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How do you go about describing hiking on another planet? I imagine that is what hiking at the Needles District at Canyonlands National Park is like. The scenery here is so unlike anywhere else we normally hike, and I absolutely love it! The Needles District is located about 1 1/2 hours south of Moab, which was our base for 4 nights. We started this hike at the Elephant Hill Trailhead, of which the last 3 miles is unpaved but pretty well maintained. The hike leaves the trailhead and starts out with a climb then levels out to get a great view of the needles. At about 1.9 miles, you will descend into Elephant Canyon and continue on the Druid Arch Trail.
The trail from here is mostly in the wash of Elephant Canyon, so there was a lot of walking in the sand. I would say that was the only downside to this hike. I had to empty out my shoes so many times! But, the incredible scenery was a distraction from that annoyance.
This steep section was a little bit tricky. It doesn't look too hard, but if there was any sand on the rock, it was a bit slippery. Luckily, we didn't have any issues going up or down!
The final push to the arch was a pretty steep scramble up the gulley in the photo below. Seeing the arch for the first time though was absolutely unreal. It is so much bigger in person than any photo can convey.
We enjoyed a nice lunch break here. I should mention the weather we had was absolutely perfect. It was cloudy most of the day with short periods of sunshine and a high of about 80 degrees. It also rained just a bit which actually felt really good! I really can't imagine doing this hike if it was much hotter. There were a couple water sources along the way, but I'm not sure how reliable they normally are.
After an enjoyable lunch break we headed back on the trail. We decided to take the Chesler Park trail on the way back to avoid the sandy wash. We knew this would add a few miles, but it would be fun to see some new trail.
After leaving the wash we joined the Joint Trail, which was a fun scramble up and out of the wash. This trail was a fun adventure going up, over and around different rock formations.
After scrambling around on rocks, we finally leveled out to the area known as Chesler Park. We had hiked this portion back in 2017, and it was just as beautiful as I remembered. The open area surrounded by the needle formations is so gorgeous.
We continued on the Chesler Park Trail to one of the most beautiful vantage points on the hike. I love how far you can see! In the far distance is the Island in the Sky District of Canyonlands, which we were at the day before.
After this viewpoint it is about 2 miles back to the trailhead, with still jaw-dropping scenery all around.
Every time I try to describe this scenery or hiking here to someone who's never been, I feel like I don't do it justice. It really is hard to explain how beautiful it is. If you've never been to this area of the country, I highly recommend it. There really is nowhere else like it, and seeing it in person is absolutely incredible. Overall, we hiked 13.2 miles. Here is a map of our hike as well as a link to my All Trails stats. I've not used All Trails before, but it was helpful a few times in making sure we were on the right path. We were always mindful though to have the next cairn in sight before moving on. Can't wait to hike more trails at this incredible location! :)
https://www.alltrails.com/explore/recording/afternoon-hike-at-druid-arch-trail-2fa6cb0?u=i&sh=jgu0pi
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