Hatch Point

STILLWATER CANYON AND GREEN RIVER, looking southwest from Green River loop of river. Brown material covering nearby parts of the White Rim is lower part of Overlook. Orange Cliffs in background, Henry Mountains on right skyline, Turks Head in Moenkopi Formation. (Fig. 23)

TURKS HEAD, an erosional remnant of the White Rim Sandstone supported by red beds of Organ Rock Tongue, in loop of Green River. Aerial view looking north. Photograph by National Park Service. (Fig. 24)

UPHEAVAL DOME, aerial view looking northwest toward junction of Upheaval and Taylor Canyons with Labyrinth Canyon of Green River. Photograph by Walter Meayers Edwards, © 1971 National Geographic Society. (Fig. 25)

CUTAWAY VIEW OF SYNCLINE, or downfold of the rocks. From Hansen (1969, p. 108). (Fig. 26)

One mile before the road ends, a well-marked foot trail leads to the top of Whale Rock, a prominence on the Navajo Sandstone that forms the outer ring of the dome. At the end of the road, another foot trail ascends from the picnic area to the foot of the Wingate Sandstone cliffs around the central part of the dome. The views of the dome from these trails are interesting, but you are really too close to get a true picture of the unusual feature, which is obtainable only from the air, as shown infigure 25.

Just west of Upheaval Dome, Bighorn Mesa is connected to Steer Mesa by a neck only 15 feet wide flanked by 300-foot vertical cliffs, as pointed out by McKnight (1940, p. 12). I later learned from Ed McKnight (oral commun., June 6, 1973) that during his field work in this area in 1926 he was riding a mule across this narrow neck when the half-asleep mule suddenly became aware of the dropoff on one side and began to turn around and head back. Ed hastily but cautiously dismounted and led the mule across! When this neck is finally breached by erosion, Bighorn Mesa will be just as isolated and inaccessible as Junction Butte, now cut off from Grand View Point. (Seefrontispieceandfig. 27.)

The high mesa east of Canyonlands National Park and the Colorado River canyons, called Hatch Point, contains several vantage points ideally suited for viewing scenic features of the park and adjacent areas. Hatch Point is part of the vast public domain administered by the Bureau of Land Management—asister agency of the Geological Survey and the National Park Service, all in the U.S. Department of the Interior. The Bureau, hereinafter referred to simply as the B.L.M., has made many improvements on Hatch Point, including fine roads, two modern campgrounds with sanitary facilities and piped water from wells, and two overlooks with protective fences, benches, paths, sanitary facilities, and ramadas containing panels that describe the features visible from the viewpoints. Because of these improvements, the B.L.M. has appropriately named this area “Canyon Rims Recreation Area.”

Geologically, Hatch Point is similar to Island in the Sky. Both are bordered by towering cliffs of the Wingate Sandstone capped by the resistant Kayenta Formation, and rounded remnants of the overlying Navajo Sandstone rise above the otherwise-flat mesa surface in many places.

Access to this high tableland is by a good paved road leading west from U.S. Highway 163 at a point 32 miles south of Moab and 22 miles north of Monticello. About 5 miles west of the highway we pass Windwhistle Campground, nestled in an attractive cove of Entrada Sandstone cliffs, and 16 miles from the highway we reach an intersection. From here it is 7 miles west by paved road to Needles Overlook, 10 miles north to Anticline Overlook. Like the other high mesas, Hatch Point contains peripheral areas of scattered piñon and juniper trees and large flat grasslands used for grazing. Grain tanks here and there store winter feed for the cattle.

