Sight · Canyonlands National Park
A canyon panorama reached only after hours of rough 4WD travel.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Canyonlands Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Canyonlands National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Canyonlands audio tour“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
Maze Overlook is a rim viewpoint in Canyonlands’ remote Maze District, and the name of a two-site vehicle-camping area. From Hans Flat, it is 34 miles and more than three hours over rough backcountry roads. This is a multi-day destination, not a quick detour: most visitors spend at least three days in the Maze.
Four red sandstone towers, the Chocolate Drops, rise above pale, layered canyon walls and a deeply cut canyon floor. For a photo, keep the pale ledges and lower canyon in frame beneath the towers; that gives the pillars their scale and shows how much country lies below the rim.
The approach calls for high-clearance 4WD with low range. It is not a road to learn 4WD on: wet clay turns slick, and roads can close after poor conditions. Plan to self-recover with a full-size spare, extra fuel and water, a shovel and a high-lift jack. Tire chains are recommended from October through April.
Two designated vehicle campsites are at Maze Overlook. There is no food, gas or potable water in The Maze, and vehicle campsites have no picnic tables or pit toilets. Overnight trips require a permit, and campers need a reusable toilet system.
Wildlife
48 sightingsBighorn SheepMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
47 sightingsMule DeerMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
12 sightingsCoyoteMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
30 sightingsWestern RattlesnakeMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
18 sightingsTurkey VultureMost seen around 11 AMSighting map
18 sightingsWild TurkeyMost seen around 7 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Canyonlands. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
ChallengingMaze Overlook Trail1.1 mi · 1 hr · 0.2 mi awayA cairned scramble from Maze Overlook into South Fork Horse Canyon.
ChallengingSouth Fork Horse Canyon Route23.9 mi · 20 hr · 2.2 mi awayA remote canyon branch for experienced Maze backpackers.
ChallengingHorse Canyon Trail (The Maze)15.1 mi · 7 hr · 2.5 mi awayCairns lead down to a sandy canyon in the remote Maze.
ChallengingShot Canyon Route10.1 mi · 8 hr · 3.6 mi awayCairns lead from Chimney Rock into Shot Canyon's broad floor.
ChallengingPete's Mesa Route8.4 mi · 6 hr · 3.6 mi awaySlickrock miles with the Maze spread out below.
ChallengingChimney Rock Route2.3 mi · 2.5 hr · 3.6 mi awayA steep old stock route drops into Pictograph Fork.
ChallengingHarvest Scene Route8.7 mi · 7 hr · 3.6 mi awayA rugged loop reaches the Maze’s famous Harvest Scene pictographs.
ChallengingThe Plug Route3.9 mi · 2.3 hr · 4.1 mi awayA hard one-way 3.9-mile connector from The Plug to Pictograph Fork.
Sight · 0.9 mi awayChocolate DropsFour nearly 200-foot shale towers, deep in the Maze.
Sight · 1.1 mi awayThe Harvest SceneA striking pictograph panel on a hard Maze backcountry loop.
Sight · 3.3 mi awayPanorama PointA two-hour 4WD crawl from Hans Flat ends above Horse Canyon.
Sight · 3.5 mi awayChimney RockA sandstone tower worth stopping for once you're deep in the Maze.
Sight · 3.9 mi awayStanding RockA roadside spire reached by a five-hour, low-range 4WD drive.Parkwolf’s Canyonlands ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
