Hikers enjoy day hikes and backpack treks on the network of well-marked trails and routes within the district. Drivers with 4WD vehicles have their own challenging roads through canyons and other highly scenic areas. Overlooks and short nature trails can be enjoyed from the paved scenic drive in the park. A highway branching off US 191 south of Moab provides easy access to the Needles District. The River District includes long stretches of the Green and Colorado.
River running provides one of the best ways to experience the inner depths of the park.
Boaters can obtain helpful literature and advice from park rangers. Groups planning their own trip through Cataract Canyon need a river-running permit. Geology Deep canyons of the Green and Colorado Rivers have sliced through rocks representing 150 million years of deposition. The Paradox Formation, exposed in Cataract Canyon, contains salt and other minerals responsible for some of the folded and faulted rock layers in the region. Under immense pressure of overlying rocks, the Paradox flows like plastic, forming domes where the rock layers are thinnest and causing cracks or faults as pressures rise and fall.