Lost Canyon Loop Trail

The Lost Canyon Loop Trail is one of the many hiking routes in the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park in southeast Utah. The hike starts at the Squaw Flats Campground Trailhead “A.” After 1.1 miles, there is a trail junction with the Squaw Canyon Trail.

I continued past the Squaw Canyon Trail junction another 1.5 miles to the Lost Canyon Trail Junction to make the hike a clockwise loop.

The route to arrive at Lost Canyon includes some of the typical scrambling over sandstone outcrop sections that make the Needles District trails challenging. There is one short ladder to climb down. The views from the top of the sandstone segments are always spectacular.

 It took me 1:15 hours to go the 2.6 miles to arrive at the lower end of Lost Canyon. The Peekaboo Trail continues east past this point for 2.8 miles. The trail segment up Lost Canyon is 3.2 miles. From the lower end of Lost Canyon it is 6.1 miles back to the trailhead.

Lost Canyon has more flowing water and riparian habitat compared to Squaw and many of the other nearby canyons.

The trail is somewhat sandy and crosses the stream many times. There are many cottonwood trees along the stream, with Pinon Pine, Utah Juniper, and sagebrush fields along the canyon sides.

I got confused at the point where the trail exits Lost Canyon and starts to climb over the divide to Squaw Canyon. The trail has been following the stream and there are hiker tracks that continue past the turn off, making it easy to miss.

The upper part of Lost Canyon that is beyond the trail may be a good place to look for ruin sites, but I didn’t see any in the several hundred yards that I explored. I walked up to the next canyon junction before I realized I was off the trail.

The climb out of Lost Canyon follows a narrow side canyon and then climbs up a sandstone bowl with good views at the top.

 On the downward side, there is a segment along a wide but slanting ledge. On the climb up to the top of the sandstone bowl, there are one or two spots that are somewhat exposed.
 

The descent into Squaw Canyon is a very scenic stair step cascade down a dry waterfall. My total time in Lost Canyon was about 3:00 hours for the 3.2 miles, including about 0:40 minutes of side trip off the trail.

From the Lost Canyon Trail junction with the Squaw Canyon Trail it is 1.7 miles to the starting trail junction and 2.8 miles total back to the Squaw Flats trailhead. My total hike for about 9 miles took 5:50 hours. In late April, it was 51 F degrees at 10:15 AM and 68 F at my 4:05 PM finish. I carried and drank 3 liters of water.

Lathrop Trail

The Lathrop 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. This is the only trail that leads all the way to the Colorado River, a distance of 10.8 miles. The trailhead is 1.8 miles south of the Visitor Center.

The first segment crosses the broad Gray’s Pasture, an area of grasses, Mormon Tea and a few scattered shrubs. I scanned this area with binoculars for any grazing animals but didn’t spot any at mid morning. There is a slight crest where the view changes and an old storage building is visible to the north. It took me about 30 minutes of hiking to cross the grassy pasture area.
 

The terrain then changes to bare rock with rock cairns marking the way. The views become spectacular with buttes, mountains, and glimpses of the Colorado River below.

 There are two flat mesa top areas along this segment, a change of pace from the jumbled rocks.

Views of the White Rim area show some finger like canyons that are similar to those visible from the Grand View Point.

At the same view point is a broad sweep of the massive Wingate Sandstone cliffs. The challenge of hiking in the Island of the Sky is to find a place to get past these cliffs.

After about 2.5 miles, the trail descends slightly and follows a ledge for about 0.5 miles with views toward Airport Tower. Some of the White Rim area campsites are designated as the Airport sites. Looking over the edge, the trail down to the While Rim is visible in the deep canyon below.
 

I turned around after 1:40 hours at the point where the trail begins to descend steeply through the Wingate Sandstone. From a distance it is hard to see a trail down but I watched two other hikers zig zag down. The return hike took 1:30 hours for a total hike of 3:10 hours for about 6.5 miles. I carried and drank 2 liters of water on a 58 F degree mid March day.

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.