Let us follow the pavement to Needles Overlook, from which fine morning views of Canyonlands National Park can be seen to the south and west. Northwestward (fig. 27) we look 10 miles across the Colorado River canyon to Junction Butte and Grand View Point. (This view is along the line of the east half of the cross section infig. 10.) The feather edge of the White Rim Sandstone caps the White Rim west of the Colorado River, but the White Rim is absent on the east side of the canyon and in the entire Needles district to the southwest, where the important scenic features are carved from the underlying Cedar Mesa Sandstone Member of the Cutler Formation, referred to hereinafter simply as the Cedar Mesa Sandstone. Both these sandstones are missing in the foreground offigure 27—their place being taken by thin beds of red siltstone, mudstone, and sandstone similar to those that comprise the Organ Rock Tongue shown between the two sandstones infigure 22. These are additional examples of facies changes mentioned earlier (p. 34).

JUNCTION BUTTE AND GRAND VIEW POINT, looking northwest from Needles Overlook. (Fig. 27)

Turning north from the intersection 7 miles east of Needles Overlook, we traverse a nearly flat grassy tableland to Hatch Point Campground. Infigure 1the campground is shown west of the old road; the new road is west of the campground, but no map of the new route was available for plotting infigure 1. About a mile before we reach the campground a jeep trail heads west then northwest about 5½ miles to Canyonlands Overlook, a scant mile from, but some 1,400 feet above, the eastern border of Canyonlands National Park. This overlook affords fine views of the Colorado River canyons and the eastern shore of Island in the Sky, but at present (1973) there are no plans to improve the trail for passenger-car travel.

Two miles north of the campground we cross a minor drainage leading northeastward into the north fork of Trough Springs Canyon. The B.L.M. plans a road down this canyon to Kane Springs Canyon, 1,100 feet below, where it will connect both with a scenic drive to Moab, the lower part of which is paved, and with the jeep trail going west over Hurrah Pass (fig. 30) and thence south along the eastern benches of the canyons of the Colorado River to the Needles district of the park. E. Neal Hinrichs (U.S. Geol. Survey, oral commun. Feb. 16, 1973) reported specimens of blue celestite (strontium sulfate, SrSO₄) and barite (barium sulfate, BaSO₄) in the Cutler Formation at a point where a sharp bend of this jeep trail crosses a fault, orfracture (fig. 56), in the northeast fork of Lockhart Canyon (shown infig. 1as the easternmost loop of the trail about 6 miles northeast of Lockhart Basin). Farther south, the trail swings west of Lockhart Basin, whose center exposes part of a syncline (fig. 28).

SYNCLINE IN CORE OF LOCKHART BASIN, near Needles Overlook. Dish-shaped roof is Wingate Sandstone, partly bleached; sloping sides are Chinle Formation; dark sloping ledge at left middle ground is Moss Back Member of Chinle resting on Moenkopi Formation. Photograph by E. N. Hinrichs. (Fig. 28)

Two and a half miles farther north, or about 2 miles south of Anticline Overlook, a short road leads to the west and entirely around a small conical butte of the Navajo Sandstone. This new circular drive has not yet been formally named and is simply called the U-3 loop, as designated in the surveyor’s notebook. It affords splendid views to the west and is to be equipped with picnic tables. Looking west (fig. 29) we see a W-shaped loop of the Colorado River, Dead Horse Point on the right skyline, and Island in the Sky on the distant skyline. The strata curving over Shafer dome appear in the right middle background.

VIEW WESTWARD FROM U-3 LOOP. Dead Horse Point on right skyline, Island in the Sky capped by Navajo Sandstone in extreme distance, Kayenta Formation in foreground at left. Cliffs topping ridge at left are Wingate Sandstone protected by caprock of the Kayenta Formation; red slopes beneath cliffs are Chinle Formation, with dark ledge of Moss Back Member at base; steep slopes and ledges beneath are Moenkopi Formation, lower part of which is Hoskinnini Tongue; reddish gentle slopes below are Cutler Formation; nearly flat benches above Colorado River are Rico Formation, with Shafer limestone at top. (Fig. 29)

