National Park Mystery Photo 45 Revealed: What a Joint!

A narrow passageway along the Joint Trail in Canyonlands National Park. Kurt Repanshek photos.

Mystery photo 45 shows a narrow passageway on the Joint Trail in Utah's Canyonlands National Park.

Located in the Needles District of Canyonlands, the Joint Trail is a segment of the Chesler Park Loop, which offers an 11-mile round trip (with five backpacking sites) through a picturesque landscape of desert grasses, shrubs, and sandstone spires. The Joint Trail, which is the southernmost section of the Chesler Park Loop, winds through a series of deep, narrow fractures like the one depicted here. The Joint Trail is aptly named, since the slot-like passageways along the trail originated as cracks in the hard rock called "joints".

This was a toughie. The only Traveler readers who were able to ID the mystery photo were viewmtn, Ellen Hardy, and Greg Pavelka. All are eligible for our monthly prize drawing.