The
Canyonlands National Park
Canyonlands National Park, Utah is divided
neatly into three sections by the Green And Colorado Rivers.
These sections, named Island in the Sky, the Needles and
the Maze for their most prominent geologic characteristics,
are quite different in what they offer and their access.
Canyonlands is the largest national park in the state, and
its diversity staggers the imagination. Thousand-foot views
down into river canyons, or up to red rock pinnacles, cliffs
and spires are truly awe inspiring.

The Canyonlands area was only designated a National Park
in 1964; before this most of the terrain was unvisited,
and also largely unvisitable. Much still is, since although
there are paved roads, the only satisfactory way to see
most of the park is by overnight hikes or by 4WD vehicle
and even then the tracks are often very rough, and huge
areas have no roads at all. As a result, far fewer tourists
come to this national park than to others in Utah, although
visitation is steadily increasing.

The
exposed geology of the Canyonlands area is complex and diverse;
12 formations are exposed in Canyonlands National Park that
range in age from Pennsylvanian to Cretaceous. The oldest
and perhaps most interesting was created from evaporites
deposited from evaporating seawater. Various fossil-rich
limestones, sandstones, and shales were deposited by advancing
and retreating warm shallow seas through much of the remaining
Paleozoic.
Eroded
sediment from a nearby mountain range later mixed with coastal
dune and sand bar deposits. The end of the Paleozoic and
the start of the Mesozoic saw the last seas start to leave
the region for good. A subdued topography was dominated
by flood plains and tidal flats. Now much further inland,
the Triassic climate in the region was dry. Vast deserts
covered much of that part of North America, except for one
period when streams for a time fought the sand dunes. Wetter
times returned.
The
uplift of the Rocky Mountains starting in late Cretaceous
greatly affected the Canyonlands region. Erosion rates increased
and further quickened upon the onset of the ice ages in
the Pleistocene. Modern erosion occurs at a slower rate.
The
Canyonlands photo gallery |