Two more miles takes us to Anticline Overlook for the most sublime views in this part of the area. To the north (fig. 30) we look across the northeast flank of the Cane Creek anticline, an upfold of the rocks (figs.13,14). Hurrah Pass straddles the narrow wall separating the Colorado River and its canyon at the left from Kane Springs Canyon on the right. The Colorado River appears again in the right background, where it leaves Moab Valley. The Kings Bottom syncline, or downfold (fig. 26), seen in the middle distance between the Cane Creek anticline and the Moab anticline, exposes a wide area of the Navajo Sandstone. The ridge on the right skyline, composed of the Entrada Sandstone, is The Windows Section of Arches National Park, and the left skyline shows faintly the distant Book Cliffs.

On the east wall of Kane Springs Canyon just to the right offigure 30is the Atomic King mine in the Cutler Formation, from which uranium ore has been mined at intervals during the last 2 or 3 years.

LOOKING NORTH FROM ANTICLINE OVERLOOK, across axis of Cane Creek anticline. Unimproved road crosses Hurrah Pass in foreground. Colorado River at left is near Potash and in right background is at Moab. For description of strata, see caption forfigure 31. (Fig. 30)

CANE CREEK ANTICLINE, looking northwest from Anticline Overlook. Colorado River is cutting into limestone of unnamed upper member of Hermosa Formation in lower bench at crest of fold; Rico Formation, with bluish-white Shafer limestone at top, forms upper curved bench; remainder of formations are as given in caption forfigure 29. Potash mine (right) and evaporation ponds (left) are operated by Texas Gulf, Inc. Merrimac and Monitor Buttes on right skyline are shown infigure 12. (Fig. 31)

To the northwest (fig. 31; see alsofig. 13) is a textbook example of a rock fold—the Cane Creek anticline—laid bare by the Colorado River cutting directly across its crest (fig. 1). Anticlines are noted as sources of or at least hunting grounds for oil and gas, and this one is no exception, although production has been relatively small and was stopped altogether in about 1963. Some oil and gas was produced also from wells on the north flank of Shafer dome, just beneath Dead Horse Point (figs.1,15), but other favorable-looking structures farther south that were tested, such as Lockhart anticline, Rustler dome, and Gibson dome (fig. 1), failed to yield commercial amounts (Baker, 1933, p. 80-84). Some of the colorful events in the early days of wildcatting are noted onpage 100.

Exploration for oil and gas led to the discovery of potash beneath several anticlines in eastern Utah and western Colorado. According to Hite (1968, p. 325), the Cane Creek anticline is underlain by about 5,200 feet of salt-bearing rocks in the Paradox Member of the Hermosa Formation (fig. 9), of which about 84 percent is halite (common salt, sodium chloride) and associated potash salts (sylvite, potassium chloride). The potash mine of Texas Gulf, Inc., is shown at the right infigure 31. The white area to the left of the mine is waste common salt, which is recovered with the potash salts, and the white area with dark stripes at the left is a small part of more than 400 acres of evaporation ponds built to separate the salts. These ponds also can be seen from Dead Horse Point. The dark stripes are the visible parts of plastic membranes lining the ponds. Mining of an 11-foot bed of ore began by usual underground methods from the bottom of a shaft 2,788 feet deep but became too difficult because of intense and intricate folding of the salt beds. Now the salts are being extracted by a method involving solution, wherein river water is introduced into the former workings and allowed to stand long enough to dissolve the salts, then the brine is pumped out to evaporation ponds, and the valuable potash salts are separated from the sodium salts. Closeup views of the mine and evaporation ponds are seen in figures70and71.

As noted earlier, most of the readily recognizable thin beds, such as the White Rim Sandstone, pinch out south of here, andfigure 31marks the northeasternmost exposure of the Shafer limestone at the top of the Rico Formation. Northeast from here the Rico and overlying Cutler Formation are not readily separable and are included in the so-called Cutler Formation undifferentiated. This land-laid unit of red sandstone, siltstone, and shale is as much as 8,000 feet thick just southwest of the ancient Uncompahgre highland (present Uncompahgre Plateau, in western Colorado and eastern Utah), from which it was derived by erosion during the Permian Period (fig. 80).

