Island in the Sky is located in the "V" of the "Y" formation of Canyon-lands, which is 527 square miles of, to a large degree, untrammeled land. It is formed by a broad, level mesa and is bordered on the west by the Green River and on the east by the Colorado River. A paved 34-mile round trip scenic drive allows visitors to tour the entire mesa top, with many overlooks on the cliffs to enable one to view the terrain more than 1,000 ft. below.
Other roads are mostly unpaved, the trails are primitive, and the rivers freeflowing. Few people were familiar with these remote lands and rivers when the park was established in 1964 - only Indians, cowboys, river explorers and uranium prospectprs had dared enter this rugged corner of southeastern Utah.
