The Canyonlands backcountry office is located within the administrative headquarters building off of Resource Blvd off Highway 191 in Moab, Utah. The building itself is long and low to the ground building, made with smooth red brick and several tall windows. Stacked stones, shrubs, and a flagpole line the immediate exterior of the building, while a patch of grass lined with trees and picnic tables line the opposite end of the parking lot closest to the road. A long narrow parking lot leads to visitor parking located directly in front of the buildings’ front entrance on the north end of the lot. From the parking lot, a short set of cement stairs leads to the main entrance. A large scale full color National Park Service Arrowhead is mounted to the side of the building. Two dark glass doors lead inside the building. Once inside, there is a small off-white entry room. Directly ahead is the wooden door that leads to administrative offices. To the left is the reception desk which features a large glass partition to separate the receptionist from the entry way. A sign in sheet and hand sanitizer is provided. To the right, a large window and desk operates as the backcountry permit office. You may obtain backcountry permits or information here. In the rightmost corner of the entryway, chairs are available, creating a small waiting area.

The central backcountry office is located at park administrative offices south of Moab. Rangers can answer questions about backcountry travel over phone or email and issue permits online.

Backcountry Office, located at Arches & Canyonlands National Park Headquarters in Moab, UT.

Arches & Canyonlands National Park Headquarters

Canyonlands Backcountry Office

Rangers are normally available five days a week to answer questions over the phone or email and issue permits online. The office closes for an hour for lunch every day (typically 12-1 pm) and backcountry permits are not issued after 4 pm. The backcountry office may close when rangers are needed to respond to emergency search and rescue efforts in the park. The backcountry office is closed on federal holidays, including Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Washington's Birthday.

Memorial Day

Juneteenth National Independence Day

Independence Day

Labor Day

Columbus Day

Veterans Day

Thanksgiving Day

Christmas Day

New Years Day

Martin Luther King Jr Day

Washington's Birthday

Canyonlands National Park Passport Cancellation, Needles District, UT

Canyonlands Needles District Stamp

Canyonlands National Park Passport Cancellation, Island District, UT

Canyonlands Island District Stamp

Canyonlands National Park Passport Cancellation, Maze District, UT

Canyonlands Maze District Stamp

All three district stamps are located at the Administrative Office front desk (across the foyer from the Backcountry Office).

Hans Flat Ranger Station, which serves as The Maze district’s visitor center, sits at 6,500 feet on a broad mesa top with canyons dropping to the south, east, and further north. The surrounding landscape is dominated by pinyon pine and Utah juniper trees, and desert shrubs. The building is situated on the south side of a Y-junction on a remote and infrequently trafficked dirt road. In the front of the building is a small parking area, which is indicated by a line of large stacked rocks. There is a gap in the line of rocks to create a walking path to the building’s entrance. Where the walking path and right-side parking boundary meet is a flagpole. Immediately left of the building is a gravel driveway which gives more immediate wheelchair access to the building. From the parking area, facing south, the building is a rectangular single-story modular with pale yellow wood-textured paneling, white corrugated skirting, and an angled white corrugated roof. There are four sets of side sliding windows which are bordered by brown panels. The windows furthest to the right and left of the building are slightly obstructed by large pinyon pines. Left of center of the building is a wooden porch which may be accessed by using steps immediately ahead or by a ramp that curves around the left side of the building. The portion of the porch above the doorway is sheltered by a protruding A-frame roof. At the point of the porch roof is a light brown rectangular wooden sign with white lettering reading, “Hans Flat Ranger Station. National Park Service.” To the left of the sign is the National Park Service arrowhead logo. The building entrance is through a screen door and hinged entry door. Just south of the parking area boundary and west of the station is a picnic table with a shade structure. From the picnic table, looking beyond the station and to the right, the Henry Mountains can be seen in the distance. A unisex vault toilet sits on the northwest side of the Y-junction, or nearly directly across the road from the picnic table. The interior of the building has vinyl flooring and wood paneled walls which are decorated with historical pictures and posters relevant to Canyonlands National Park. The visitor area is small, containing an information desk, informational displays, and some items for purchase.

