Trisected by the deep canyons of the Colorado and Green Rivers, Canyonlands' three main sections are reached via different routes, each one far from the other. Utah's largest national park was so designated in 1964. It contains 527sq mi of deep, eroded canyons, characterized by sheer cliffs, outstanding mesas and all other varieties of bizarrely shaped hoodoos, balanced rocks, spires, pinnacles, fins and arches that characterize southeastern Utah. None of the rugged and largely barren park areas have seen much human settlement, save for an odd cattle-ranching operation or law-evading outlaw.Below Moab, the Green River flows into the Colorado, which proceeds through the strong rapids of Cataract Canyon, and empties into Lake Powell before continuing through the Grand Canyon. The rivers are separated by the Island in the Sky District, a gigantic level mesa reached via a spur road that turns south off US-191 about 9mi north of Moab. At its tip, 3,000ft above the confluence, is Grand View Point, with panoramic views of 100mi of tiered canyons in all directions, changing colors in dramatic red, orange and pink layer-cake slices in the low-angle light of the late-afternoon or early-morning sun. About 1,000ft below Grand View Point lies the pale White Rim, a rocky sandstone bench that traces the mesa's sinuous, erosion-made curves. Farther below, curving through on their meandering journey south, are the Colorado River (to the east) and Green River (to the west).