The high mesas west of Canyonlands National Park do not form as distinct a mainland as does Hatch Point, but rather are broken up into a maze of peninsulas and islands, as shown infigure 1. Owing to the gentle northwestward dip of the rock strata, the altitude of the mesas declines from about 7,000 feet in the south to about 5,300 feet in the north and northwest, where the whole aspect of the country becomes more rounded and subdued. As shown on the map (fig. 1), however, the name Orange Cliffs is applied to much of the eastward-facing cliffs, which are made of the Wingate Sandstone capped by the Kayenta Formation. Remnants of the Navajo Sandstone increase in number to the north and west, where remnants of the next two younger rock units—the Carmel Formation and the Entrada Sandstone—also occur. Thus, the cliff-forming units dip downward beneath younger rocks that form the relatively flat Green River Desert to the northwest, also referred to as the San Rafael Desert.Figure 32is a view southeastward from The Spur, shown on the map (fig. 1) as the northern section of the Orange Cliffs.

At present (1973), the areas west of the Green River and the main stem of the Colorado River are the least accessible of any in the park and in this respect have not changed much since Butch Cassidy and his Wild Bunch roamed the area, except that the former main horse trails are now jeep trails. A secondary road south from the town of Green River goes past the north side of the Horseshoe Canyon Detached Unit (figs.1,2) and connects with another secondary road to the west, which joins Utah Highway 24 at Temple Junction, 20 miles north of Hanksville; near Horseshoe Canyon a jeep trail leads south to the Orange Cliffs. Owing to blowing sand, these “roads” are not considered reliable for passenger cars and are best negotiated by four-wheel-drive vehicles or horses.

VIEW SOUTHEASTWARD FROM THE SPUR, in northern section of Orange Cliffs. Junction Butte and Grand View Point on left skyline; Abajo Mountains in extreme distance to right of center. Photograph by Parker Hamilton, Flagstaff, Ariz. (Fig. 32)

LOOKING NORTH DOWN MILLARD CANYON from head of canyon a mile northwest of French Spring. Note small arch or window in the Navajo Sandstone at upper left, which is shown infigure 1as “Arch.” The Navajo is underlain by the cliff-forming Kayenta Formation and Wingate Sandstone resting upon a sloping base of the Chinle Formation and, farther downstream, ledges and slopes of the Moenkopi Formation. Photograph by Parker Hamilton, Flagstaff, Ariz. (Fig. 33)

According to Baker (1971, p. 12), the road leading eastward along North Point was used by the Wild Bunch in traveling to French Spring, whence they dropped down Millard Canyon (fig. 33) and crossed the Green River at Bonita Bend, which is just east of Buttes of the Cross (fig. 64). They also followed the Old Spanish Trail from the Henry Mountains eastward across the Dirty Devil River, up North Hatch Canyon, across Sunset Pass, and down across the Land of Standing Rocks to Spanish Bottom on the Colorado River (fig. 1). After crossing the river, they followed the trail up Lower Red Lake Canyon (fig. 59) and eastward through The Needles to Monticello.

Petroglyph

The White Rim, a broad benchland some 1,000-1,200 feet below the southern half of Island in the Sky, and some of the associated benchlands west of the Green River and between the Colorado River and Hatch Point have already been discussed as viewed from Island in the Sky, the White Rim Trail, or Hatch Point. There remain for consideration several other prominent benchlands.

The Maze, an intricately carved series of canyons and gullies, has been called a “Thirty-square-mile puzzle in sandstone” (Findley, 1971, p. 71-73), and one can readily visualize a king-sized rat struggling in vain to find a way out. The rock is the Cedar Mesa Sandstone, which here underlies red shales beneath the White Rim Sandstone. South of The Maze an area containing tall spires was appropriately named by the Indians “Toom’-pin wu-near’ Tu-weap’,” or “Land of Standing Rocks” (Powell, 1875, p. 154).

