Moab is well known for its stunning canyons, hiking trails, and off-roading but did you know you also explore it from the air? This helicopter tour over Canyonlands National Park made for quite the sight-seeing morning and gave us a chance to scout out some new hikes.
Things to Do
Canyonlands Helicopter Adventure
After searching all Pinterest for “birthday gift ideas for guys”, I finally decided to turn my sights on Tim’s bucket list destination experiences! Tim has always wanted to do a heli trip somewhere and so I began planning this road-trip to Moab Utah for his birthday.
Moab has so much to offer in regards to outdoor adventures. I highly recommend spending a full week visit this area. With Canyonlands National Park and Arches National Park, just 30 minutes from one another the hiking trails are endless between the two.
Pinnacle Helicopters has a breathtaking “Edge of Canyonlands Tour” which is a 45-minute flight that allows you to see spots like Dead Horse Point, the Colorado River, the Potash Ponds, and amazing views of the Island in the Sky District of Canyonlands National Park.
You also get a chance to fly over Kane Creek Canyon and many of the popular arches that we’ve hiked to in the past including Corona Arch, Funnel Arch Hall Bridge, and Pritchett Arch.
See the Potash Ponds
You can’t miss the colorful blue water decorating the ground at the Potash Ponds. Potash, a potassium-rich salt, is pulled up from the ground where the sun evaporates the water from it and leaves the dried potash behind. These ponds are visible year-round, but the strongest evaporation occurs in summer when the colors are most vibrant.
The day prior to our flight we decided to hike to Corona Arch, seen here in the photo above. We had quite an early start that day which allowed us to have the trail all to ourselves. Thankfully the windy weather we experienced that day before did not stick around for our flight day.
Helicopter tours like this are also a great option to find some new off-road trails. We have this one saved to come back to next time to visit. Another beautiful bridge hid in the landscape that our pilot pointed out.
– MY CAMERA GEAR –
These wide-angle shots were taken with my Sony A7riii camera body and my Sony 12-24mm F4 G Wide-angle Zoom Lens. I also took some of the other faster-moving shots with my Sony 35mm 1.4 lens.
It was safe to say Tim was loving his gift. It was a great way to kick off our week-long trip together in Moab and since it was his first time visiting the area, it made for a perfect way to see the landscape.
View of the off-road trails
Exploring Canyonlands National Park from the air and allows you an exhilarating birds-eye view of the rivers, trails, arches and so much more. If you’re planning a trip to Moab Utah, I would highly recommend checking out Pinnacle Helicopters and their helicopter tour over Canyonlands.
Note: Weather can change quickly out in Moab. We had our flight scheduled for the day before and because of winds we had to delay the flight to the next day. Always have a backup plan! We chose to hike to Corona Arch and Grandstaff Trail as our alternate.
Overview
- Need a great gift idea? Pinnacle Helicopter Tour over Canyonlands National Park is a great option!
- We chose early morning flights vs mid-day so we could see the landscape better and with more contrast.
- Talk to your pilot! They have a ton of knowledge about the area and tend to point things out to you if you ask.
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