October 5, 2003—Canyonlands Needles, spires and rock and roll 4 wheelin’ 

Another beautiful fall day found us making the 70 mile trip to the Needles section of Canyonlands, south from Moab. The last portion of the road which turns west from Hwy. 191 is skinny and curvy as it drops through a beautiful oak filled canyon with the walls pressing near.

                                                                                                       Wilson Arch off Hwy 191

Soon, we came upon a sign for Newspaper Rock, another Indian petroglyph site which is now fenced off to discourage further vandalism of the “Mike loves Jennifer” type. It’s a rock full of wonderful etchings, which they figure may date from about 1000 BC to around 1200 AD, made by successive tribes which inhabited this area. There appears to be some free camping spots scattered among the cottonwoods along the small creek here for smaller units

                         Newspaper Rock

As we near the Canyonlands boundary there is another small dirt road veering north labeled with a BLM sign “Lockhart Basin Road” which boasts two BLM camps. Sites are dispersed around a large rock outcropping approximately l mile off the highway and some would be suitable for a large rig, although the majority of campers today are in tents. But at “free”, the price is right for us, and we would definitely consider this area if the national park campground Squaw Flat were full, which it often is. Squaw Flat has an A and B section and the majority of sites in the A section are capable of handling most sized rigs. A few are very long so suitable for any big rig, but none are reservable and they often fill before 9 a.m. 

After seeing the Needles section, both Marc and I are in agreement that we think it surpasses even Arches National Park. It’s a whoppin’ good holler of fantastic rock formations with outstanding hiking and 4 wheeling opportunities. To that end, we take the graveled three mile spur road to arrive at the bottom of the infamous Elephant Hill Trail, said to be one of Utah’s roughest and most technical.

There’s a large parking lot full of 4 wheel drive vehicles, those more prudent than stupid I surmise, but we find room for the Freightliner and start the hike up the trail.  I’m in amazement that anything could climb this steep hill with rocks the size of boulders blocking the way. There are black tire marks on every available rock surface as well as deep gouges carved out by skid plates; we see broken windshield glass, tail light glass and assundry small parts lying hither and yon. Some of the switchback corners are so tight and steep that they require a turnaround point for a vehicle to be able to face front and continue the climb. One on the far side of the hill requires a driver to back up to the corner and beyond, to then be able to continue to climb. But I’m ahead of myself here.

                  Elephant Hill trail head                                         Trail goes over slick rock

We get a small respite as we top the hill to find vast amounts of slickrock framed with needles, fins and hoodoos. It’s like a fairyland walk and it’s marvelous!

                                                             View from Elephant Hill Hike

We arrive at cliff’s edge and note the trail below us crossing a gully area and disappearing off in the distance and decide we’ve come far enough. It’s a steep downhill walk from here; we decide to sit cliff side and take a break. What appears but a Jeep—inching its way across the gully. We’re in the cheap seats but we’re in for a show! The Jeep starts the climb. The driver kills it on several crucial rock points and just when he gets to one of the worst chutes, our camera batteries die. He is successful on making it up this far side of Elephant Hill however and we meet and talk with him for a time.

         Top of the trail at Elephant Hill                                                    The trail down the hill

The paved portion of road in this section of Canyonlands is only 7 miles so is leisurely navigated. There are several more miles of gravel road suitable for passenger cars, with 50 miles of four wheel drive roads spurring off from these. They discourage inexperienced drivers from attempting these roads since risk to vehicle damage is great and towing expenses typically exceed $1,000 for those who get into trouble. Day hiking is more our speed and with over 60 miles of trails there are some plum sights featured, including ancient Anasazi ruins. We can hardly wait to go back!

                       Big Creek Canyon

                      Ancient ruins