West of The Maze is Elaterite Basin, so named because of a dark-brown elastic mineral resin called elaterite, which seeps from the White Rim Sandstone. One of these seeps is shown infigure 34, and a wedge-shaped layer of the sandstone is shown infigure 35. In the Range Canyon area shown infigure 35, sand was being laid down in an offshore bar at the left, while red silts and muds were being deposited on land to the right. The dark bed just above the White Rim near the middle of the photograph is the Hoskinnini Tongue of the Moenkopi Formation, which intertongues with and pinches out in beds of the Moenkopi Formation to left. These are excellent examples of what geologists call facies changes.

South of the Land of Standing Rocks are equally colorful areas known as The Fins and Ernies Country (named after Ernie Larson, an early-day sheep man). A prominent row of spires near Cataract Canyon is known as The Doll House (fig. 36).

ELATERITE SEEPING FROM WHITE RIM SANDSTONE in Elaterite Basin west of The Maze. Elaterite is a dark-brown elastic mineral resin. Photograph by Donald L. Baars. (Fig. 34)

WHITE RIM SANDSTONE in north wall of Range Canyon, south of Elaterite Basin. Bed thins from 230 feet at left (west) to 38 feet at right (east), and disappears (by facies change into red shales) a short distance farther east. See description in text of pinch out of Hoskinnini Tongue. Bed at top of mesa is Moss Back Member of Chinle Formation. Photograph by Donald L. Baars. (Fig. 35)

THE DOLL HOUSE, eroded from Cedar Mesa Sandstone just west of Spanish Bottom, above Cataract Canyon. Notice the red layer at right offset by a fault. Photograph by Parker Hamilton, Flagstaff, Ariz. (Fig. 36)

The Needles district is currently (1973) the most highly developed part of the unfinished park as the result of design, not accident, for this district includes the greatest number and widest variety of spectacular features—The Needles proper, The Grabens (pronounced gräbǝns), colossal arches and other erosional forms, large meadows such as Squaw Flat and Chesler and Virginia Parks, a wide variety of prehistoric ruins and pictographs, and Confluence Overlook for viewing the joining of two mighty rivers—the Green and the Colorado. Like the White Rim and The Maze, the Needles district is another of the broad benchlands about midway between the high mesas and the deep canyons.

Utah Highway 211, as mentioned already, is a 38-mile-long paved road leading to the Needles district from U.S. Highway 163 at a point 15 miles north of Monticello and 18 miles south of La Sal Junction. The intersection is well marked by Church Rock (fig. 37), a butte of the Entrada Sandstone. Highway 211 gradually climbs an eastward-dipping slope of the Navajo Sandstone dotted with a few buttes and patches of the Entrada Sandstone, such as Church Rock, and reaches the first of twosummits 3 miles west of Highway 163. The road crosses a broad gentle valley in the Navajo Sandstone, reaches the second summit about 10 miles from the highway, then descends steeply through the Navajo Sandstone and part of the Kayenta Formation to Indian Creek, 1½ miles below, and follows this creek nearly to The Needles. Half a mile down the canyon takes us to the top of the cliff-forming Wingate Sandstone, and another half mile brings us to Indian Creek State Park and its striking Newspaper Rock (fig. 5). Another 1¾ miles takes us to the base of the Wingate and top of the underlying Chinle Formation, which forms the red slope beneath the cliffs.

