| OCR Text |
Show i . r , v r r ,ii i ; f , , , Jit J r,., T - W-C H v -- L. -v , T. - '! p.. , - v- - ' V- : ; Xr.. was-.--:..J a'tiW-stW Kjir-w-w-.W'M?? - JJ, - J I ' ,.1"'"' . -js133 . f . "r- r,. n.i. .- ".i pMS8ei3ai9 y 1 jui. w - - - ; --f ;rV ---C -.-' '"1 ... 6-Ych-'"-r,a - ' " J From Anticline Overlook, the massive solar eyaporatiort ponds below Dead Horse Poirit are visible beyond the Cola- Spectacular BLM Recreational Development Near Moab Attracting Many Visitors BY FRAN BARNES Roughly midway between Moab and Monticello, a pav- ed road heads west from U.S. 163. On this road, near the junction, a large sign announces an-nounces that the area being entered is "Canyon Rims Recreation Area," a Bureau of Land Management development. devel-opment. Now, to the average trav- eler, the phrase "recreation area" brings . to mind vis- ' ions of a place in which a , variety of .recreational, developments de-velopments . and . potentials exist campgrounds,, hiking-trails, hiking-trails, lakes, marinas, iishing ; - streams, hunting,' or .some combination ,f "these and otfi-' er outdoor recreational ..op-'' portunities. Or.perhaDS, -even' if developments, are scarce,; rado. River.' Some: visitors claim the ponds add to the scenic . - interest, others consider them a distraction. , 1 , , . . an area in which recreational recreation-al use has' been given priority .over other .uses..' ". '- : 1 Unfortunately, .'Canyon Rims Recreation I, Area.' fails both . 'of tRese. criteria. , Recreaition-al Recreaition-al opportunities and develop. , mer.ts are- few-and- far ber -: tween,' and the ; 'multiple -use", ' : aspect that has : obviously ' been given top- priority - js grayling. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of . acres - of Juni-per-pinyon forest have been ("chained" . flat .t.-.-improve .grazing. . f .. ...... : '. Despite" the somewhat misleading mis-leading use of the term "rec- ' "reaition area," Hatch Point, . the ; 20-mile long ;canyon-ram-med mesa that has . been dubbed. Canyon Rims Recreation Recrea-tion Area, does' have something some-thing to offer, the Canyon-' lands traveler or resident. It has two small but excellent campgrounds, and two beautifully beau-tifully developed overlook ' viewpoints. . Some feel that one-of these.,.. Anticline Overlook,, Over-look,, rivals . nearby Dead Horse Point ' and Grandview Point for, spectacular scenic ' beauty. Windwhistle ' Campground, only five miles from .U.S. 163, is the larger of the two developed campsites, with 19 units. It is also the more scenic,, set at the base of a complex of large nd vividly colorful' Entrada - sandstone ridges, domes and ' fins. The second campground, Hatch Point Campground, sits ' on a wooded, rocky ridge, 26 . miles from the- main highway, and has only ten developed' sites. Both campgrounds camp-grounds ' have tables, barbecues, barbe-cues, restrooms and water,' ' but close during the winter i months. Fine for Travelers , ' Windwhistle Campground makes an excellent ofRhe-I ofRhe-I highway overnight campsite s for Canyonlands travelers, or ! a fine base from which to visit- the- two Canyon Rims S viewpoints and explore the Needles District of Oanyon- lands National Park. Hatch Point Campground makes a god base camp for" those who wish to use off-road vehicles to explore the maze of jeep trails that' lace the canyon system between Hatch Point and; U.S. 163. The two scenic overlooks that are the principal attractions at-tractions within the; Canyon Rims Recreation Area are accessible by family car. Needles .Overlook, 23 miles jrom U.S. 163, is reached by paved road. . Branching from this road, some 16 miles from U.S. 163, a good gravel road travels another 17 miles . to Anticline Overlook. This realignment re-alignment of the former dirt road, opened this year, offers, of-fers, more canyon rim views to the West and is a vast improvement over the original' orig-inal' dusty, rocky and sometimes some-times muddy road. It passes to the west of Hatch Point Campground, although road maps still show only the old ; road going to the eaat of the campground. .' . i A Fine View JVeedles Overlook is a high, j spectacular rocky point over-i over-i , looking the Needles District ; 1 of Canyonlands National Park ( and the vast redrock canyon i complex that lies between ' the park and the cliffs that define Hatch Point. The viewpoint view-point is fenced for the protection pro-tection of visitors and offers a shady pavilion and seats along the path around the viewpoint perimeter. - This path is short and easy, but can still make visitors gasp from the sheerness of thfl cliffs below the viewpoint, and