Canyonlands Maze/Stillwater in late September

[RachelZ]

Still in the pretty-early planning stages of what I hope will be an epic Maze trip, Sept 21-28. We've got reservations with Tex's Riverways and permits for both the river and at-large camping in the Maze.

Major decision #1: Canoe Stillwater and do some hiking/overnights too, or just skip Stillwater entirely and get Tex's to drop us at Spanish Bottom for 7 nights in the Maze?

Background: My husband and I are very experienced backpackers, including in Utah canyon country (Dark Canyon, Capitol Reef, many others) and previous trips in the Needles area. In general we're more excited about backpacking than canoeing. BUT I'm worried about planning a viable route for that many nights, thanks to the water situation. We're willing to basecamp and dayhike, and also to carry up to about 8L each.

Thoughts?

Question #2: What are the don't-miss sights we should plan our route around? There's more than we could see in one trip, even one that long!

Thanks for any guidance y'all can give, reading trip reports here has already been super-informative!

 

[gnwatts]

Stillwater is an amazing place to be. From Spanish Bottom 3 days would be enough time, not a lot exploring, but enough probably. I don't know anything about the maze so others can contribute on that. The last 5 or 6 miles to the confluence on the Green were sublime. I have always wanted to combine a canoe trip with backpacking, and I think this would be a great one. Nearly everything is a don't miss sight on this section of the Green.

 

[Laura]

It sounds like you can't lose on this kind of a trip. Whichever you decide I'm looking forward to your trip report! My s/o and I are considering doing a similar trip next year as well.

 

[baltocharlie]

This sounds nice. I'm headed there this fall, might include this in the trip as well, hmmm. Please post anything you find out.

 

[Nick]

I haven't floated Stillwater yet, but with that much time, I'd do that and less time in the Maze. It wouldn't be hard to kill 7 days in there but you'd be exploring every little canyon to do it, IMO. I wonder how the low flow springs are holding up to the dry year we've had too.

 

[Ross]

Hi, sounds a great trip, and thought this a good place to post my Maze dilemma.
Myself and a friend from the UK were planning to do Navtec’s 5/6 Day Maze tour in Canyonlands starting Nov 23, but they require a minimum 3 people and our 3rd person had to pull out for family reasons. (More than 3 is ok too)

http://navtec.com/combo-trips/maze-cataract.html

Obviously going with a tour company means paying and I've not paid before on my backpack trips, but the very rough trails require 4WD and national car rental firms don’t rent them or allow vehicles off paved road, so hiring a 4WD Jeep for a week independently in Moab plus gas/food would cost almost as much as the tour (plus the tour company provide food, don’t need to search out water or carry heavy overnight packs or worry about getting lost without GPS, cars breaking down etc, plus there might be the chance to leave the Maze by rafting Cataract Canyon down to Lake Powell and an optional flight over the park back).

Navtec said they are happy to add a day to their standard 5 day trip in the link as we also want to include the iconic sunset/sunrise view by camping a night at Maze Overlook overlooking the Maze and Chocolate Drops, and they said the extra day will also allow exploration of Ernie’s Country’s fins, and the Pete’s Mesa/Harvest Scene hike would be a loop to take in a ridge overlooking the Maze canyons (a 6th day adds a bit to the price to cover extra food/gas, but it’s not too much more). It would be great if anyone wants to join us, but we’d need a pretty quick definite yes, and I guess at least a deposit for Navtec, as we have to move to confirm the tour, book flights, or if we don’t get a third, make alternative plans. We’d be coming from Denver if someone needs transport, but would not be returning there until about Dec 2. Ideally best to email me at rosskaniuk (at) hotmail.com (where the at is @) or post here, or private message, but I might not pick that up so quickly. Thanks, Ross