Historic Dugout Ranch (p. 14) is 19 miles west of the highway, and from here a dry-weather road leads southward up north Cottonwood Creek 37 miles to Beef Basin and connects with roads to Elk Ridge and the Bears Ears, both just west of the Abajo Mountains. Just west of the ranch we get a good view ahead of two historic landmarks—North and South Six-Shooter Peaks (fig. 38), so named because of their resemblance to a pair of revolvers pointing skyward. The guns are sculptured from slivers of Wingate Sandstone resting upon conical mounds of the Chinle. These can be seen from a wide area; both appear in figures38and40, and the north one is seen infigure 77.

CHURCH ROCK, standing guard at the intersection of U.S. Highway 163 and the east end of Utah Highway 211 leading to the Needles district. Rock is Entrada Sandstone: red foundation is Dewey Bridge Member; yellowish smooth rounded body of church is Slick Rock Member; white steeple is Moab Member. La Sal Mountains at left. (Fig. 37)

NORTH AND SOUTH SIX-SHOOTER PEAKS, looking west from entrance road to The Needles. (Fig. 38)

A mile west of Dugout Ranch we descend to the top of the Moss Back Member of the Chinle, a ledge of gray-green sandstone forming the base of this generally red formation, and reach the base of the member at the top of the Moenkopi Formation in the next mile and a half. The Moss Back is uranium bearing in nearby areas.

At 3.8 miles west of Dugout Ranch a poorly marked road on the left crosses Indian Creek, then forks; the left-hand fork follows the bed of Lavender Canyon, and the right-hand fork goes into Davis Canyon. Headwaters of both these canyons are new additions to the park.

The red Organ Rock Tongue of the Cutler Formation is seen about 3 miles beyond the turnoff, or about 6 miles west of Dugout Ranch. Another 1½ miles takes us down in the rock column (fig. 9) to the top of the Cedar Mesa Sandstone. The White Rim Sandstone, which forms such a prominent bench around the southern part of Island in the Sky (figs.20-23) and west of the Green River, is missing from the Needles district, its place in the rock column being taken by red shales and sandstones of the Cutler Formation. South of Indian Creek other underlying red beds of the Cutler are gradually replaced in turnby the thick Cedar Mesa Sandstone. Erosion has reduced the general level of the Needles district to or into the Cedar Mesa Sandstone, but many streams have cut into the underlying Rico Formation, and the Colorado River has cut also into, and in places through, the limestones of the unnamed upper member of the Hermosa Formation. Our first view of The Needles is another 4 miles, and 1 more mile takes us to the park boundary, nearly 32 miles from the U.S. Highway 163. We pass a road on the right leading to Canyonlands Resort, and on the left is a new line camp which replaces the restored one at Cave Spring (fig. 6).

The unusual features of the Needles district are due in some part to the character and thickness of the underlying rocks but in large part to erosion along joints and faults. Joints are fractures along which no displacement has taken place, and faults are fractures along which there has been displacement of the two sides relative to one another (fig. 76). The Cedar Mesa Sandstone comprises 500 to 600 feet or more of hard well-cemented buff, white, and pink beds of massive sandstone. On the basis of the type and amount of deformation and erosion of the Cedar Mesa Sandstone and underlying rocks, the Needles district can be divided into three differing areas: (1) an eastern area where the rocks are relatively undeformed but are carved into an intricate series of canyons, including Salt Canyon and the upper reaches of Davis and Lavender Canyons—the section of the district that contains most of the arches and Indian ruins; (2) The Needles proper, where tensional forces have cracked the brittle Cedar Mesa Sandstone into a crazy-quilt pattern of square to rectangular blocks separated by joints widened by erosion, creating a myriad of spires and pinnacles; and (3) The Grabens, where the previously jointed rocks were later subjected to additional tensional forces that produced a series of nearly parallel faults that trend northeastward and separate downdropped blocks of rock, called grabens, from intervening stationary or upthrown blocks of rock, called horsts.

Let us examine each of these areas in the order named. For traveling to most features a four-wheel-drive vehicle is strongly recommended. Some visitors negotiate the jeep trails with dune buggies or motorcycles, but four-wheel-drive vehicles are considered safer and generally more reliable. A few trails can be traveled only on foot.