from the spectacular beauty that sfXetctleS towar3 the distant horizon. To the northwest, the great vertical peninsulas of Island In The Sky and Dead Horse Point dominate, punctuate? by the isolated mesa ot Junction Junc-tion Butfe. To tiie west, the labryinthine maze of canyans formed by the Green and Colorado Rivers and their Confluence is bounded by the distant Orange Qjffs. To the south stand the twin spires of North and South Sixshoot-er Sixshoot-er Peaks, and to the Southwest South-west are the Needles, where thousands of colorful sandstone sand-stone spires point fingerlike at the sky. A Long View And on clear days, it Is possible to see aE three of southeastern Utah's lacolith-ic lacolith-ic mountain ranges the La-Sals La-Sals to the northeast, the Abajos to the south and the Henrys on the far western horizon, looming above the Orange Cliffs. The gravel road to Anticline Anti-cline Overlook travels principally prin-cipally across open, rolling terrain, but also offers tantalizing tan-talizing glimpses down inta the vast, red amphitheater of Lockhart Basin. A few miles from Anticline Overlook, Over-look, a short spur road leads to an unnamed scenic overlook over-look from which the Colo-rad Colo-rad River is visible far below. be-low. Anticline Overlook itself is developed somewhat like the Needles Overlook with - a perimeter path, seats, a pavilion pav-ilion and display, and its rim guarded by fencing. But the view from Anticline is even more breathtaking, a sweep-, ing panorama of scenery that almost "boxes the compass." To the southwest and west the sheer escarpments of Island in the Sky and Dead Horse Point dominate the skyline, while the tortuous turnings of the Colorado Ri-ver Ri-ver are visible some 1800 feet below. Between the river and Dead Horse Point, vast terraced solar evaporation ponds sprawl across sand-flats sand-flats the color of old rose. A Keal AnticTThe ' Visible along the river cliffs, and in the canyon walls to the north, are the tilted, uplifted geologic strata that give the viewpoint its name.1 A humping up oF horizontal rock strata is called an "anticline." "an-ticline." The anticline seen from Anlticline Overlook i3 spectacularly visible because the Colorado River and one of its tributaries, Cane Creek have sliced deeply into the upward-bulging strata, exposing ex-posing the distorted rock formations as in a sliced layer-cake. To the north and northeast o fthe viewpoint, the vast Navajo Na-vajo slickrock expanses of Behind-The-Rocks, Amasa Back and Poison Spider Mesa Me-sa are spread. A tiny glipse of green Moab Valley can also be seen through the distant Colorado River Portal. Por-tal. Dominating the sceneto the east is massive Cane Springs Canyon, with the sharp peaks of the LaSal Mountains soaring soar-ing above its far rim. Winding Wind-ing the length of this canyon, except in drought years, is fiie silvery riobon of Cane Creek, bordered by the bright green of Cottonwood frees, river willow and tamarisk. And coming up the canyon from Moab, Cane Creek Road fords the creek, makes a wide loop, ascends the picturesquely picturesq-uely eroded, tilted rocK strata stra-ta directly below the viewpoint, view-point, crosses Hurrah Pass, then descends as a jeep trail into the wild canyon wilffer-ness wilffer-ness between Hurrah Pass and the Colorado River. A Stone's Throw : From Anticline Overlook it is almost literally a stone's throw to the summit of Hurrah Hur-rah Pass below, but by road it is close to 100 miles! It is curious to note that certain oil company map makers have inadvertently connected these two points, thus showing show-ing a loop road on their maps, and confusing any num-"ber num-"ber of motorists.. There are tentative plans' to close this loop but the connecting Section Sec-tion of road must come down Trough Springs Canyon, some four miles south of Anticline Overlook, then connect with the Cane Creek road in the canyon bottom. Topographic and certain other maps of this region show still another viewpoint between Needles and Anticline Anti-cline overlooks. It is called Canyonlands Overlook. This rocky promontory exists, and remnants of a jeep trail lead to it, but ;finding that ' trail and following it can provide a full day of adventure for off-road vehicle enthusiasts. Slickrock and drift sand make the trail difficult to find and - rot-low in 'many places, but a diligent driver with a versatile ver-satile vehicle can find the way, given time. Yes, Canyon Rims Recre ation Area dou hare mx to offer- the Canyonlands vi ' itor or resident, -even thJui perhaps it would m0re aSn propriately be called yon Rims Scenic Area " |
