Page
A new park is born 1
Major Powell’s river expeditions 4
Early history 9
Prehistoric people 9
Late arrivals 14
Geographic setting 17
Rocks and landforms 20
How to see the park 26
The high mesas 27
Island in the Sky 27
Dead Horse Point State Park 30
North entrance 34
Shafer and White Rim Trails 34
Grand View Point 36
Green River Overlook 43
Upheaval Dome 43
Hatch Point 46
Needles Overlook 47
Canyonlands Overlook 48
U-3 Loop 49
Anticline Overlook 50
Orange Cliffs 54
The Benchlands 58
The Maze and Land of Standing Rocks 58
The Needles district 60
Salt, Davis, and Lavender Canyons 64
The Needles and The Grabens 73
Canyons of the Green and Colorado Rivers 85
Entrenched and cutoff meanders 86
Green River 87
Colorado River 96
Summary of geologic history 112
Additional reading 117
Acknowledgments 118
Selected references 118
Index 123