the needles

On the western fringes of the Needles district of Canyonlands National Park in Utah are a series of high mesas which tower some 1,000 feet above the surrounding canyons. Whilst exploring some remote areas of the park in March this year, I wandered up to the end of a fairly nondescript box...

Our two week long October trip to southern Utah was a bit too brief, but we had a great time and- other than one afternoon downpour- perfect weather. We based out of several great camping spots. Checked out some prime real estate. Viewed artwork both man made... ...and natural. Scrambled a...

Despite the many frustrations of the Covid restrictions of 2020 and 2021, I had plenty of time to pore over maps, blogs, and guide-books and plan a big hike on the Colorado Plateau for Spring 2022. My previous long-distance hike in the US South-West in 2019 was a fantastic experience and I...

I recently completed a 105 mile loop hike, over 7 days, around the eastern section of the Needles canyon system in Canyonlands National Park; namely Salt Creek, Horse Canyon, Davis Canyon, and Lavender Creek. One of the inspirations for the hike was the incredible Google Earth aerial view of...

Spring break this year took me to Salt Creek Canyon in Canyonlands NP where I enjoyed four days of solitude on trail. I wish it had been more, but a few days here and there throughout the year are about all that I can squeeze in with work and other obligations these days. I am in the camp that...

Part 1 of the trip report available here “The canyons are calling, and I must go ”. I don’t think John Muir would mind too much if I misquote him. Muir was heading into the mountains of course, but today this famous quote from the great Scottish Naturalist, and ‘father’ of the US National...

Hey everyone, originally this was going to be my first solo vacation but a few weeks before I was to start my drive from the Chicago suburbs my dad called me up and asked if he could tag along. So it became our first father son road trip, thankfully it went smoothly! His plan was to camp in Dead...

So there I was, cruising south on Highway 6 in the LED spaceship, about 30 miles south of Wellington. After my last solo trip I decided to get back on the podcast bandwagon and I was totally entertained by season 1 of Serial. But a nagging thought kept popping to the foreground. I do not want to...

Its been a year since I made this trip and I'm only finally getting around to posting something. Part of the reluctance is due to the other great reports on this web site. I don't really have anything to add and a lot of my pictures are repeats of ones found on those other reports. But, it was a...

This is my first Trip Report here on Backcountry Post. I thought it was time to try to give a little back, since a majority places I visited stemmed from all the excellent TRs on this awesome site. For some years now I have had a yearly tradition to travel around the Southwest with my best...

@Miss Buffalo took all the pics. Feel free to upload them here Yvonne. I took all the video.

Original trip report can be found at matthewvogt.com/blog I also deeply apologize about the length on this one! "Revealing my deepest thoughts to a visitor one evening, I was accused of being against civilization, against science, against humanity. Naturally I was flattered.... With his help I...

Big thanks to @steve and @Tess for inviting me on this trip, and @Backcountry Post for the forum to allow people like me to meet up with them, or else I never would have experienced this amazing trip. @Mike K and Lane missed out on a good one! This was my first multi-day trip in Canyonlands...

I am sure nothing in this trip report is any new discovery, but I thought I'd tell you my experience March 27-29 compared to a trip I did in June about 6 years ago. First off, the whole permitting thing is very different now as I am sure lots of other people already know. It was not online 6...

On a river trip through Cataract Canyon last fall, two side canyons converging from the Needles side of the river caught my eye eight or so miles below the confluence. I thought of these for a possible loop hike back into Cataract. I put it at the top of my list for spring trips and gave it a go...

Saturday & Sunday, March 21-22, 2015 After spending the last two weekends close to home in the Grand Valley it was time to head back over the state line into Utah for an overnight camping trip near the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park. We left home bright and early on Saturday...

May 2011 Salt Creek is one of those places that seems to be well off the radar for most. The name probably doesn't help a lot. I suppose one could assume that it is an inhospitable place with salty water. I never even thought to visit Salt Creek until earlier this year when I saw a couple of...

This trip report is based on the second half of a trip to the Moab area (the 1st half being in The Maze), with the theme being an enjoyable few days spent with Backcountrypost member glasterpiece. The connection between us strangers began when I posted looking for Halls Creek hiking partners...

Friday - Sunday, October 24-26, 2014 Since Diane and I had a great long weekend in The Maze over Memorial Day weekend I wanted to show her some of my favorite places in The Needles district this weekend so she could experience more of Canyonlands National Park. Plus, I've been having a great...

Wednesday - Sunday, April 30 - May 4, 2014 Salt Creek Canyon. This is a place I have wanted to visit for quite a long time. It's actually one of the main reasons I decided to get started backpacking a few years ago. I was very excited to finally experience this amazing canyon, and it...