Today I headed for the Needles district of Canyonlands National Park. The National Park Service web site describes it as:
The Needles District forms the southeast corner of Canyonlands and was named for the colorful spires of Cedar Mesa Sandstone that dominate the area. The district's extensive trail system provides many opportunities for long day hikes and overnight trips. Foot trails and four-wheel-drive roads lead to such features as Tower Ruin, Confluence Overlook, Elephant Hill, the Joint Trail, and Chesler Park.It was a bit of a drive from Moab - 40 miles south and 35 miles west. I thought it would be worth the drive, so I popped the bike into the car and took off. My first stop was to see Newspaper Rock, which is an absolutely amazing wall of petroglyphs. Just seeing it made the drive worth while - although the bike ride itself contributed a lot to my day's success.
Once I was finished viewing the petroglyphs, I figured it would be a straight shot into the park with no delays. Well, I was almost right - it was a straight shot, but there was definitely a delay. I ran right into a very large cow jam! I obviously wasn't using my camera-brain since it took me quite a while to grab my camera and take some pictures. By the time I picked up my camera I had missed quite a few good shots of the cows, the cowguys & gals, and the persistent herding dogs. I have to say that I was very glad that I was in my car and not standing with my bike in the middle of what seemed like hundreds of cows all over the road. I got quite a kick out of the dogs though. They stood their ground and didn't give up when the cows initially refused to move. A second blast of barks from a very determined dog convinced the cows that it was time to move on. But I was stuck there for at least 15 to 20 minutes! My bike decided to stop yelling at me for driving into the park - it was still clean, and I suspect that both the bike and I would have had a good layer of cow shit on us if we'd been in the middle of that mess!
Finally, the entrance to the park! I left the car at the visitor's center and took off on my bike. There isn't much in the way of paved road in this section of the park, but I covered all of it! There were arches and needles (sandstone spires), fantastic colors. It's amazing how different this section of the park is from the Island in the Sky section...
It was a beautiful day and a very enjoyable ride, even though it was a bit longer than I liked in the car. If I go back again - what am I saying, when I go back again - I'm going with hiking boots. This part of the park definitely needs hiking to see the spectacular parts...
There are some unpaved roads in the Needles section of the park, but the park service web site warns that "many of the roads in the Needles District travel up wash bottoms and are unsuitable for bikes due to deep sand and water". And mountain biking in the park is limited to the roads, no single track allowed. It seemed to me that there were some areas in the Needles section that were accessible by unpaved roads and would be suitable for mountain bikes, but I guess that depends on whether you like to ride through deep sand... Sounds like the White Rim Trail and the Maze district of the park would be better destinations for those of you who want to explore on your mountain bikes.
