Canyonlands National Park - Needles District

October 23-27, 2025

I arrived at Needles In Canyonlands in the evening on Thursday, October 23. It took about two hours to drive from Moab. I had a reservation for one night in B21. I was surprised to see a day open at all when I had checked about two weeks ago. There are only thirteen reservable campsites, and it just so happened there was one site open on one day. In general, it’s all booked. When I have checked back again to see if anything else had opened up, there was never anything available, not until two days available at one site on November 2. The campground is usually full every night.

There are two campground loops at Needles, a “reservations only” loop (Loop B) and a “first come first serve” loop (Loop A). My plan was to wake early and go over to Loop A and “find” an open site. I talked with one of the campground hosts, Wendy, about my plan. She said go over to Loop A early because often people leave early and others take the sites soon. I also determined there could be others in Loop B looking for a site in Loop A, just like me. I rode my bike over to Loop A at 7AM and Site 3 was available. I had already filled out my reservation envelop so I attached the stub to the site. Just like that, I had a campsite for three more days, just as I had hoped.

Sunrise, October 24, 2025

Wendy and her husband Jeffrey work as volunteers. They have a trailer-camper here in Loop A. They work three and a half days on, three and a half days off. They love it here. They also spend parts of summer in Alaska as camp hosts at a park up there. They are retired from working and living in Yellowstone for twenty-five years. They are an outdoor appreciating couple. They were super helpful. They now live in Vermont when they are not volunteering. I joked with them about moving from Yellowstone to Vermont being a move to a warmer climate. Yellowstone is a cold place. I don’t know how people can live in such cold places. The average winter high and low temperature are . It must be the natural setting, great scenery, and abundant wildlife.

On Friday I did a three hour bike ride on park roads. It was amazing. The landscape is other worldly, and the weather was perfect. The sky was a mix of slowly drifting clouds against a deep blue background. There are red rock formations scattered withing grasslands in most directions, a variety of statuesque entities layered with different degrees of color. They began as sand, mineral grains deposited millions of years ago in inland seas that appeared and disappeared over time, each time depositing additional layers of sediment. The sand was compressed, eventually turning into sedimentary rock.

This area is part of the Colorado Plateau, which covers a large expanse reaching across parts of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah. The plateau was uplifted more or less as an elevated, flat landmass. Time and erosion have contributed to the creation of the landscape all across the plateau, water and wind removing much of the material that once was here, while leaving these rock formations that, for some reason, were stronger or were not affected as much by erosion by wind and water.

I was in no hurry on the bike. I stopped often to enjoy the view and the quiet that pervades. Needles is a long way from anywhere. It does not receive the crowds that flock to Moab, close to Arches National Park and Island in the Sky, another district of Canyonlands that is closer to Moab. It is about sixty-five miles from Moab to Needles.

I came here to Needles for the first time in October 1988 with Marcus Irrek. We worked together at Chuck’s Steak House in Danbury. We arranged for a month off to travel to Utah and explore parks. We visited and/or camped at Colorado National Monument, Arches National Park, Island in the Sky (Canyonlands NP), Needles (Canyonlands NP), Natural Bridges National Park, Monument Valley (Navajo Nation), Grand Canyon (North Rim), Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, and Capitol Reef National Park. It was an amazing experience.

going for a walk ...

I came back to Needles in 1989 with Diana Dear, a woman from Colorado that Marcus and I had met in Moab the year before. We backpacked down Horse Canyon eight miles to Fortress Arch. On our second night here, we saw Aurora Borealis in the sky, quite amazing in this environment.

I returned sometime in the 1990s with Eddy Hayes, a friend and coworker from the Harvest Restaurant and Bakery in Boulder. We drove to Moab to do the Moab Half-Marathon, then headed down here to do some hiking. I came here again on my own in 1996 on Spring break from my first year of teaching (Brookfield High School, chemistry and biology). That was a solo backpacking trip. I came here one other time, though I am not sure of the year, but I recall doing two long hikes, one to the Joint Trail and the other to the Green River-Colorado River Confluence. But the last trip here was that one in 1996, nearly thirty years ago. It feels brand new being here again.

On Saturday I did a hike up Wooden Shoe Canyon and down Big Springs Canyon. It was a great hike, taking nearly four hours walking a diverse terrain of sandy dry, seasonal streambeds and slickrock. The streambeds probably only fill after storms. There were little pools of water occasionally, but mostly they were dry.

Amazing hiking up slickrock between canyons ...

Hiking in Needles is uplifting and entertaining. There are rock cairns to lead the way, though at times one has to search diligently for them. Cairns are usually small, stacked piles of rocks. The views are beyond words, mesmerizing. It is amazing that the trails even exist as they do. They are “constructed” along some steep rock faces. If it were wet it would be very dangerous. If there was snow it simply could not be done. One has to walk on rock that has nearly a 20% slope at times, and if one slipped they would fall a long way.

In order to cross from Wooden Shoe into Big Springs, there is about a mile’s worth of slickrock that gains considerable elevation. This is where the steeply pitched surfaces are crossed. Good shoes are necessary. There were also a few places where I just sat down on the rock and slid my way a few feet down rather than try to walk such a steep slope. It was a very satisfying hike. When I was crossing the hump, I looked up one side of it and instantly recognized it as a hike Marcus and I had done. A difference was that we hiked it counterclockwise and I hiked it clockwise.

It took me 3h 49m to do 7.32 miles. I had several stops to take photos and drink Gatorade. I also stopped to talk with some other hikers. There was a couple from Tennessee at the trail junction with Lost Canyon. At the top of the saddle between Wooden Shoe and Big Springs, I talked with a couple from the Zion area. Shortly after that, as I descended, I stopped and talked with a couple from Oregon. A park ranger stopped by on her way up to the saddle, too. The mile that involved the climb and descent, mile five, took 53 minutes, about 20-25 minutes longer than any other mile. Most of the extra time was spent talking with these people.

On Sunday morning, my legs felt kind of shot from the previous day’s hike. I think being on the uneven surface of the slickrock utilized muscles and joints in an unfamiliar manner. I decided not to do another hike instead opting for a short bike ride. Short because it was so windy. I planned to do thirty-two miles and happily stopped at seventeen.

FYI, outside of the park there are some other camping options. About a mile from the entrance is Needles Outpost. It is a privately owned business with space for RVs and tents. They also have tents or yurts for those who want to stay in them. They have showers ($10.00) and firewood for sale. They do not have electric or water for RVs. About five miles from the park entrance there are some BLM campgrounds. One of them is Hamburger Rock. Marcus, Diana, and I stayed there when we arrived back in 1988 because the park’s campground was filled. We found a site in the park the next day.

Next up, I travel to Goblin Valley State Park north of Hanksville, UT. It’s about 180 miles from Needles.