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—a sister 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.