Labor Day Weekend in the Needles

Over the Labor Day weekend I decided to head down to the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park to revisit some rock art and to find some new panels. I explored a lot of the park in my Jeep and on foot. I drove over Elephant Hill a few times and I ended up camping just outside of the park in Bobbys Hole. I even found the time to take a quick side trip up into Beef Basin. Here’s some of my photos from the weekend…

 

Black Hands
Black Hands

A few black handprints.

 

Devils Lane
Devils Lane

Driving through the Devils Lane.

 

Feet & Hands
Feet & Hands

A small section of the SOB Hill Panel.

 

SOB Hands
SOB Hands

Many handprints of the SOB Hill Panel.

 

SOB Hill Panel
SOB Hill Panel

The full SOB Hill Panel.

 

Under Hands
Under Hands

A couple more handprints under an overhanging rock.

 

Framed Handprints
Framed Handprints

The Needles has no shortage of handprints!

 

Grabens Panelramic
Grabens Panelramic

This was the main panel I was looking for this trip, which I did manage to find. It’s a tough one to get a good photo of, so here’s my attempt at bringing out the pictographs.

 

Grabens Panel Right
Grabens Panel Right

A closer look at the right side of the panel. Very interesting anthropomorphs.

 

Middle Park Granary B&W
Middle Park Granary B&W

I got to revisit one of my favorite granaries in Beef Basin and took this shot in black & white.

 

Ruin Park
Ruin Park

Driving through Ruin Park.

 

Peekaboo & Trail Arch
Peekaboo & Trail Arch

A nice visit to the Peekaboo pictograph panel. The small opening on the left is Trail Arch.

 

Peekaboo Shields B&W
Peekaboo Shields B&W

The Peekaboo shields in black & white.

 

Small White BCS
Small White BCS

A small white Barrier Canyon Style pictograph.

 

Peekaboo Panel
Peekaboo Panel

White Anasazi pictographs over a very faint Barrier Canyon Style Panel.

 

Trail Arch
Trail Arch

Trail Arch and a hoodoo.

 

Two Orange Anthropomorphs
Two Orange Anthropomorphs

Three small anthropomorphs…two of them appear to be orange.

 

Cat Man
Cat Man

A very unique pictograph in the Flying Carpet Panel.

 

One Arm
One Arm

More handprints and a one-armed anthropomorph.

 

Flying Carpet
Flying Carpet

The amazing Flying Carpet.

 

Flying Carpet Panel
Flying Carpet Panel

The Flying Carpet Panel.

 

White Eyestalks
White Eyestalks

Here’s an interesting white figure.

 

Roadside Boulder
Roadside Boulder

I even managed to find a new boulder with petroglyphs along Indian Creek.

 

Roadside Boulder Petroglyphs
Roadside Boulder Petroglyphs

A closer look at the petroglyphs.

It was a nice weekend and I managed to find a few new panels, but I didn’t find everything I was looking for….so I’ll be returning again soon!