March 26, 2017

By Tim Briese

12.6 miles, 1500’ elevation gain, 10:05 roundtrip time

My wife Teresa and I made the 80 mile drive from Moab to the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park on a beautiful spring morning. We arrived at the Elephant Hill Trailhead and embarked south on the Chesler Park Trail about 830 am. We had done this hike years before, and it is one of our favorites in all of Utah, complete with multi-colored rock formations, canyons, cliffs, spires, narrows, and even a bit of fun rock scrambling. We followed the nice trail that was well marked with cairns across slickrock benches, sandy washes, and through a narrows. 

on the early part of the trail, which is marked with cairns at the right

the route went across this sloping slickrock

a rare sight in the desert - potholes filled with water from a recent rain

a portion of the route went through this narrows

We descended into Elephant Canyon after about two miles. Then we turned left and followed the trail up the canyon about three miles toward its upper end.

in elephant canyon

The canyon got deeper and more rugged as we proceeded. At one point it was necessary to scramble up a crack to gain a ledge to circumvent an impassable pour-off in the bottom of the canyon.

a fun class 3 scramble

another minor scramble up a smooth slope

approaching the upper end of the canyon

the park service provided a ladder and metal rail to help navigate this tricky spot

higher up in the canyon

Near the upper end of the canyon the route climbed steeply several hundred feet up to a bench where the majestic Druid Arch popped into view.

druid arch

There were a handful of other hikers up here enjoying the views. After lunch we scrambled around on the nearby rocks to get closer to the arch. It was quite an impressive sight towering above us.

druid arch, towering several hundred feet above

the view down elephant canyon

teresa resting in a natural grotto

After an hour or so we headed back down the canyon.

coming back down the class 3 section

After about a mile and a half we took a cutoff trail to the left that climbs up out of Elephant Canyon to Chesler Park, an incredibly fun route that winds up through the slickrock wilderness.

on the trail that climbs out of elephant canyon

the route goes directly up this drainage in the foreground

it's a good thing there are cairns to mark the route across the sandstone slickrock

We soon climbed up into Chesler Park and headed north on a trail across its sandy flats.

chesler park

in chesler park enjoying an overlook down into elephant canyon and points beyond

We circled around Chesler Park to its north end and took the Chesler Park Trail back down into Elephant Canyon, crossed it, and continued back to the trailhead, where we arrived about 630, just before sunset.

a view of the la sal mountains from the trailhead at sunset

We headed back to Moab, finding it necessary to drive carefully in the dark on remote Utah Highway 211, with deer, cattle, and even horses on or near the road.