Squaw Flat, in the western part of the relatively undeformed area, is a nearly flat area of lower Cedar Mesa Sandstone covered here and there by a thin layer of sparsely vegetated soil and surrounded by generally low hilly erosional forms in the upper part of the sandstone. Short canyons and alcoves in thesandstone hills along the west side afford excellent semi-private campsites, each of which has its own paved access road, picnic table, and trash can (fig. 39). Moreover, ground water at shallow depth in the underlying sandstone has encouraged the growth of exceptionally large piñon and juniper trees that provide welcome shade.

SQUAW FLAT CAMPGROUND, in the Needles district, in Cedar Mesa Sandstone. Large piñon and juniper trees draw ground water from this sandstone. (Fig. 39)

A glance at the southeast corner of the map (fig. 1) shows that most of the arches and prehistoric ruins in the park are in Salt Canyon and its main tributary, Horse Canyon. A few are in adjacent Davis and Lavender Canyons, whose headwaters were recently annexed to the park. These canyons are accessible only by negotiating the streambeds on four-wheel-drive vehicles, horseback, or foot. Salt or Horse Canyons are best conquered by four-wheel-drive vehicles plus short hikes in the northern part and long hikes in the southern part.

An aerial view (fig. 40) eastward across Salt Canyon shows that erosion has produced an intricate series of meandering canyons separated by rather narrow walls of the Cedar Mesa Sandstone, resembling somewhat The Maze, west of the Green River.

AERIAL VIEW EASTWARD ACROSS SALT CANYON. Note narrow walls and pinnacles between canyons and alcoves. Six-Shooter Peaks are in left background. Photograph by Wayne Alcorn, National Park Service. (Fig. 40)

The massive sandstone beds of the Cedar Mesa are composed of sand grains cemented together by calcium carbonate (CaCO₃), which also forms the mineral called calcite and the rock known as limestone. Limestone and calcite are soluble in acid, even weak acid such as carbonic acid (H·HCO₃), formed by solution of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in water. Ground water, found everywhere in rock openings at differing depths beneath the surface, contains considerable dissolved carbon dioxide derived from decaying organic matter in soil, from the atmosphere, and from other sources. Even rain water and snow contain small amounts absorbed from the atmosphere—enough to dissolve small amounts of limestone or of calcite cement in sandstone. The calcite cement in the Cedar Mesa and many other sandstones is unevenly distributed, so the cement is removed first from places that contain the least amounts, and once the cement is dissolved, the loose sand grains are carried away by gravity, wind, or water. Thus, relatively thin walls of sandstone containing irregularly distributed patches of soluble cement are prime targets for the formation of potholes (fig. 46), alcoves, and caves. Once a breakthrough occurs, weakened chunks from the ceiling tend to fall off, and arches of various shapes are produced, because anarch is naturally the strongest form that can support the overlying rock load. Man, from the ancient Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians to modern day, has long made use of arches in building bridges, aqueducts, temples, cathedrals, and other enduring edifices. All the spectacular arches we are about to see were carved from the Cedar Mesa Sandstone.

Let us begin our tour of Salt and Horse Canyons by driving a four-wheel-drive vehicle eastward from the fine campground at Squaw Flat. After about a mile we pass the Wooden Shoe (fig. 41) capping a ridge south of the highway; it contains one of the smallest arches we will encounter. Three quarters of a mile east of the temporary ranger station we come to Cave Spring, an old restored cowboy line camp pictured infigure 6. This and an adjacent cave containing a spring are part of the interesting well-marked Environmental Trail, well worth the half hour or so it requires.

