1585 UNITED STATES (Utah) - The Needles in Canyonlands National Park

Canyonlands National Park is located in southeastern Utah, near the town of Moab, and preserves a colorful landscape eroded into countless canyons, mesas, and buttes by the Colorado River, the Green River, and their respective tributaries. The park is divided into four districts: the Island in the Sky, the Needles, the Maze, and the rivers themselves. While these areas share a primitive desert atmosphere, each retains its own character. Two large river canyons are carved into the Colorado Plateau by the Colorado River and Green River. Author Edward Abbey, a frequent visitor, described the Canyonlands as "the most weird, wonderful, magical place on earth - there is nothing else like it anywhere."

The Needles district is located east of the Colorado River and is named after the red and white banded rock pinnacles which dominate it, but various other forms of naturally sculptured rock such as canyons, grabens, potholes, and a number of arches similar to the ones of the nearby Arches National Park can be found as well. The area was once home of the Ancestral Puebloans, of which many traces can be found. Although the items and tools they used have been largely taken away by looters, some of their stone and mud dwellings are well-preserved. The Ancestral Puebloans also left traces in the form of petroglyphs, most notably on the so-called Newspaper Rock near the Visitor Center at the entrance of this district.

Don't be fooled by what is written on the front of the postcard, respectively "Arches National Park". The truth is stated on her back: "Canyonlands National Park".

About the stamps
The first stamp, depicting a Navajo jewelry (2c), is part of the definitives series American Design (2002-2007), about which I wrote here. About the second stamp, depicting the president Abraham Lincoln, I wrote here. The last stamp was issued in 2014 to marks the 200th anniversary of the flag and song that became the United States anthem.

References
Canyonlands National Park - Wikipedia

Sender: Denise 
Sent from Greenvale (New York / United States), on 30.06.2014
Photo: Allen Karsh