Newspaper Rock

Overview

About Newspaper Rock

Why stop

A dense mix of human, animal, and abstract carvings rewards close viewing.

Newspaper Rock is a dark sandstone panel covered with hundreds of Indigenous petroglyphs beside Indian Creek, along the UT-211 drive to Canyonlands’ Needles District. It covers about 200 square feet and is commonly counted at more than 650 designs. Stop if you’re driving UT-211, and give the surface time instead of making it only a photo stop. The site is outside Canyonlands National Park, but directly on the approach to Needles, so it fits naturally into that drive.

Parkwolf’s verdictA worthwhile stop on the Needles drive

Map

Where it is

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Full map

SightNewspaper Rock37.98842, -109.51827

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Plan your stop

Before you go

Getting there and what to expect

The signed turnoff is 13 miles west on UT-211 from US-191; UT-211 leaves US-191 about 15 miles north of Monticello. The site has ample paved parking, including accessible spaces, and paved sidewalks and curb cuts to an accessible unisex vault restroom. The short path to the rock is compacted gravel with a slight grade and can have washed-out spots, which may make it difficult for some visitors with mobility limitations. There is no water or picnic table, so bring water and plan food elsewhere.

2 active Canyonlands alerts

ClosureRain-damaged Needles backcountry roads impassableRecent rains have made several Needles backcountry roads impassable; do not drive these routes.Official details
CautionMaze access roads require high-clearance 4WDOnly use high-clearance 4WD to reach Hans Flat or Horseshoe Canyon in The Maze; low-clearance vehicles are not recommended on these damaged, rutted, muddy routes.Official details

Canyonlands alerts

A park ranger sits on a dash-mounted phone, talking, as Parkwolf’s Tour Guide plays “Army Cutworm Moths: A Grizzly Bear Buffet” on Grand Loop Road below Dunraven Pass in Yellowstone — Parkwolf Tour GuideThe highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.

Canyonlands Tour Guide

Your drive to Newspaper Rock, narrated.

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 tour

43 audio storiesacross Canyonlands’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
Wildlife heatmapsfor Bighorn Sheep, Mule Deer, Coyote, and 13 more
Works offlinemaps, 63 trails, 65 places, and audio download before you lose signal
CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive

★★★★★

“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!!!!”

JMJamesApp Store review

4.7 from 8,600+ ratings

Guide

More about Newspaper Rock

Look closely at the carvingsA short compacted-gravel path leads from the paved lot to the panel.

A short compacted-gravel path leads from the paved lot to the panel. Dark desert varnish has been pecked away to reveal lighter sandstone underneath, making human and animal figures, circles, and abstract marks stand out. Take in the full spread, then look for smaller patterns within it. For a photo, frame the broad panel first, then move in on the details; a tight crop can lose the scale of the rock face.

A record made across generationsThe carvings belong to more than one period.

The carvings belong to more than one period. Older imagery is associated with Basketmaker and Ancestral Puebloan peoples; lighter, more recent marks are attributed to Ute people, whose communities continue in the Four Corners. Individual figures do not come with a definitive translation, so it is better to notice how the designs differ than to assign a single meaning to each one.

Wildlife

Wildlife in Canyonlands

All Canyonlands wildlife maps

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 map

Sighting maps show where each species has been reported across Canyonlands. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.