Newspaper Rock, UT

After three nights at Dead Horse Point we were beginning to feel like the old timers in the neighborhood. Everyone else stopped for only one night, did a dash through the park, then left the next morning. It’s too bad people don’t have a little more time to really sit and enjoy the area and the trails. This is a good base camp for exploring Canyonlands and Arches, so one could easily spend a week here.

Our next planned stop, Newspaper Rock, is a bit south of Moab.

A nice stop along the way is Wilson Arch. 26 miles south of Moab on Hwy. 191, the arch will be on your left. It’s a really nice, photogenic formation right beside the road, and there’s a pull-off so it’s easy to get a good shot. You can see by comparison to the two people standing in the arch how large it is.

Newspaper rock is only a few miles further on, 12 miles west on hwy.211.

Newspaper Rock is a huge collection of glyphs that have accumulated over many generations, and represents several different cultures. There are informational placards at the site, and restrooms in the parking area. Check out the overhanging boulder as you approach the parking area. It has glyphs on it too.

In the short time we were there a steady stream of visitors to the rock took pictures and some spent time meditating on the meanings behind the drawings. The intent of some of the drawings seems fairly evident, others, we will never know. Perhaps that’s the draw of rock art, it’s a total mystery in most cases!

The campground at Newspaper Rock is closed due to fears of flooding, so we back-tracked just a bit to a road that cuts southeast, up over the mountain to Dalton Springs.

There’s a nice viewpoint at the top – wow! What a view! I’m not sure how far away “forever” is but I’m sure you can see it from here.

After the recent rains the air is clear and all the gorgeous colors are bright. The view point has several informational signs and a row of viewing tubes. We’d never seen these before – a short piece of pipe to look through is attached perpendicularly to a post, and aimed at a particular point on the horizon. Each was originally fitted with a little sign to tell you which mountain you are looking at, but most of them have been removed.

Dalton Springs campground is a rustic hunting camp tucked up in an oak forest. Amenities are simple and include vault toilets and a couple of water spigots, with nice big spaces set far apart so everyone has privacy. With all the trees and another impending thunderstorm we felt like we were back in Oregon. While we stayed inside, safe from the rain and lightning, several deer wandered through camp, clearly aware that hunting season hadn't opened up yet.

There wasn’t a lot of rain in this storm, but quite a bit of thunder. There’s nothing like being on the top of a mountain (roughly 8,000 ft.) during a thunderstorm to get the full effect!