Today we did the Needles area of Canyonlands National Park, another beautiful drive and awesome scenery - it is amazing what Mother Nature has done over the last number of millions of years!!
There are two roads out to view the Needles and we took both of them. The first road was 22 miles out to the end and it was a fairly boring drive with just scrub land, then when we got to the end of the road the view was fabulous, the only problem was that the sun wasn’t in a great spot for taking pictures. We walked a couple of the trails to different outlooks and here are pictures of the view.
We then drove the 22 miles back out and took the highway to the next road in to the Needles overlook and it was a totally different landscape. The road out to the overlook was about 34 miles and the scenery along the road was beautiful, lots of flatlands then we drove through the floor of the canyon and the rock formations were fascinating. About 14 miles from the main highway we came to Newspaper Rock, a very large rock with many petroglyphs dating back thousands of years, very fascinating. From there we crossed a large area of grasslands with a very large ranch and lots of cattle, then we were into the rock formations for a long ways.
Newspaper Rock
We stopped at the Visitor’s Centre, which is located about 7 miles from the overlook, watched a video of the area and how it was formed, then continued on to the overlook where the scenery was again fabulous.
On the way back out we saw a Big Horn Sheep walking along a ledge, but he was too far away to get a picture, then a couple of minutes later we came across 4 Mule Deer crossing the road, unfortunately I wasn’t quick enough to get a picture. A little later we came across a Mule Deer just standing by the side of the road, I do believe his mother had taught him to stop, look and listen before crossing the road! Again we were past him before we could get a picture.
Some of the Rock Formations on the Way Out
On the way home, on the main highway, we stopped and took some pictures of Wilson Arch, we had stopped on the way by in the morning but the sun wasn’t good for taking pictures, thankfully it was perfect on the way back.
Wilson Arch
An Interesting Fin at Wilson Arch
Tonight is very cold, already it is at freezing so I think it will be a cold night. John has taken in the hose and we will use the fresh water tank and pump for the rest of the night then hook back up to the camp water system during the day tomorrow.
And so ends another great gift of a day and we are looking forward to tomorrow, right now the plans are for another short scenic drive so do come back and see what we discover.
1 comment:
Great pictures!!
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