours ignite. As we draw close to the trail that leads to Delicate Arch, the atmosphere fills with emotion and expectation.

Our footsteps echo in the morning silence, fostering a feeling of ceremony and respect for our surroundings. Once we reach the arch, we are faced with a unique sight. The arch’s elegant, streamlined shape is silhouetted against the surrounding panorama, creating a fascinating contrast between the arch’s delicate poise and the solidity of the rocks around it, while the sun rises and its golden rays light up the arch.

Nights spent at the Canyonlands and Arches National Parks allow you to witness an unforgettable celestial show. Away from city light pollution, the sky here opens up in all its magnificence. The Milky Way with its stars touches the stone arches, almost brushing delicately against them.

These are places where the boundaries between earth and sky blur. Visiting the Canyonlands and Arches National Parks in the Moab, and the vast, stunning Moab Desert, is an extraordinary experience, steeped in the wild beauty of nature and great outdoors adventure, for a journey of wonder and discovery.

TEXT and PICTURES: Lorenzo Alesi & Alice Linari

7A6D9820-329F-4ABA-B4DD-6AF33A6CB50C Created with sketchtool. ON THE RIM: UTAH