The remote Hans Flat (Maze) Ranger Station is normally open daily year-round. This ranger contact station has a picnic table and vault toilet, and a small selection of books and maps for sale. There are no services, food, gas, trash collection, electricity for visitor use, nor potable water in The Maze. The nearest communities with amenities are Hanksville (68 miles) and Green River (86 miles).

Hans Flat Ranger Station building, flag pole and shade structure on a sunny morning.

Hans Flat Ranger Station

Hans Flat Ranger Station is open to the public 8 am to 3 pm daily. Rangers are available for emergencies each day from 7:30 am to 5 pm.

Main Season Hours

The Island in the Sky Visitor Center is a low-profile building in an amazing location. To its north, a flat grassland extends to low lying cliffs and a towering mound of sandstone dominates the horizon. Looking west from this sandstone butte, the mix of grassland and low lying cliffs extends for miles until reaching the San Rafael Swell, a range of sandstone abutments. Directly behind the visitor center to its west and south, a small hill dotted with short Utah juniper and pinyon pine trees buts against the building. Across from the visitor center, to the east, the landscape drops away dramatically into a canyon two thousand feet deep. The canyon is wide enough to fit towering buttes and ever deepening canyons, yet the river that carved it is not visible. Every rock within the canyon is a deep, earthy red. Beyond the canyon rim in the distance, the La Sal Mountains ascend to over twelve thousand feet above sea level, twice as high as you now are. The building is situated to the west of a north-south roadway with a large parking lot in between the two. Directly north of the building is a line of pit toilets next to a flag pole, and beyond that four picnic tables, covered by wooden shade structures, extend into the grassland. Extending directly from the building’s front doors is a red concrete pathway, to either side of this, a mass of blue-grey desert shrubbery blocks much of the view of the visitor center from the road. The front of the building is dominated by a covered patio. Benches line the walls below a couple of large windows. North of the front doors, the patio is bare, left open as a space for educational programs. To the south, a couple of billboards provide basic information about the park and the patio extends beyond and around the building to a water spigot and another set of covered picnic tables. Inside the visitor center, a scale model of the canyons outside and further into the park sits near the front doors, slightly to the right. Signs surrounding this model briefly describe the different districts of this large park. Beyond this, a gift shop takes up the northern half of the visitor center’s interior. Columnar shelves are scattered about the floor while the northmost wall is covered in bookshelves and shirts for sale. A small dividing wall with a glass representation of an arch extends into the gift shop’s space. Upon this small dividing wall if a water fountain. The wall opposite the front doors, the western wall, is lined by a row of desks covered in maps and information used by the rangers behind to help plan trips to the park. The southern half of the visitor center’s hall holds an informational exhibit space, detailing the geology, history and ecology of the park. A doorway on the western wall of this space leads into a theater, where rows of benches sit in front of a big screen tv that shows the park film. White walls and dark brown floors define the sides of this large but full space.

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Visitor center normally offers: exhibits, book & map sales, park orientation film, backcountry permits, general information, vault toilets, and park rangers on duty. You can get drinking water inside (during open hours) or outside (24 hours a day).

Island in the Sky Visitor Center building and flag pole.

Island in the Sky Visitor Center

The Island in the Sky visitor center is normally open daily year-round and closed for Christmas Day (December 25). Hours vary with the season.

Early Spring

Summer Hours

Late October to Late November

Winter Hours

Thanksgiving Half Day

Christmas Eve/Christmas Day

Canyonlands Virtual Visit Passport Cancellation, Island District, UT

Island District Stamp

Canyonlands Passport Cancellation, Island District, UT.

