October 23, 2020

By Tim Briese

12.0 miles, 1500’ elevation gain, 8:35 roundtrip time

To conclude our fall trip to Utah Teresa and I did one of our favorite hikes in the state, the hike to Chesler Park and Druid Arch in the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park. We had done this one a couple of times before and it was fun to return to an old favorite. A guidebook author has said, "Until we can visit other planets, there’s always the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park!" It is a rocky wonderland of incredible colors and shapes.

We left Monticello early in the morning and drove about 50 miles to the Elephant Hill Trailhead in the national park.

view of the distant needles as we drove into the park

It was fairly busy at the trailhead this morning with visitors from all over the country, but not nearly as busy as it can often be. We headed up the rocky steps south of the trailhead and the fun began.

the trail on the early part of the hike

a pair of interesting rocks along the way

the trail goes through this narrow slot for a short distance

the trail then goes down this drainage

We hiked a mile and a half south from the trailhead to a junction then turned right and hiked down into and crossed Elephant Canyon before starting the ascent to Chesler Park, all the while through incredible rocky scenery of unimaginable forms.

teresa on the trail

on the trail to chesler park, as the needles loom ahead

We met and passed a few other hikers on the trail and everyone seemed to respect social distancing pretty well in this pandemic year. We met a party of young backpackers from Florida on their way out after a multi-night expedition. I asked about their source of water in this ultra-dry country, and one told me he had started out carrying four gallons! I can hardly imagine what the total starting weight of his pack might have been. We climbed up the trail to a saddle at the north end of Chesler Park and stopped to enjoy the views.

view of scenery to the north from the pass

Then we hiked south across the sandy Chesler Park, admiring the rocky formations that ring it.

on the trail in chesler park

we saw several of these little fellows today

more of the needles ringing chesler park

Then we took a cut-off trail down into Elephant Canyon, one of the most fun stretches of the hike, which includes hiking across expansive areas of slickrock with tricky sections here and there that require minor scrambling.

as we left chesler park the trail went down through this drainage at first

teresa on the cairned route across beige-colored slickrock

cairns nicely marked the way

an interesting double cave along the trail

on the descent into elephant canyon, visible below

Once in Elephant Canyon we headed upstream for about two miles to Druid Arch.

hiking up elephant canyon

This part of the hike also had some fun sections with light scrambling. It is quite amazing, the clever routes that have been found through this complex landscape. Every time we do this hike we feel like kids in a wonderland.

a bit of scrambling anyone?

the route went along this ledge for a ways to avoid an impassable section in the canyon bottom below

going up a ladder installed by the park service

We climbed up to a wonderful overlook and view of Druid Arch and rested there for a while. The stillness in this hallowed spot was remarkable, as well as rejuvenating.

druid arch

the view down elephant canyon

After resting here for a while we headed back down the canyon and hiked back toward the trailhead, encountering more people now than we had in the morning.

interesting layers in some sandstone

We were getting quite exhausted as we tramped back to the truck in the coolness of the late afternoon. After resting for a bit we packed up and headed to Moab for the night.