The Needles
"A symbolic manifestation of Man's role in the Universe..."

Massive Canyonlands National Park contains well over 500 square miles of rugged wilderness. The Colorado and Green Rivers intersect within the park, dividing it into three large sections.

The northern portion of the park, which sits atop a massive mesa 1500 feet above the surrounding terrain, is referred to as The Island in the Sky. Providing unbelievable views encompassing thousands of square miles, you can see well over 100 miles in any given direction on a clear day.

The southwestern portion of the park, which consists of a wild labyrinth of jumbled canyons, is aptly named The Maze. Located west of both the Colorado and Green Rivers, this area is frequently described as the most remote and inaccessible area in the United States.

Finally, there is the southeastern portion of the park referred to as The Needles. In this section you are surrounded by the terrain glimpsed from above while on The Island in the Sky. Wandering among the monoliths, spires, and canyons, the landscape of The Needles is an intimate experience of rock, color and form. The Needles is a fairly remote area, with most of its treasures accessible only via rough 4 wheel drive roads and/or overnight backpacking trips.

Ward's Shangri-La

The following excerpt from Ward J. Roylance’s The Enchanted Wilderness describes his fascination with The Needles district of Canyonlands National Park. Ward loved this area's rugged beauty and often described it as his personal Shangri-La. In this excerpt from Part One of his book, Ward describes a trip he took into the Needles in 1947 accompanied by his brother Bill and friend Grant Heward...

We left The Needles next morning, but not for the last time. That incredible sandstone jungle haunted me. No adequate description of The Needles ever has been written, to my knowledge. Nor has any writer done descriptive justice to the adjoining Salt Creek labyrinth, or to the Land of Standing Rocks across the river. These, with The Needles, are units of a compact, architecturally integrated region surrounding the confluence of the Green and Colorado rivers.

I am not sure that anybody could come close to conveying in words or on film the peculiar magic of that sacred heart of Canyonlands. So far as I know that area is completely unique, not only in physical characteristics but also because its forms, designs and color combinations are so absolutely alien to the concepts associated with natural phenomena in more familiar places.

They are a new entry in the book of esthetics. Human psychology has not yet adapted to them - or, for that matter, to the art in stone displayed elsewhere throughout the Enchanted Wilderness.

Newberry likened the spires of The Needles to the towers of Manhattan. That is a valid comparison, but only in a vague sense, for no skyline built by man matches the mystical skyline of The Needles in delicacy and harmonious variation of line and form, not to mention coloration.

The rock forms of this area simply are beyond count or classification, for they change into something different with every repositioning of perspective, however minute, whether the viewer moves backward or forward, up or down, left or right. Every exquisitely contoured form or slope flows magically into adjoining forms or slopes; all of these together combine into an inorganic masterpiece that cannot be fully appreciated from the ground alone, or from any single high place, or even from a moving airplane or, for that matter, from any fixed points, however numerous and varied. All perspectives are necessary for appreciation. Appreciation is dependent, also, on personal moods, seasons, weather, and hours of the day.

I knew then that I could never exhaust the visual and emotional treasury of The Needles, but I tried to do so with repeated visits over the coming years. Even then I could write, "Some day this area will be as well known as Bryce and Zion, probably, although now even people around here don't know what the Needles are."

Thank heaven that prophecy has not come true. I hope it never does. It never could, of course. The very ruggedness and isolation of the area will prevent that, at least for years to come. And this may be its salvation from people pollution. Industrialization is another matter.

- Ward J. Roylance - from The Enchanted Wilderness  (c) 1986

My Personal Reflections on The Needles

In September of 1993, I took a trip with Ward Roylance into The Needles. As fate would have it, this was to be my last journey into Red Rock Country with Ward who passed away two months after the trip.

Our journey into The Needles was a fantastic experience. We spent several days penetrating into the very heart of the Needles. We explored Salt Creek Country, stood beneath Angel Arch, traversed Elephant Hill, gazed upon the confluence of the Green and Colorado Rivers, watched sunsets and sunrises that ignited the landscape in a blaze of color, and slept beneath a silent night sky that reminded us of the infinite dimensions of time and space.

