Trip Date: November 11-12, 2020
2020 CALIFORNIA & UTAH ADVENTURE VACATION
Elephant Canyon Exploration & Chesler Park Loop
Elephant Gap
Elephant Canyon
Druid Arch
Chesler Pass
Chesler Park
Chesler Slot
Trip Report Summary
Region: Utah
Sub-Region: Southeastern Utah
Area: Needles District of Canyonlands National Park
Starting & Ending Point: Elephant Hill Trailhead at Soda Spring on Elephant Hill Access Road (Elev. 5150 feet)
Way Points: Elephant Hill shoulder & Elephant Gap & Elephant Slot & Elephant Canyon Junction & Camp EC-1 (trail hike)
Campsite: Elephant Canyon Camp EC-1 (Elev. 5200 feet)
Sidetrip 1: Elephant Canyon Exploration + Druid Arch
Starting & Ending Point: Elephant Canyon Camp EC-1 (Elev. 5200 feet)
Way Points: Elephant Canyon Junction & Upper Elephant Canyon & Elephant Spring & Druid Canyon & Druid Arch Viewpoint (trail hike & off-trail hike & rock scramble)
High Point: Druid Arch base (Elev. 5750 feet)
Invert: Elephant Canyon (upper segment)
Approximate Sidetrip Stats: 6.4 miles traveled; 650 feet gained & lost; 4.3 hours elapsed.
Sidetrip 2: Chesler Park Loop (counter-clockwise)
Starting & Ending Point: Elephant Canyon Camp EC-1 (Elev. 5200 feet)
Way Points: Elephant Canyon Junction & Chesler Pass & Chesler Park Junction & Chesler Park & Chesler Picnic Area & Chesler Slot & Chesler Park Viewpoint & Elephant Canyon Viewpoint & Chesler Park Junction (trail hike & road walk & rock scramble)
High Point: Joint Trail bend (Elev. 5670 feet)
Invert: Chesler Slot
Approximate Sidetrip Stats: 6.8 miles traveled; 1100 feet gained & lost; 4.5 hours elapsed.
Approximate Total Stats: 17.5 miles traveled; 2300 feet gained & lost.
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Full Trip Report
For the last outing of our Utah vacation, Eileen and Brooke and I did an overnighter in the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park. This particular district—one of three in the park—is known for its abundance of sandstone spires and pinnacles but offers other outstanding attractions as well. We established a backcountry base camp in Elephant Canyon and then made two sidetrips that combined hiking, scrambling, and canyoneering. Although both sidetrips covered a similar distance, they were distinctly different in character.
Day 1 (AM): Trailhead to Elephant Canyon Camp
We started at the Elephant Hill Trailhead in late morning and hiked across the southern flank of Elephant Hill. The first mile of trail took us through a veritable theme park of whimsically shaped sandstone outcrops—all with a culinary motif. There were cream pies, dinner rolls, chocolate soufflés, cheeseburgers, cinnamon buns, mushrooms, and many other tasty formations.
The next mile of trail led us over Elephant Gap, through a narrow slot, and down to Elephant Canyon. Upon reaching the canyon invert (1.2 hours + 300 feet from TH), we encountered Elephant Canyon Junction, where four trails meet.
At Elephant Canyon Junction, we turned right and walked 200 yards over to Camp EC-1, our designated campsite for the night (all camping in the canyon is by reservation only). This camp is nicely situated on a flat ledge with a view of several towers that look like chefs’ toques—maintaining the culinary theme, of course. Being so late in the season, however, the entire area was bone-dry; our only hope for finding camp water was at Elephant Spring, which is shown about 2½ miles up-canyon on some maps.
Day 1 (PM): Elephant Canyon Exploration + Druid Arch
In mid-afternoon, we headed out for an exploration of Upper Elephant Canyon with the dual goal of finding water and visiting Druid Arch. Our trek began with easy hiking up the canyon invert along a sandy wash, then across the canyon sideslopes on single-track trail.
Farther up-canyon, the sandy invert transitioned to moderately steep, slabby bedrock, and the route-finding became a bit more interesting. We started seeing little water puddles after the first mile, followed by larger puddles as we got closer to Elephant Spring. It was a relief to find a good water source for our return trip later today.
Eventually, an imposing sandstone tower could be seen ahead, near the top of the canyon. We didn’t know it at the time, but this tower is actually a profile view of Druid Arch.
At a point closely below the sandstone tower, we encountered a small, steel ladder that provided safe passage over a vertical wall. The route then veered to the left and went up a short, steep side canyon (“Druid Canyon”).
Druid Canyon ended on a broad ledge (2.0 hours + 600 feet from camp), where we found ourselves in the shadow of Druid Arch. Almost simultaneously, all three of us stopped in disbelief at the immensity of this natural sandstone structure. We felt like dwarves! Also, the appropriateness of the name instantly became obvious; this arch does indeed look as though it was constructed by ancient Celtic Druid workers!
Tempting as it was to stay longer, we were hastened off by the setting sun. During our descent to camp, we stopped at Elephant Spring to fill up several gallons of water. Darkness caught us ½ mile below the spring, so we finished our trek by headlamp and arrived back at camp shortly after 7:00pm (2.0 hours from viewpoint).
Day 2: Chesler Park Loop + Exit
After a cold night in the canyon, we were on the move again by 8:00am. Today’s goal was to complete the Chesler Park Loop on the western margin of the Needles District. We walked back over to Elephant Canyon Junction, then hiked westward up to Chesler Pass.
As we climbed out of the canyon, more and more incredible sandstone needles came into view, such that they were numbering into the thousands by the time we reached Chesler Pass. Some were clustered into likenesses of castles and temples; others were flattened into forms of pincushions, mushrooms, and toadstools.
A short distance beyond Chesler Pass, we came to Chesler Park Junction, which marks the start and end of the actual loop trail. We took the right branch and spent the next hour wandering through delightful outcrops, junipers, and pines. Slabby portions of the trail were well-marked with ducks and cairns.
At the westernmost point of the loop, our single-track trail converged with a Jeep road that runs through Devil’s Lane. We followed this road for ¾ mile, then continued hiking eastward on Joint Trail. Thus began the highlight of our entire loop.
Joint Trail led us into a seemingly innocuous group of sandstone outcrops that held some terrific surprises. We first ascended a narrow rock stairway, then dropped into a spooky cavern.
The trail made a sharp left turn within the cavern and led us through an amazingly deep and narrow slot. Much of this slot is 50 to 100 feet deep and barely 3 feet wide!
After 100 yards or more of true canyoneering, we exited the slot and hiked up to a viewpoint overlooking Chesler Park. This southern portion of the park is a large desert plain fenced in by tall sandstone needles—much like a giant corral.
Back on the main trail, we curved around 5998-foot Chesler Point and stopped briefly at another viewpoint before closing our loop at the trail junction. We then hiked back over Chesler Pass and arrived in camp at 12:30pm (4.5 hours + 1100 feet for total loop).
We enjoyed lunch in the warm afternoon sun, then broke camp and hiked back over Elephant Gap, encountering numerous day-trippers along the way. The Elephant Hill Trailhead parking lot was full when we arrived at 2:30pm (0.9 hours + 200 feet from camp).
Route Map & Sketch
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Photo Gallery
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