Page Type Page Type: Area/Range
Location Lat/Lon: 38.16810°N / 109.75942°W
Activities Activities: Hiking, Canyoneering
Additional Information Elevation: 5000 ft / 1524 m
Sign the Climber's Log

Overview

There are place on earth so spectacular that they cannot be described. They must be seen to be believed. Canyonlands National Park is one such place. Established in 1964, this majestic park was a relative late comer to the family of America’s national parks. In 1961 Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall was being flown over the canyons of Colorado River near the junction with Green River to inspect the site of the new proposed big dam. The story goes that he was so impressed by what he saw that he said “if that isn’t a national park, then I’ve never seen one”. It was through his effort and those of others like Bates Wilson that Canyonlands National Park was created 3 years later.

The park preserves a portion of the canyons created by Colorado and Green Rivers in eastern Utah. It has three districts: Island in the Sky, the Needles and the Maze. This page is dedicated to the Needles district only.

The Needles protects a series of canyons that are surrounded by colorful sandstone walls, fins, pins, needles and spires that have been eroded into fantastic shapes. A 10 mile long paved road takes you to various trailheads and gives you a glimpse of the canyons and the needles from afar.



The Needles as seen from the park’s main road.




Getting There

From the town of Moab, drive 40 miles south on Route 191 (or 14 miles north from Monticello) and turn west onto Route 211. Drive this road 34 miles to reach the park entrance.

The first ten miles of route 211 take you on a beautiful plateau with good views of the La Sal Mountains. The road then goes down to the bottom of a white-walled lush canyon.

White walled canyonCanyon


You will soon see a pull over signed for Newspaper Rock, a Native American rock art site estimated to date back to as early as 1500 years ago.

Newspaper RockNewspaper Rock


As you go on the road, the canyon opens up and you will find yourself on a plateau with big red colored walls in the distance. North and South Six Shooter Peaks will also be visible.

Red CliffsRed Cliffs
Sixshooter PeaksSix Shooter Peaks
Red CliffsRed Cliffs

Short Hikes Near the Main Road

1) Roadside Ruin

Less than a mile after Visitor Center you will see a sign for Roadside Ruin Trail. This 0.3 mile trail takes you under a big rock where you will see the remains of an ancient granary.

La Sal Mountains at dawnLa Sal Mountains
Remains of Native American granaryGranary



2) Cave Spring Trail

Roughly one mile after the Visitor Center, take a left on a road signed for Cave Spring/Salt Creek, then another left on a well-graded dirt road and continue one mile to trailhead. This 0.6 mile trail takes you to an alcove under a large slickrock where cowboys and prior to that Native Americans sought shelter. You can see the remains of ranching operations which went on until 1975. Some native rock art is also visible. The trail then goes up a ladder to the top of the slickrock where you will have views of the alcove below and the distant needles.

Sunrise at Cave Spring TrailheadTrailhead
Remains of ranching operationsRemians of ranching ops
PetroglyphsNative petroglyphs



View of The Needles from Cave Spring TrailThe Needles



Cave Spring, water in the desertCave Spring
Ladder on Cave Spring TrailLadder on trail
From the top of the slickrockAlcove from above




3) Wooden Shoe Arch Overlook

Returning to the main road, you will reach a pull over with a view of Wooden Shoe Arch.

Wooden Shoe ArchWooden Shoe Arch


4) Pothole Point Trail

Near the end of the road, you will find this trailhead. The 0.6 mile long trail takes you over large slickrock areas that are filled with potholes. After rain, water collects in these holes creating micro-ecosystems that last for the short duration that the water exists.

PotholesPotholes
On Pothole Point Trail
Rain water in a large potholeWater in pothole
Potholespotholes



The Needles from Pothole Point TrailThe Needles

Long Hikes

The Needles District has a large network of interconnecting trails (see map). You can obviously combine these trails in any manner you wish. What I have included in this table will allow you to do reasonable day hikes that will cover most of the trails with minimum overlap. Many people chose to do multi-day backpacking trips. Camping is allowed only at designated sites (see map link above) and requires prior reservation. Remember that this is a dry environment and water is not available at most campsites. Contact the park service as noted below for all camping information (Salt Creek obviously can’t be done as a day hike. The road to Lower Red Lake Trail is one of the roughest 4WD roads in Utah, most people will not be able to drive it).



Hike
Distance
Slickrock Foot Trail
2.4 miles loop
Lost Canyon Loop
8.7 miles loop
Confluence Overlook
10.4 miles roundtrip
Big Spring/Squaw/Elephant Canyon Loop
10.8 miles Loop
Druid Arch
10.8 miles roundtrip
Chesler Park/Joint Trail Loop
10.9 miles loop
Lower Red Lake
18.2 miles roundtrip, 10 miles trail+8.2 miles rough 4WD Rd
Salt Creek
25.5 miles one way, 22 miles trail+3.5 miles 4WD Rd





Viewpoint #3Slickrock Trail
On Lost Canyon Trail, Upper SectionsLost Canyon
Colorado RiverConfluence Trail
Elephant CanyonBig Spring Canyon
From Druid Arch ViewpointDruid Arch Area
Druid ArchDruid Arch
Hiking the 4WD roadChesler Park Trail
From the view point at the pass before Chesler ParkChesler Park Area

Technical Canyoneering

Elephant Canyon

Red Tape & Camping

Camping is allowed only at the designated sites and needs prior reservation, see map link above under "Long Hikes" for camp sites.

You must pay park entrance fee. For all rules and regulations, contact the park:
http://www.nps.gov/cany/index.htm


Children

Children

Children refers to the set of objects that logically fall under a given object. For example, the Aconcagua mountain page is a child of the 'Aconcagua Group' and the 'Seven Summits.' The Aconcagua mountain itself has many routes, photos, and trip reports as children.

Parents 

Parents

Parents refers to a larger category under which an object falls. For example, theAconcagua mountain page has the 'Aconcagua Group' and the 'Seven Summits' asparents and is a parent itself to many routes, photos, and Trip Reports.