Last year, in the months of looking forward to our vacation in Utah, I knew we’d be in the car most days in order to get to each park. I never thought much about the scenery on the way.

But wow! The views from the car were amazing. I took as many photos from the passenger seat as I did on the trails. I couldn’t get enough.

Canyonlands National Park was one of my favorite parks simply to drive through. The canyon walls and rock formations just went on and on, mile after mile. Even if we had never gotten out of the car, I’d have loved just watching the scenery glide by.

A woman we met at Bryce Canyon earlier in the week told us to skip Canyonlands because it wasn’t that special compared to the other parks we were visiting. Hmmm. I beg to differ….

We stuck to our schedule and I’m so glad we did. Again, because it was Labor Day Week, the park wasn’t crowded, so we had time to explore. And the park is huge. It just goes on and on. And on.

We considered the two main areas of the park, but we knew we couldn’t do them both the same day. So we decided to go to Needles. Here are some of the things we saw there.

How were the Needles formed? A park sign explained that 300 million years ago ancient seas left behind “an immense salt layer,” which now lies 100 feet below the surface. “Over time, coastal sand dunes and sediments from eroding mountains buried the salt.” The weight of the rock on the salt made the sandstone, which is brittle, “fracture into a grid-like pattern…Rainwater, ice, and snow gradually eroded the exposed sandstone into spires called needles, as well as fins, buttes, and canyons of the rugged landscape you see today.” The erosion still continues.

We knew we wanted to do some short hikes to well-known features in the Needles area. So we started at Pothole Point.

Pothole Point is a short loop hike with uneven, rocky terrain. We stood on a large rock overlooking a shallow valley with rock formations on the bottom. The sandstone is pocked with small craters called potholes. Click here to see a photo of Pothole Point after a rainfall. You won’t be disappointed.

Since it was getting close to noon, we found a covered picnic table and stopped for a quick lunch.

Then, we packed up and headed to a cave that, through the centuries, has offered travelers and nearby residents both shelter and water, both of which are life-savers in the hot, dry desert.

Cave Spring Trail. A favorite feature of ours at Canyonlands was this short loop that led to a historic cowboy camp and prehistoric rock markings in the cave fed by a spring. The camp, tucked into a large alcove under the rock and out of the weather, has many well-preserved artifacts. From a short distance, you can see rough-hewn furniture such as cabinets, benches, and simple tables covered with cups, cans, and tools. It was a marvel to me that it had survived all these years.

We continued walking on the trail, around the rock wall and under the overhang, to the cave area with the spring. Water is rare in the desert, so this spring had long been a precious resource. But on the day we visited, it was more of a puddle.

Cowboys weren’t the earliest visitors to this alcove. Ceilings blackened by soot, handprints, and carved figures indicate that long ago, ancient people also came for the water here.

The descendants of these ancient people still live in the area and consider the spring a sacred place, so visitors are asked not to disturb it when they visit.

We didn’t go into or even look inside this cave—it was much too dark for me.

Looking back on our day in Canyonlands, we saw up close some rock formations we had not seen elsewhere. We also had a relaxed day doing short hikes and exploring sites that we found fascinating.

Every day on our trip in Utah, the variety, color, and shape of the canyons and other rock formations continually surprised me. And the wild beauty on the drive in Canyonlands National Park was my favorite. I’m so glad we made time for it.

Have you ever visited Canyonlands? What has been the most breathtaking place you’ve ever been? I’d love to know. Leave a comment below, and I’ll get back to you.

If you missed the other posts in my series on Utah, start here.

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