Big Spring Canyon Overlook: Protecting Wilderness

A sign at Big Spring Canyon Overlook provides information on the wilderness.

NPS/Isabel Gonzalez

Quick Facts

Location:

Canyonlands: The Needles

Significance:

Wayside Panel

Amenities

2 listed

Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Scenic View/Photo Spot

You've come to the end of the road. Do you wonder what's out there? This curiosity has driven human exploration for millennia.  

A wild and untamed landscape begins where the pavement ends. We often refer to places where human impacts are minima. as "wilderness." What does that mean? 

The Wilderness Act of 1964 defined wilderness ass "...an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself if a visitor who does not remain." 

The landscape ahead appears to fit that description. However, human impacts on air quality and climate are affecting the natural processes at work here. Does this change your view of Canyonlands' wildness? 

President Lyndon B. Johnson said of the Wilderness Act: "If future generations are to remember us with gratitude rather than contempt, we must leave them something more than miracles of technology. We must leave them a glimpse of the world as it was in the beginning, not just after we got through it." 

Here at the end of the road, we encourage you to step into the wilderness and explore what it means to you.