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Canyonlands National Park
Canyonlands National Park, a barren desert labyrinth in southeastern Utah, is so incredibly rugged that standing and looking over it can be unsettling.
A view from White Rim Trail in Canyonlands National Park.
Ravell Call, Deseret News |
Early people knew that those who followed would need detailed directions in this land of uplifts and erosion, of rock people and flowing rivers. So they left instructions: pictures of sheep, people, rivers and deer on what is today called Newspaper Rock. Indians call it "Tse Ha Ni," or "rock that tells story." It is located near the entrance to the park's Needles area.
No doubt, if the ancient writings on the rock could be properly interpreted, they would tell the story of this land, for it is truly incredible with its variety of twisting gorges, reaching cliff walls, stone fins, broad mesas and symmetrical arches. People today are overwhelmed, so it's certain these early writers were. It is a landscape as varied as names in a phone book. An area that is a true testimony to how powerful natural forces can be.
Canyonlands is cut into three pieces by the Y-shaped meeting of the Colorado and Green rivers. In the center is the Island in the Sky district, a broad plateau rising above surrounding canyons. To the east is the Needles district, an area filled with standing rock figures. To the west is the Maze district, the wildest of the areas filled with carved canyons and detached rock figures.
The more remembered features of the park are Devil's Pocket, Angle Arch and the meeting of the two rivers at the Confluence. Also, there is Cataract Canyon, known for its "man-eating" rapids.
A hiker looks off a cliff in Canyonlands National Park.
Ravell Call, Deseret News |
Other highlights include Standing Rock, a lone figure in a flat desert land; Elephant Hill, a rugged hill and a favorite of four-wheelers looking for a challenge; Upheaval Dome, a strand sandstone "blister" cut into a huge natural amphitheater with walls 1,200 feet high; and the White Rim Trail, frequently written up in major publications as one of the most spectacular view trails in the country. About five miles beyond the park's Island in the Sky visitors center, near Dead Horse Point State Park is Mesa Arch.
It is a park with some highway views and paved turnouts for visitors to look from, but most of its features can be reached only by hiking trails and back-country roads. Four-wheeling is the most popular means of travel within the park. These days, too, there is a sharp increase in biking interests, especially so in the spring, winter and fall.
Backcountry visitors must have a permit to travel, and the permit only allows access to certain zones. Critical to a good backcountry trip into Canyonlands is preparedness. There are no services other than those carried in by the visitors. No gas, no water, no sit-down restaurants with polished silver and napkins.
Canyonlands as viewed from Dead Horse Point.
Ravell Call, Deseret News |
The area was made a park in 1964 by presidential order. It covers an area that is 337,000 square acres — or about the size of the state of Maine.
Interestingly enough, despite its captivating beauty, Canyonlands draws about half the visitors of its sister park to the north, Arches National Park. The reason for the smaller crowds is that Canyonlands' own rough exterior is threatening, and most of the roads into the park are as rough as the country looks.
More information on the park is available by visiting www.nps.gov/cany/.
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