The Needles Visitor Center is located off Highway 211, a less-trafficked road that winds westward from busy Highway 191, south of Moab, Utah. A right turn into the parking lot reveals the visitor center building, which faces east, across from the parking lot. The area is surrounded by vast desert; in the distance, a U-shaped mesa is visible. This is Grand View Point Overlook, located in the Island in the Sky district, the northern portion of Canyonlands. The visitor center is a low, one-story building with pueblo style architecture. The walls of the visitor center itself are sandy-tan in color, with multicolored orange, maroon, and tan sandstone bricks stacked ¾ of the way up each wall. Sections of ramada roofing jut from the front of the visitor center, supported by wooden logs set in sandstone brick. These sections provide shade for the main entrance, as well as a foyer with a water filling station, payphone, and access to gendered and accessible bathrooms. Between the entryway and parking lot sits an expansive plaza, with a flagpole and several cement walkways separated by sections of landscaping with native desert plants and shrubs. To the left, a shaded porch area jutting out from the visitor center provides both places to sit and access WIFI. A low profile cement wall provides seating for approximately 15 people. On the wall that connects this area with the visitor center, three large informational bulletin boards provide information on the park and two free publications. The information on these boards is rotated seasonally, and the publications include a souvenir map of Canyonlands, as well as a newspaper guide with hiking recommendations and information on the park. The parking lot is east of the visitor center and features accessible parking. A sidewalk separates the parking lot and visitor center plaza. Along this sidewalk are bear safe trash and recycling bins, as well as three shaded picnic tables located on the dirt beyond the sidewalk. The picnic table closest to the visitor center has an extended table for additional seating. Continuing along the sidewalk, there is a short dirt path located at 3 o’clock. This is a nature walk with identifications of common plants in the area. The path curves to the left connecting back with the sidewalk closer to the VC entrance. While on this short path there is only one section that narrows. Various desert plants like Narrow Leaf Yucca and two needle pinyon are visible on either side. To the right, a plaque about Bates E. Wilson, an early advocate and superintendent of Arches and Canyonlands rests on the ground. The path rejoins the sidewalk along the ramp where the plaza meets the parking lot. Left of this point, an additional plaque is visible among a section of plants that reads acknowledging Stephen T. Mather as an early leader of the National Park Service. Inside, the visitor center has a desk for information and purchases from the bookstore. The bookstore is to your right. To the left is a museum area with exhibits about the geological and cultural history of the park. The visitor center auditorium holds showings of two different informational videos on the park. Towards the back of the visitor center, there is a 3-dimensional map of Canyonlands nestled between two glass walls that look out onto the plains and mesa tops outside. Bench seating surrounds the map. To the right of the map and seating area is another room; The Needles Backcountry office, where one can obtain permits and information abut the backcountry. The backcountry office features large L-shaped counters with maps and rules and regulations about the Needles.

We check this email inbox at least once a week. We will respond to your email as soon as we can.

The Needles Visitor Center normally offers exhibits, book & map sales, backcountry permits, information, picnic area, and park rangers on duty. The park orientation movie (15 minutes) is not currently showing. Water is available year-round. When the visitor center is closed in winter, you must self-register for backcountry permits outside the visitor center entrance.

The Needles District Visitor Center plaza, building, and flag pole on a sunny day.

The Needles District Visitor Center

The Needles Visitor Center

The Needles Visitor Center is normally open daily spring through fall. It is closed from mid-December to mid-February. Bathrooms remain open and water is available year-round. Information boards outside the building help you plan your visit.

February/March 2024 Hours

Late Fall/Early Winter Hours

Thanksgiving Half-Day

Winter Closure

Canyonlands Virtual Visit Passport Cancellation, Needles District, UT

Canyonlands Needles Passport Stamp

Canyonlands Passport Cancellation, Needles District, UT

Canyonlands invites you to explore a wilderness of countless canyons and fantastically formed buttes carved by the Colorado River and its tributaries. Rivers divide the park into four districts: Island in the Sky, The Needles, The Maze, and the rivers themselves. These areas share a primitive desert atmosphere, but each offers different opportunities for sightseeing and adventure.