#10 of 45 sights in Canyonlands
Sight · Canyonlands National Park
An 11-mile hike to where the Green and Colorado meet.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Canyonlands Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Canyonlands National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Canyonlands audio tourRecorded for this place
Big Spring Canyon and Slickrock“You're approaching Big Spring Canyon Overlook, at the end of the paved Needles road. Stop for sandstone spires around a broad canyon bend, with some of the view visible from the parking area.”
Plays as you drive up to Confluence Overlook in the Parkwolf Canyonlands Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
Confluence Overlook is a cliff-edge viewpoint at the end of a strenuous 11-mile hike in The Needles, about 1,000 feet above where the Green and Colorado rivers meet. This is the walk for seeing that junction, not a quick roadside stop. Allow five to six hours, and leave extra time if you want to take the rough sections slowly.
Start at Big Spring Canyon Overlook, at the end of the paved Needles Scenic Drive. The trail drops into Big Spring Canyon, then climbs out through the Keyhole, a shaded opening between sandstone towers. Farther on, it crosses open slickrock, washes, and a string of canyon dips. A steel ladder helps with one steep rock shelf; other ledges call for careful footing and some hand scrambling. Follow the cairns when the worn path fades.
The listed elevation change is only 309 feet, but that hides the repeated drops and climbs. The cumulative climbing is much greater, and the route stays exposed for long stretches.
The trail starts at Big Spring Canyon Overlook. Use a map for the drive into The Needles; GPS can send drivers astray. Plan your water before you leave: the Needles Visitor Center has water year-round, and the hike calls for about a liter per person per hour, plus snacks. A headlamp and sturdy shoes are useful on this long route. Dogs aren’t allowed, and the rough, uneven trail isn’t wheelchair accessible.
At the rim, the two rivers wind around the rocky promontory far below. The change in water color helps pick out where they join. For a photo, keep both river arms and the central landform in the frame; a tight shot of the water loses the canyon walls that show the drop.
The trail cuts across open country along the northern edge of the faults that shaped The Needles. The district’s colorful spires are Cedar Mesa Sandstone, but this route spends much of its time among dry washes, slickrock, and layered canyon walls. At Twin Valleys, the path crosses low grassy grabens between short cliff-like ridges, part of the old broken landscape that runs toward the Colorado River.
Wildlife
48 sightingsBighorn SheepMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
47 sightingsMule DeerMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
12 sightingsCoyoteMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
30 sightingsWestern RattlesnakeMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
18 sightingsTurkey VultureMost seen around 11 AMSighting map
18 sightingsWild TurkeyMost seen around 7 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Canyonlands. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
EasyCyclone Canyon Trail2.4 mi · 1.5 hr · 2.6 mi awayA sandy 2.41-mile connector through a faulted canyon.
ChallengingSpanish Bottom Trail2.1 mi · 2.4 hr · 3.3 mi awaySteep river climb to the Doll House, with fossils in the rock.
ModerateDevils Kitchen to Elephant Canyon Trail5.2 mi · 3.5 hr · 3.4 mi awayA remote through-hike past red needles into Elephant Canyon.
ChallengingConfluence Overlook Trail11 mi · 5.5 hr · 3.5 mi awayA strenuous day hike to the Green–Colorado rivers’ dramatic meeting point.
ModerateSlickrock Trail2.4 mi · 2 hr · 3.6 mi awayFour canyon overlooks on an open slickrock loop marked with cairns.
ChallengingLower Red Lake Canyon Trail18.8 mi · 14 hr · 4 mi awayA strenuous backcountry descent to the Colorado and back
ModerateGranary Trail1.9 mi · 2 hr · 4 mi awayA tight sandstone squeeze, an alcove granary and Colorado River views.
ChallengingDruid Arch Trail10.8 mi · 6 hr · 4 mi awayA long canyon hike to a giant sandstone arch.
Campground · 3.3 mi awayDevils Kitchen CampgroundA four-site backcountry camp reached by the technical Elephant Hill road.
Sight · 3.5 mi awayBig Spring Canyon OverlookSpires and sandstone benches line a bend in Big Spring Canyon.
Sight · 4 mi awayPothole PointRain-fed pools bring a small world to life on bare sandstone.
Sight · 4.1 mi awayThe Doll HouseA sandstone spire city at the end of a six-hour 4WD route.
Picnic area · 4.2 mi awayNeedles Scenic Drive Picnic AreaA shaded stop where rain brings tiny desert creatures to life.
Sight · 4.6 mi awayChesler Park ViewpointA grassland basin ringed by stone needles, earned on a long hike.
Campground · 5 mi awayThe Needles CampgroundCamp among sandstone spires, with Needles hikes close at hand.Parkwolf’s Canyonlands ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
