Grand View Point

Grand View Point is the kind of trail that makes you feel like you cheated — under two miles of flat, easy walking and you get one of the most jaw-dropping panoramas in the entire national park system. The paved-then-dirt path follows the narrow spine of Island in the Sky mesa, with the canyon dropping away on both sides like the earth simply gave up. You'll pass juniper and pinyon pine clinging to the sandstone, and the terrain is mostly level with gentle undulations over slickrock. At the point itself, you're staring across a hundred miles of canyon country — the La Sal Mountains, the Needles District, the White Rim Road tracing its ribbon far below, and the Colorado River cutting through it all. This is the trail for anyone who wants a world-class view without earning it through suffering. Photographers, families with older kids, and sunset chasers will be in heaven.