Chessler Park Needles

Canyonlands National Park, while only receiving about half the visitors that its nearby neighbor, Arches National Park receives, really deserves more attention.

The park is quite varied in its terrain and includes two major western rivers, the Colorado and the Green. These two waterways are, to a large measure, responsible for the geologic formations found here, along with other forces.

From the viewpoints of terraced, water-carved canyons that visitors may drive to, you can gaze out across a layered landscape of multi-colored rock and view either of the two rivers following a serpentine path entrenched between canyon walls, trapped by their own powerful forces.

One of our favorite sections of the park however is called the “Needles District.” In this area, one may find an array of sandstone spires, some a few hundred feet tall, that surround and act as a barrier to open, flat, park-like areas of grasses and low shrubs. Reaching some of these “parks” requires several miles of hiking or rigorous 4-wheeling. Chessler Park is perhaps the most spectacular of these parks. This image is a photo-stitch pieced together in an attempt to capture one of the great walls of spires that ring this park. Notice the multiple geologic layers exposed in the rocks. Erosion and time have certainly created an unusual vision here that captures the eye and the imagination.

Photo taken 10/2007