Canyonlands NP - The Needles

The Needles district of Canyonlands NP is a bit out of the way, but it was SO totally worth spending the day. We did a 15-mile run that was on par with the awesomeness of Chiricahua National Monument. It was that special. I highly recommend it as ultra running training!

On the way, we stopped at the local Newspaper Rock to see what was happening lately (your guess is as good as mine):


We did the short hiking trails along the roads in the park, including the trail to the cowboy camp of old:


Our favorite brand of coffee:


Low clearance:


A couple of sights from the viewpoint at the end of the road:



What a sweetheart!


Yucca:


I really don't know what to call this:


Some interesting berries on a holly-looking shrub:


The start of our run (we went opposite directions so you won't see as much of our mugs this time):


Everywhere we go, we see different types of rock formations:


Don't bust the crust!


Neat trail toward Chesler Park:


Great views of red/white rocks everywhere we ran:



The start of the Joint trail - it's not easy to get to this trail unless you run/hike several miles or have 4WD. Well worth it!




One of the "Joints" between giant blocks of rocks:



Hi John!


The canyon heading up to Druid Arch:


Nice one!


Fence posts - they almost look like someone planted them:



Harvey sitting on a cairn in the desert, helping show the way home. Thanks Harvey!


Dumping dirt out of my shoes after an excellent day on the trail:


Canyonlands rocks!