WOODEN SHOE, near temporary ranger headquarters, the Needles district. Carved in Cedar Mesa Sandstone. (Fig. 41)

The jeep trail up Salt Canyon lies mostly in the sandy bed of Salt Creek but includes a few shortcuts across goosenecks and some rough rocky stretches around rapids or waterfalls. It is best traveled when the canyon bottom is moist but not soaked. When the sand is soft and dry, a shift into four-wheel drive is generally necessary. Signs warn of quicksand, which occurs when the sand is fully saturated; hence, summer thundershowers sometimes require delaying or postponing the trip.When in doubt, consult a park ranger for expected weather and trail conditions. Thundershowers sometimes occur so suddenly and violently as to cause serious floods, and the “road” is closed when heavy rain is expected. However, if an unexpected storm occurs while you are up in the canyon, try to reach high ground and wait until the flood subsides. If you do not have time to get your vehicle out of the flood’s path, at least get yourself and passengers to a safe spot.

PAUL BUNYANS POTTY, on east wall of Horse Canyon. (Fig. 42)

Two and a half miles south of Cave Spring we reach the confluence with Horse Canyon, marked by a sign at the Y giving distances to points of interest up each canyon. Let us try Horse Canyon first. After about a mile we pass Paul Bunyans Potty on the left—one of the most aptly titled features of the park (fig. 42). Two miles south of the Y is Keyhole Ruin, nestled in a clefthigh on the cliff to our left—a granary built by the Anasazi. Here we face another Y. The left fork leads half a mile east to Tower Ruin (fig. 4), one of the largest and best preserved Anasazi granaries in the park. The right fork takes us on up Horse Canyon, and in about 2 miles we pass Gothic Arch on the right. In 2 more miles, 4 miles from Salt Canyon, a short hike up the tributary to the right leads to Castle Arch and Thirteen Faces. Assuming we have taken photographs of the important features along the way, it probably is about time to return to camp at Squaw Flat, unless we choose to spend the night at Peek-a-boo Spring and primitive campground in Salt Canyon, about 1.2 miles above the confluence with Horse Canyon.

Another drive takes us up Salt Canyon 8½ miles past the confluence with Horse Canyon to another confluence and Y, which has a primitive campsite without water. One mile up the left, or southeast, tributary is a parking area where we begin the ½-mile walk to Angel Arch, considered by many people to be the most beautiful and spectacular arch in the park if not in the entire canyon country. Angel Arch was drawn for the front cover by John R. Stacy and is pictured infigure 43.

Petroglyph

ANGEL ARCH, along tributary of Salt Canyon. (Fig. 43)

FISHEYE ARCH, along upper Salt Canyon, looking north. Photograph by National Park Service. (Fig. 44)

From the last Y we can proceed only about 2½ miles farther up main Salt Canyon by vehicle, and the remaining features shown on the map (fig. 1) can be reached only on foot. The All American Man, a unique pictograph referred to earlier (fig. 3), is about 3½ miles up the canyon. Those hardy souls who wish to hike many additional miles to the head of Salt Canyon will be rewarded with views of four additional arches and several ruins. Two of these arches are shown in figures44and45.

The more adventuresome may wish to explore upper Lavender and Davis Canyons by driving up the sand washes in a four-wheel-drive vehicle, but inquiry should be made from a park ranger regarding access to the canyon mouths and condition of the washes. Hand Holt Arch (fig. 46) and Cleft Arch (fig. 47) are two of the rewarding sights in Lavender Canyon, andfigure 48shows one of the arches in Davis Canon.

WEDDING RING ARCH, along upper Salt Canyon. Photograph by National Park Service. (Fig. 45)

HAND HOLT ARCH, in Lavender Canyon. Note holes in sandstone formed by solution and wind scour. Photograph by National Park Service. (Fig. 46)

CLEFT ARCH, in upper Lavender Canyon, looking north. Photograph by E. N. Hinrichs. (Fig. 47)

ARCH, in upper Davis Canyon, looking northwest. Photograph by E. N. Hinrichs. (Fig. 48)

THE NEEDLES, looking southwest from Squaw Flat. (Fig. 49)

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