Alcove Springs Trail

The Alcove Springs Trail is one of the six long trails that descend off of the Island in the Sky District of Canyonlands National Park in southeast Utah. The trailhead is 3.6 miles west along the Upheaval Dome Road.

The trailhead information says that it is 5.6 miles to Taylor Canyon and 11 miles to the White Rim Road with 1300 feet of elevation change. The first segment descends steeply, mostly on bare rock with good footing. The area below is named Trail Canyon and there are some of the spectacular views for which Canyonlands is famous, featuring the steep cliffs of Wingate Sandstone.

The large alcove with a spring that the trail is named for comes into view after only about 5 minutes of hiking. The approach to the alcove veers close to the sheer canyon wall and the descent to the alcove is about 440 feet. The alcove appears to be Navajo Sandstone sitting on top of the Kayenta layer.

There is a small pile of rubble in the right end of the alcove that I thought looked like a possible ruins site, but it’s hard to tell. The setting here is similar to the nearby photographer favorite False Kiva. With a source of water here, it seems likely that the early inhabitants would have visited this large alcove.

I stopped at the level of the alcove after 20 minutes of hiking. There are good views toward the canyon bottom where the trail continues toward the left near the dry wash. My total hike of about 1 mile took 0:50 minutes on a 60 F did March day.

Boxcar Bridge Trail in Canyon Rims

The Boxcar Bridge Trail is located in the Hatch Point District of the Canyon Rims Recreation Area in southeast Utah. The Canyon Rims area covers a large area to the east of Canyonlands National Park. The Boxcar Bridge route isn’t pointed out with signs but is mentioned on maps and guidebooks as a mountain bike route.

I started my hike 20.5 miles along County Road 133/132 from the junction with Highway 191, the access road for the Hatch Point area. This is past the turn off to the spectacular Needles Overlook Trail and the road changes from paved to gravel. There is a wide spot in the road at this point and a sign that says “View Point” with views both west toward the Canyonlands area and east toward the LaSal Mountains. The trail is a 4WD road that leads east through a wide field of sagebrush.

After about 30 minutes of hiking, the trail begins to descend into Trout Water Canyon and leads to an area with Cottonwood trees and some ranching artifacts. In the Sagebrush fields and in the canyon, I kept an eye out for Pronghorn Antelopes, which are supposed to live in the Hatch Point area, but I didn’t see any. Pronghorns are known for their keen eyesight and extreme speed. They are opportunistic, feeding on grasses, shrubs, and trees. It took me 1:10 hours to arrive at the canyon floor.

A few minutes of hiking further, there is a trail junction with the left fork leading further down Trout Water Canyon and the right fork climbing to the south rim. I followed the right fork and climbed to the mesa top area. In late February, there were small patches of snow in shady spots but the trail was mostly dry and walking easy.

The view further down Trout Water Canyon shows several alcoves in the sandstone walls. The interpretive information for the Canyon Rims area says that most of the sandstone outcrops visible here are Navajo sandstone. Ancestral Pueblo people are thought to have occupied the area for a short time, ending in the mid 1200s. It seems like this canyon area, with a spring and alcoves would be a place to search for ruins and rock art. I scanned the alcoves from a distance for ruins structures but didn’t see anything.
 

On the mesa top area there is another trail junction with a view of a large sandstone butte. On the nearest corner there is a formation that appears to be an arch or window, the Boxcar Bridge. I followed both trail forks for a few hundred yards and the best views are from the right fork. The main trail continues along the left fork. I couldn’t find Boxcar Bridge mentioned in the on line guides to arches so perhaps there is a gap and it isn't actually an arch. The view is from a long distance and it would take a lot of walking and climbing to get a close view.

I turned around here and retraced my steps. My total hike was 4:30 hours for about 8.5 miles. It was 36 F degrees at 10:30 AM when I started and 43 F at 3:00 PM at the finish. On a cool day I carried and drank 2 liters of water.

Canyonlands Erosion from the Needles Overlook

The Hatch Point District of the Canyon Rims Recreation Area features several spectacular overlooks of the eroded rocks east of Canyonlands National Park in southeast Utah. The Needles Overlook is 22 miles along paved County Road 133 from the junction with Highway 191, between Moab and Monticello, Utah.

There is a short system of trails at the Needles Overlook. The view to the north is toward Hatch Point. An Interpretive sign lists the geologic layers visible her as starting at the top with Navajo and Kayenta sandstone. I think these are missing at the tip of Hatch Point but are visible back to the east. The massive cliffs are the Wingate sandstone, and below are the softer Chinle, Moenkopi and Cutler layers.
 

