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We found that there are several areas around Moab containing petroglyphs, called rock art around here. Along the drive to the Needles area of Canyonlands there’s one large rock face that contains over 1,000 years of rock art, so much that it overlaps in some areas. Along the Potash Road there’s a section of rock art that is naturally protected from modern-day gratffiti because when it was drawn it was easy to climb the cliff base (loose rock) but that cliff base was removed to build the road so it’s up a sheer cliff wall about 30 feet. A third location we saw with lots of rock art was when we took a back-country drive into the Kane Springs area, which is along a creek and has lots of places to camp out (but all very primitive!). On that drive there’s a huge square-ish rock that has rock art on all 4 faces. One picture seems to show a woman giving birth so it’s called the birthing rock.

Here are pictures of rock art that we took at the various locations:

We took a drive one day through the back-country area around Moab. There is a dirt road called the White Rim Road (I have a couple of pictures of it in another entry) that circles the Island in the Sky mesa but it’s listed as for 4-wheel drive only. One way to enter the White Rim Road is to go down steep switchbacks from the Island in the Sky road, and another is to come from Moab on what is called Potash Road…called that because there is a potash processing plant along the way. Potash is a natural chemical that is found in the rocks around this area, water is forced through the rock and up into shallow ponds and when it is forced through it brings potash with it. The shallow ponds are then left to dry, and when the water evaporates, only the potash is left. Then it’s scooped up and processed and sold.

The Potash Road connects to the White Rim Road near the switchbacks, and we heard from an experienced 4x4er that a high clearance truck like ours would make the trip down Potash Road, through the short section of the White Rim Road, and then up the switchbacks with no problems. We decided to give it a try. We found the road a bit bumpy in places but on the whole pretty easy going. There were lots of really interesting rock formations along the way and great views down into the canyons and to the river. We stopped at one viewpoint to get pictures of the river and were told that this was where Thelma and Louise drove off the cliff (it’s the scene at the end of the movie). I had wondered where that scene had taken place as it had high sheer cliffs all around so it made sense that it was done here.

When we came to the switchbacks I was a little nervous and as we went up through the very steep, very narrow switchbacks I got real nervous when I was on the outside of the road, looking straight down for about 2,000 feet! We passed a few motorcycles going down and passed a couple of cars when I had to hold my breath and close my eyes. I never have been afraid of heights, but that was unnerving. Jeff was great and got us up safely.

It was a real cool drive and I’m glad we went along it. Here are some pictures:

We also visited the Arches National Park while in the Moab area. This is a very famous national park, and the Delicate Arch is featured on the Utah license plates. This area is unique in that there are dozens of arch formations within a fairly small park – the road from the visitors center to the end is 18 miles.

Rock arches are formed when sandstone is acted upon by water over millions of years. First, water trickles into cracks in the rock and when the water freezes it spreads, causing vertical fissures in the rock. Over time these fissures become larger and larger and then erosion takes over and starts eroding the rockface. Erosion can create many types of rock formations: spires, towers, and arches.

Several of the arches are viewable right from the road going through the park, and some are only viewable by hiking to them. We did several hikes to see arches while here.

We learned that several of the arches have had rocks fall out of the arch recently. The Skyline Arch had a huge rock fall in 1940 instantly doubling the size of the arch. The huge Landscape Arch had parts of the arch fall in 1991 while people were underneath! They heard cracking and got away from the arch so no one was hurt. Other arches have had rockfalls and we saw lots of cracks and fissures in several arches that may lead to falling rock at some point. Most of the arches have trails that lead right up under and through the arch. The exception was the Landscape Arch which is unstable enough that they closed off the base of the arch.

There are lots of really interesting rock formations in the Arches Natl Park as well as arches, several are named. It’s definitely a National Park that should be on everyone’s bucket list!

Here are pictures of some of the rock formations and arches we saw here at Arches National Park:

While in the “Needles” area we hiked to a couple of interesting places. One is called the Upheaval Dome, which is a huge round depression in the rocky hillside with a large white rock dome in the center. Scientists aren’t totally sure how this round depression formed, but the most accepted theory is a meteor strike. The large white dome in the center is apparently salt. It certainly looks like a meteor depression when we got to the rim and looked down into it.

Another hike we took walked around some large rock formations where the base has washed away from floodwaters, so the rocks have a mushroom effect. We walked under the sides of many of these rocks…it was a little scary to think that the rocks could fall on you…but apparently there hasn’t been a rockfall in a very long time.

Under one of these mushroom rocks is a spring that comes out through the rock. It flows all year long, so there’s a long history of people living in this area. We say some rock walls that were painted by people approx. 1,000 years ago, and also a cowboy camp under a nearby mushroom rock where cowboys had brought in a stove, cupboards, a rail to tie their horses, and a few other items to make the area as comfortable as possible. It sure beat sleeping out in the open with no water!

When we left the Canyonlands park we drove to a nearby state park called the Dead Horse Point State Park. We learned that it’s called Dead Horse because the shape of this mesa, up above the deep river canyons, has a ‘neck’ that’s only 30 years wide leading to a larger mesa end. Cowboys would herd wild horses through this neck onto the mesa end and then block the neck with dead trees making a pen to hold the horses till they could catch them. One time, however, the horses got left there and they all died of thirst, while able to look down the steep canyon walls to the river 2,000 feet below! Awful! The second reason this park is called Dead Horse is that if you stand at the end of the mesa looking down to the river and canyons far below, there’s a whitish rock formation that looks like a horse!

Here are pictures we took of the Cave Springs, the Upheaval Dome and the Dead Horse Point State Park:

The Canyonlands National Park has three areas that you can drive to in order to see the canyons, rivers and formations of rocks, some small and some large. One area is the Island in the Sky, described in my earlier entry. Another area is called “The Needles” based on a length of cliff that has been eroded into many narrow pointed formations that look like needles. We visited this area one day and to get to it you drive through many very steep narrow canyons to get the large mesa that has river views.

Here are pictures we took of the mesas, buttes and rock formations that are visible from “The Needles”:

We visited the Canyonlands National Park which is near Moab. I didn’t really know a lot about this national park before we came. It’s a large area consisting of vast canyons with the Green River and the Colorado River at the bottom with a large high mesa between the two rivers. This large mesa is called “Island in the Sky” and it really did seem like it…it’s so much higher than the surrounding canyon landscapes that you are looking down on birds soaring through the sky.

The Green and Colorado Rivers are both large rivers, and they join together near the south end of the park. Most of the canyon areas as accessible only by 4×4 vehicles and long strenuous hikes, so we stayed up on the mesas to get views of the canyons.

Those views were fantastic! I think they rival the Grand Canyon in beauty and diversity. Looking west from the Island in the Sky you can see down to a lower mesa and to the numerous canyons carved through it. The Green River meanders through the area with lots of hairpin turns and the number of carved canyons is just amazing!

Looking east from the Island in the Sky you can similar canyons and hairpin turns of the Colorado River. One thing that impressed me is how green both of the rivers are. There are lots of rock formations down in the Colorado River hairpin turns and lots of colored bands in the rock canyons. Just beautiful!

Here are pictures we took of the canyon and river views: