Infos zum Canyonlands NP

Storm, flash flood damages State Rt. 211 in Dry Valley

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Damages from flash flooding in Dry Valley have closed the main road accessing Canyonlands National Park for at least several weeks. With crews in the early stages of assessment, State Route 211 could be closed for longer.
Afternoon flooding on Sunday, August 14 caused the Utah Highway Patrol to stop traffic on US 191 near the intersection of Highway 191 and SR 211 on Sunday afternoon.
After a few hours of alternating traffic in the center lane, highway 191 was eventually reopened, but massive damage has been reported on SR 211.
Damage to the road includes parts of the asphalt breaking off in pieces, as well as undercutting of the road which means the road will be closed for some time.
SR 211 provides access from the highway to the Needles District of Canyonlands, as well as the Indian Creek climbing area and Newspaper Rock.
With SR 211 closed officials are re-routing traffic through County Road 101 or Hearts Draw road. The paved road goes from Monticello over the Abajos and connects with SR 211 past the severe damage of the flash flood.
Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) Region 4 Communication manager Kevin Kitchen shared Monday afternoon that crews arrive on Sunday afternoon and are now in the early process of acquiring measurements and quantitative assessments of the damage to the road using drones. UDOT is also locating materials to replace the washed-out silt.
UDOT hopes for an assessment and approach to address the issue by next week.
Kitchen said UDOT has never seen a similar erosion event on 211 before, noting that only a small cut ditch ran adjacent to the road.
“That cut ditch could vary from maybe 18 inches to two feet in depth prior to this event. We have locations now that are probably over 20 feet in depth and several feet across. So it is a very significant erosion that has taken place adjacent to the road. The road basically acted as a dam, and the water traveled alongside of it and just cut down through that sand.”
In addition to damage to the road, which was repaved last summer to the tune of $6 million, the flash flooding undercut fencing and cattle guards near the road, as well as partially burying in silt some fencing near US 191.
Additional damage was reported to Glamping Canyonlands, a private camping area near the intersection of US 191 and SR 211.
The company reported no damage to their buildings or tents, but did report damage to fencing, parking, and water storage areas.
The company hopes to be back and running in a few days and already had crews on hand to address the parking area on Monday evening.
Kitchen also reported that providing access to Glamping Canyonlands on SR 211 is a priority of UDOT crews.
Kitchen adds they are working with meteorological professionals to answer a common question regarding floods. That question is what is the likelihood of losing more of the road with repeating events?
“From what we can tell this was very isolated. It’s an anomaly to a large degree, but I think we’re seeing these bigger storms. You saw what happened down with Cottonwood.”
Cottonwood bridge on SR-95 was closed for months in 2021. in August of 2021. A routine bi-annual inspection revealed high flows during flash flooding scoured a lower layer of rock, leaving upper layers unsupported.
Additional issues to repairing the road include funding. Considering the relatively-low volume use of the road – compared to other state-maintained routes – and the improvements last year means annual 211 maintenance funds will likely not cover the costs of repair.

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Hikers stranded in cave for hours during flash flooding in Canyonlands NP

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A group of seasoned hikers ended up seeking shelter in a cave during flash flooding at Canyonlands National Park.
Matt Castelli and his four friends started their packrafting adventure Saturday afternoon down Green River. A couple of hours into the trip, Mother Nature had different plans.
“We saw dark clouds and then lightning off in the distance. We kept checking in with each other then made the receipt to get out about a mile down,” Castelli said. “We hurried into an alcove that was a hundred feet above the river.”
He said about two minutes after they were all in the cave the floodgates started to open up.
“It was sheets of rain that would block out your vision, you know, looking more than a few hundred yards away,” Castelli said.
The group huddled up for nearly 2.5 hours waiting for the storm to pass. They said the scenery quickly changed with the heavy rain showers.
“The prettier waterfalls quickly turned brown and choked with mud,” Castelli said. “We started seeing waterfalls in places we didn’t even know there could be waterfalls.”
Group members were grateful they had all the gear they needed to stay safe, but they said this is an experience they will surely learn from.
“We did get a weather forecast on Saturday but I think going forward we will get one in the morning and one at noon,” Castelli said.
They encourage all recreators to be prepared, even for torrential rain in the desert.
“Mother nature has a way of changing the plans and just being prepared is the best way to stay safe,” Castelli said.
The group was able to safely camp overnight and continue to hike out by Sunday.

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Shafer Trail Road Will Close Intermittently for Required Maintenance in October and November

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Shafer Trail Road will close intermittently for required maintenance October 24-27, October 31-November 3, and November 7-10 (Mondays through Thursdays). The closure applies to all use including mountain bikes, motorcycles, four-wheel-drive vehicles and hikers.

The road will reopen for public use at 4 p.m. each Thursday and stay open through weekends, closing again at 7:30 a.m. Monday mornings. This project will repair tread surfaces and road shoulders damaged by significant rain events this year. Visitors will still be able to access the White Rim Road via Potash Road during these closures.

The four-wheel-drive Potash Road and White Rim Road can be challenging.Visitors are encouraged to plan ahead and seek out alternative routes during the closures

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Rockfall blocks White Rim Road in Canyonlands National Park

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Last weekend, precipitation and daily freeze/thaw temperatures triggered a sizable rockfall in Canyonlands National Park. The rockfall damaged a section of the White Rim Road in the Island in the Sky district, north of the Labyrinth campsites. Several large boulders are entirely blocking the roadway.

The White Rim Road is temporarily closed to all traffic between the park boundary at Mineral Bottom and the Labyrinth campsites. This closure applies to all visitors including vehicle or motorcycle drivers, bicyclists, and hikers. The closure will remain in effect until park staff can remove the boulders, repair the damaged roadway, and assess the stability of the cliffs above. Signage will be posted at turn-around points to the north and south.

Traditionally, winter precipitation and freezing temperatures can also cause temporary winter closures of the Shafer Trail, Flint Trail, or other four-wheel-drive roads in the park. Travelers are advised to always check the Road Conditions page of the park website for updates when planning a trip.

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Canyonlands National Park celebrates 60 years

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The idea for the park, located 30 miles from Moab, began with Arches National Monument Superintendent Bates Wilson, who advocated for the creation of a new park that encompassed the view from Grand View Point at Island in the Sky.

Wilson led government officials on jeep tours featuring lengthy talks over campfires and dutch oven dinners.

One recipient of this “dutch oven diplomacy” was Secretary of the Interior Stuart Udall, who returned to congress and lobbied for the proposed park.

The park was established on Sept. 12, 1964, after President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Public Law 88-590, marking the 257,640 acres of land in southern Utah as Canyonlands.

Congress expanded the park to its present size in 1971, but much of the original area envisioned by Wilson was not included and remains unprotected.

The 337,570 acre Canyonlands wilderness was carved by the Colorado River and its tributaries. The park is divided by rivers into four districts, Island in the Sky, The Needles, The Maze and the rivers themselves.

Canyonlands was the final national park to be established in Utah as part of the state’s Mighty Five.

Zion National Park was the first to be established in the state in 1919. Nine years later Bryce Canyon officially became a national park and a year later President Herbert Hoover established Arches in 1929.

Capitol Reef was established right before the start of World War II in 1937.

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Colorado pair charged with stealing artifacts from Utah national park

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Trail camera videos captured footage of the man and woman in an off-limits area.

A man and woman from Colorado face misdemeanor charges after allegedly trespassing, disturbing artifacts and stealing historic objects from Canyonlands National Park.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Utah announced this week that Dusty Spencer, 43, and Roxanne McKnight, 39, both of Durango, Colorado, had been identified as the people who entered the Cave Spring cowboy camp at the park in Moab, Utah. Such outdoor camps were used for nearly a century, until 1975, and contain artifacts left by the cowboys.

“This historic camp was protected by fencing and clear warnings prohibiting visitors from entering the area, which McKnight and Spencer disregarded,” the U.S. attorney’s office said in a press release.

In addition to entering the archaeological area illegally, the pair knowingly stole government property, court documents say — specifically, antique nails that were on display — and handled antique horse tack and cabinetry.

Both are charged with theft of government property worth less than $1,000; possessing or distributing cultural or archaeological resources; and walking on or entering archaeological or cultural resources, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. McKnight and Spencer are scheduled for a first court appearance Friday morning.

The park had asked for help in May to identify the man and woman who were caught on video in the historic camp in late March. Images released by the National Park Service show a goateed man in a red hat appearing to hold a drink; in one shot, the woman is smiling as she sits back on a chair. They are both wearing shorts.

The May press release said that the duo “removed artifacts from a cabinet, and handled historic harnesses in a manner that had potential to damage them.”

The National Park Service was investigating, the U.S. attorney’s office said Monday.

“Park staff are grateful for the tip line contributions we received, which were very helpful with the investigation,” Karen Henker, an acting public affairs specialist for Canyonlands National Park, said in a statement.

In a phone interview Wednesday afternoon, McKnight, a former teacher, said news of the charges came “as a complete shock” that she only learned about Tuesday from former students. She said she was merely hiking in a place she considered “sacred” and did not destroy or take anything. She didn’t even remember seeing nails, she said.

“As far as the theft charges, I have absolutely no idea what they are referring to,” she said. “I can say with 100 percent confidence that I did not take anything from that site. In the past, I have been the one telling friends … ‘No, you can’t take that shard, that belongs to the land.’ ”

McKnight said there was an old cattle fence at the site but that she did not recall seeing a sign to stay out. A group of college students had been in the camp area first, she said, and she and Spencer waited for them to clear out before entering. She said she had visited the area many times as a child with her father and was there in March to “memorialize” him on the anniversary of his death.

McKnight said she wanted to learn more about the investigation and was working Wednesday to figure out the logistics for her court appearance. She wasn’t aware, she said, that the park had released photos and a plea for help identifying the people in them in May.

She said she told a clerk in the Utah court that if she had been somewhere she wasn’t supposed to be, she would own up to it. “What kind of trail work do you guys need me to get started on immediately?” McKnight said she asked.

Spencer could not be reached for comment; McKnight said she had not had contact with him for a couple months but declined to discuss him further. A defense attorney for Spencer was not listed in court documents.

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