Fig. 1Cedar Mesa walls inside the Dark Canyon Wilderness
Landform
A roadless Colorado Plateau canyon cut through Cedar Mesa sandstone in the Dark Canyon Wilderness
Field note
Congress set aside the Dark Canyon Wilderness in 1984, about 47,000 acres on the Manti-La Sal National Forest and adjoining BLM. The canyon drains toward the Colorado above Lake Powell. Sundance and Woodenshoe are named approaches. Canyonlands Needles and Natural Bridges keep their own plates. This plate is Dark Canyon, not The Wedge and not a park overlook.
Dark Canyon is the 1984 wilderness cut behind the Needles, on the Manti-La Sal and adjoining BLM. Sundance and Woodenshoe are named walks. This plate is that canyon, not Canyonlands overlooks and not The Wedge.