Slightly west of Hatch Point there are glimpses of the Colorado River. An interpretive sign explaining erosion mentions the power of a raindrop, exploding like a bomb on loose soil particles. Flowing water from flash floods runs off quickly and carries these small grains away.

Freezing and thawing during the winter wedges rock chunks apart. Water flowing in the Colorado and Indian Creek below undercuts rock material as it turns the bends, causing it to crash and get carried away.

The area below the Needles Overlook is called the Lockhart Basin area and can be visited along the 4WD road that turns north a few miles east of the entrance to the Needles District of Canyonlands Park. Hikers can start at the Indian Creek crossing and continue to the area below the Needles Overlook and find Pelican Arch and some Ancestral Pueblo rock art.

Intrepid Trails at Dead Horse Point

The Intrepid Trail System explores the north section of Dead Horse State Park in southeast Utah. The access to Dead Horse Point is Utah Route 313, an east turn on the way to the Island in the Sky District of Canyonlands National Park. The most famous views in the park are at the Dead Horse Point at the south end of the park.

The trailhead is at the north end of the Visitor Center parking lot. There is a short 15 point interpretive trail around the visitor center that provides an introduction to the desert environment that the Intrepid Trail explores. The inner loop of the trail system is the 1.1 mile Intrepid Loop and the next loop is the 4.2 mile Great Pyramid Loop. The outermost loop is the 9 mile Big Chief Loop.
 

The first segment has two parallel trails, one for mountain bikers and hikers, and the other closer to the rim segment for hikers only. The hikers only segment passes though a sandstone pothole area where the potholes were filled with frozen over water. These potholes are important for the wildlife that lives in the area.
 

About 0.5 miles along the route there is a marked Colorado River Overlook point. There is a glimpse of the entrenched Colorado River deep in the canyons, about 2000 feet below. There are also views along here of the evaporation ponds of the Potash industrial activity in the canyon bottom.
 

It took me about 0:40 minutes to arrive at the Great Pyramid Overlook. The cliff forming layer at Dead Horse Point is the Wingate Sandstone, and the cap rock layer is the Kayenta Sandstone. 

The staircase rocks below the cliffs are the Chinle formation. Other layers visible here are the Moenkopi and Cutler, and the Colorado River flows on the Honaker Trail Formation.

The trail junction with the Big Chief Loop is about 0.5 miles further. At the junction, a hiker can loop back to the Visitor Center or continue on the longer loop. I continued, skipping the connecting segment. I hiked on a 40 F degree early December day. There were a few patches of snow along the way but the trail was mostly dry and easy to follow. (The Big Chief Loop is continued on the next post, or use the labels.)

Big Chief Loop at Dead Horse Point

The Big Chief Loop Trail is the outer loop of the Intrepid Trail System at Dead Horse Point State Park in southeast Utah. Dead Horse Point sits to the east of the Island in the Sky District of Canyonlands National Park. The access is along Utah Route 313, an east turn on the route to the Island in the Sky. Some of the best views of the canyon entrenched Colorado River are available at Dead Horse Point.

The main trailhead for the Intrepid Trail System is at the north side of the Visitor Center parking area. The inner nested loops are the 1.1 mile Intrepid Loop and the 4.2 mile Great Pyramid Loop. There is also a trail access at the Group Camping site. It took me about 1:00 hour of hiking to arrive at the trail junction for the Big Chief Loop following the route counter clockwise.
 

The Big Chief Loop veers away from the canyon rim and cuts through the high desert Pinyon Pine and Utah Juniper forest. Other plants common along the trail include Mormon Tea, Black Brush, Cliff Rose, Prickly Pear Cactus, and Yucca.

After another 0:30 minutes through the forest, Big Chief Canyon comes into view. A long west leading segment continues close to the south rim. The trail is mostly level and easy to follow. It is designed for hikers and mountain bikes.

Much of the trail is marked with dead branches or rock cairns. The day I walked there were some patches of snow that showed tracks of some of the animals that are active in late fall. The route has several signs along the way with maps that tell you where you are. All the trail junctions are well marked.

All along the segment leading to the Big Chief Overlook there are many views to the east toward the LaSal Mountains and the many fins of the Behind the Rocks area. The Potash industrial site is also visible at the canyon bottom.

The official overlook point is at a slightly higher point than the trail leading west along the canyon rim. The return segment leaves the canyon rim area and has views to the west across grassland. The return segment passes the Group campsite.

My total hike took 3:30 hours for the 9 mile loop. I hiked on a 40 F degree early December day and I didn’t see any other hikers and very few other park visitors despite the reasonable conditions.