On the Island, vegetation is much sparser. Open fields of Indian rice grass and other grasses and pinyon-juniper pygmy forests survive on less than 10 inches of rain a year. Coyotes, foxes, squirrels, ravens, hawks, and smaller birds share the food of these lands. Rocky ledges that lead down to and below the White Rim are a favorite habitat for many of Canyonlands' desert bighorn sheep. The many trails around the Island are good places to encounter wildlife, especially at dawn, at dusk, or during the cooler months.
Trails also lead to striking vistas, arches, and other outstanding geological features.
Geologists would probably single out Upheaval Dome as the oddest geologic feature on Island in the Sky. Measuring 1,500 feet deep, the Dome does not look like a dome at all, but rather like a crater. One popular theory suggests that slow-moving underground salt deposits pushed layers of sandstone upward. Another more recent theory suggests that the Dome was created when a meteor hit. Exploration From U.S. 191 take Utah 313 south to the Island.