Galleries » Canyonlands NP & Newspaper Rock

Located to the west of the town of Moab, Utah, and a short distance from Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, established in 1964, is wild and diverse in its landscapes. Due to the park’s massive size, Canyonlands has four separate districts, each with its own characteristic landscapes and experiences. The paths of the merging Green and Colorado rivers divide the park, centering near the confluence of the two great waterways. The high mesa is known as the Island in the Sky rises 2,000 feet from the valley floor north of the "V" created by the confluence of the rivers. South of the Island and east of the confluence is The Needles district, where red- and white-banded pinnacles tower 500 feet over grassy parks and sheer-walled canyon valleys. A confusion of clefts and spires across the Colorado river to the west marks The Maze, a rugged and remote region of folded canyons and rocky ridges. Only a few paved roads probe the edges of the park's 527 square miles, with the remainder of the park to be explored by river boats or all-terrain, off-road vehicles.

Newspaper Rock is now designated a Utah State Historical Monument and is situated along the relatively well-traveled access road into the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park, 12 miles from US 191 and 30 miles from the park boundary. Since December 2016, this area is part of the Bears Ears National Monument. The 200 square foot rock is a part of the vertical Wingate sandstone cliffs that enclose the upper end of Indian Creek Canyon and is covered by hundreds of ancient petroglyphs. The pictures at Newspaper Rock have been inscribed into desert varnish, a manganese-iron deposit that gradually forms on exposed sandstone cliff faces owing to the action of rainfall and bacteria. The main petroglyph groups have been assigned to the Anasazi (AD 1 to 1300), Fremont (AD 700 to 1300) and Navajo (AD 1500 onwards). Among the 650 images are bighorn sheep, deer, buffalo, beaver, squirrels, antelope, birds, riders on horses, animal and human footprints, calendar and wagon wheels, and various abstract anthropomorph symbols. At first, the images appear haphazardly arranged, on closer inspection, however, you can read about the crop cycle, hunting patterns, and mythologies that guided their ancient lives in storyboards, similar to a newspaper.

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