Canyonlands National Park High Point Trip Report

on mesa rim (7,160+ ft)

Date: July 3, 1995
Author: David Olson

Take the usual road to the entrance to the south section of Canyonlands NP. Down in the canyon, past Newspaper Rock, is a side road that fords the stream, heads southwest up another canyon, climbs up the west side of that canyon and eventually loops through the Abajo Mtns. North of Cathedral Butte is a spur road to the end of the mesa promontory.

Drive as far as you care to along this road, then park and hike along the mesa rim west of the road, trying to determine the highest point. The mesa-top side of the edge is, we presume, out-of-the-park, while the cliff-side is inside. On our trip I locked my keys in my car. I didn't bother telling Andy Martin until after we had hiked along the canyon rim, stopping at spots we figured were highest. We turned back before the end of the promontory - we figured we had been to the HP.

Back at the car we spent a few minutes trying to "jigger" a door before we flagged down a passing party. They gave us a ride back to Andy's car and from there we drove into Monticello to locate a locksmith.