Canyonlands National Park
Island in the Sky
Visitor Center
9:00am–4:30pm Daily
Closed Christmas Day
Needles Visitor Center
9:00am–4:30pm Daily
Closed Christmas Day
Maze Ranger Station
9:00am–4:30pm Daily
Closed Christmas Day
Entrance Fees
- Canyonlands National Park preserves a colorful landscape of sedimentary sandstones eroded into countless canyons, mesas and buttes by the Colorado River and its tributaries. The Colorado and Green rivers divide the park into four districts: the Island in the Sky, the Needles, the Maze and the rivers themselves. While the districts share a primitive desert atmosphere, each retains its own character and offers different opportunities for exploration and learning.
People have visited what is now Canyonlands National Park for over 10,000
years. Over time, many different groups have moved in and out of the area in
concert with the availability of natural resources and the technology for
exploiting those resources.
Canyonlands preserves one of the last,
relatively undisturbed areas of the Colorado Plateau, a geological province that
encompasses much of the Colorado River and its tributaries. Carved out of vast
sedimentary rock deposits, this landscape of canyons, mesas, and deep river
gorges possesses remarkable natural features that are part of a unique desert
ecosystem.
DID YOU KNOW?
The dirt is alive! A living crust called "Biological Soil Crust" covers much of Canyonlands and the surrounding area. Composed of algae, lichens and bacteria, these crusts provide a secure foundation for desert plants.