Canyonlands National Park preserves a vast desert landscape near Moab where the Colorado and Green rivers and their tributaries have carved canyons, mesas, buttes, and pinnacles into four distinct regions: Island in the Sky, the Needles, the Maze, and the rivers. Established on September 12, 1964, after years of advocacy led by Bates Wilson and support from Stewart Udall and Frank Moss, the park also protects a long human history, including Ancestral Puebloan dwellings, petroglyphs, and much older rock art in Horseshoe Canyon dating to 2000–1000 BC. Its fragile cryptobiotic soil and remote scenery now draw large numbers of hikers, drivers, cyclists, and river travelers.