Near the end of our trip we took a flight over the entire Canyonlands area. Timing our flight so it coincided with the approaching sunset, we spent nearly an hour exploring, and attempting to comprehend, the magnificent landscape we had wandered within for the past several days.

The entire trip was an overwhelming experience that left my senses practically over-saturated with beauty. For many weeks I attempted to adequately express my feelings about The Needles. In one of my final letters to Ward I wrote the following...

I've been thinking about how I could adequately express my personal impressions of our trip into the Needles. Since the land has been your Shangri-La for so many years, I'm sure that a simple description of the physical aspects of the trip would be almost trivial to you. As I have always said, it is the spiritual aspect of Red Rock Country that calls out to me so much and it is that aspect which I love to write about.

As I mentioned to you previously, I felt rather deep spiritual manifestations in The Needles. While it was the same general type of manifestation that I have felt elsewhere in Red Rock Country, The Needles were different in several important respects.

Over the past few weeks I have been wrestling, with little success, with the words required to express my feelings about The Needles. Tonight my impressions came to me not in words, but in music. As you know, classical music is a catalyst for my feelings and a lens through which I see much of the harmonious beauty of canyon country.

The musical manifestations of this land take on many varied qualities and textures. I have heard much since my journeys started so many years ago. After doing much reflection on the music in my soul, it occurred to me that The Needles have provided me with is the completion of a symphony. I can now stand back and see the total composition - the full range of musical nuances that make up the whole. What a wonderful feeling of fulfillment it has given me! To explain what I mean I must give specific examples of various elements of this composition, this symphony of nature.

Consider dawn in Cathedral Valley. Simply put, that was the epitome of beauty for me. It literally was a dream come true in terms of radiant beauty. Pure. Maximum intensity of color and form. The parallel lines of the distant cathedrals were straight - linear, undeviating, aligned with each other. What I hear there is purity of tone, simple harmony radiating beauty. Like a performance with a solo instrument, dawn in Cathedral Valley isolates the pure individual elements of the environment. Beauty radiates, resonates, saturates, and calms the soul. The spirit is uplifted and soars.

Now consider the Maze. Smooth, graceful curves of banded color swirling around each other. What I saw and heard in our dream flight over the Maze was synchroneity. Many individual elements together, synchronously adding up into the whole. These self embracing, exquisite curves work together, harmoniously, resulting in a masterful composition of beauty and musical verse. When I see the maze I hear Divine orchestration. A collection of many individual elements adding up to form the perfect whole is, to me, a manifestation of God. A part of him lies within each of us, and together, we, and all life forms together, are the spirit of God. The chaos of the Maze emphasizes man's struggle on Earth, in Earth!

Now consider the Needles. As I have mentioned previously, I see manifestations of so many human-like qualities in the rock formations there. The music that I hear while there is choral. Choral music has always been very spiritual music. The instrument is man himself guided only by his soul. Perfection in this particular realm of music draws one very close to the spiritual aspect of life. The purity of a human voice - the harmony of that voice in unification with other human voices - what better illustration can there be of man's spiritual link?! So, the human qualities of The Needles are to me a symbol of the link between our human half and our spiritual half. The Needles seems to be a portal - a stepping stone. I do not see countless individual figures in timeless stances in the Needles, I see harmonious human figures united together forming a spiritual bridge to God. No wonder it has been your Shangri-La for so long! It is a magnificent manifestation of the spiritual qualities that lie beneath all of Red Rock Country. It truly is a sanctuary for the sensitive soul. How sumptuous its beauty. How satisfying its spiritual purpose. A symbolic manifestation of Man's role in the Universe reflected in a physical manifestation of God Himself. Unity. Oneness. At peace with one's self. This is the feeling of being at home that I spoke of previously!

In my soul I have heard the radiant beauty of Cathedral Valley. I have listened to the coordinated loveliness of the Maze. And now, I have felt the presentation of the ultimate symphony of nature, a majestic symphony conducted by the hand of God and played in the soul of Man.

- Robert F. Riberia - September, 1993