the needles

First trip report! Hopefully many more to come. We decided to make a trip down to Canyonlands (a new park to us) at the end of March, hoping for warm weather, clear skies and some fantastic hiking. We got all of that, with only a few minor hitches! On Friday morning we headed out from SLC and...

Horse Canyon, Needles. This tributary to the famous Salt Creek is not as impressively vast, has no springs or running water but instead presents you with miles of deep sandy wash bottom, and, as used to be the case with Salt, permits vehicle travel in it's entirety. From a backpacking...

I am finally writing my Spring Fling trip report. First, this trip was postponed until October, it is now the Utah Oktoberfest trip. I flew into SLC on Friday Oct 11th. Immediately I grabbed my rental, a Ford SUV AWD. Clearance was fair but no Toyo truck. I headed out of town through SLCs...

Sunday's hike with wife and kid was in the Needles district. image by kullaberg631, on Flickr We started at the end of the road by the Confluence trailhead. After a few minuutes we veered off the trail right into Big Spring Canyon. Crisp morning air and abundant water made for pleasant hiking...

In March of 2013 I went to the Needles with Scott, Jared, Brian, and Todd. Our objective was to see as much of the Needles district as we could in 4 days. Below is a GPS track of the trip...

I originally expected this post to be titled "Indian Creek and Davis Canyon," but I underestimated the awesomeness of Indian Creek. Alan and I spent eight hours on Saturday exploring along a stretch of UT-211 just over four miles long and found hundreds of petroglyphs and a few pictographs. I...

Desperate for some clean air and pre-holiday solitude, I skipped town for an overnight loop in the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park. I stopped in at Park HQ in Moab to talk over permit options since the Canyonlands permit page indicated the Needles Visitor Center was closed for the...

Well... after putting together the video for my Boulder Mountain to Moab hike back in May, things got a little crazy for me and I didn't follow up with a full trip report. With 2013 winding down, I made myself sit down and put it all together this past weekend. The 18-day, 283-mile hike was...

Salt Creek The plan: My two sons and I start at Cathedral Butte, hike down salt creek to Angel arch, and then back out to Cathedral Butte. I reserved three different campsites for seven nights. SC2 one night, SC3 one night, SC4 4 nights, then SC2 one night on the way out. The main points...

For the second summer in a row I found myself headed to the desert for a backpacking trip with someone I had yet to meet, thank you backcountrypost.com! I was racing the sun to the campsite that @langutah had designated as our meeting spot. Even in my rushed state, I drove quite carefully and...

Hiking in Salt Creek Canyon, Utah the FIRST time and what WE learned... September 14, 2013 at 11:26pm Before I tell our story I have to give a HUGE shout out to Nick....I found his blog on Salt Creek on New Year's Day 2013 and after years of dreaming in general of doing something like this...

I've been pretty sidetracked since finishing my Boulder to Moab hike several weeks ago so I haven't had a chance to post much about my trip. But, I'm finally getting to that point. I ended up doing the videos before doing the actual trip report this time. So... I'll let you pick your pleasure...

I hesitated a lot to post a few of my trip reports from last year due to the loss of most of my pictures to Hurricane Sandy. Luckily I had uploaded a few pictures online before it happened so it wasn't at least not a total loss. :) Salt Creek Canyon June 2012 After I have visited Angel...

So last week was looking to be really slow at work, with little to do. So I asked for 3 days off and took off on Friday after work, with the plan to arrive home 5 days later on Wednesday. At about 7PM I left Salt Lake with the goal of reaching Kanab. That drive seemed to go by fairly quick and...

Day 1: We left the hotel at about 9:00 am with clear skies and drove to the Needles visitor’s center to obtain our permit. Newspaper Rock was on the way so we stopped and took a few pictures. At the visitor’s center, the ranger reviewed basic backcountry regulations and water availability. The...

It was early march, and I checked the forecast for the following weekend. With a low of 50, and a High of 72 I knew it was time to use that last personal day I was hanging onto. With my wife coming along, I wanted to pick something that had available water, great views, and decent seclusion. We...

Friday - Sunday, March 15-17, 2013 The Original Trip Report on ADVENTR.CO After work on Friday I got in my Jeep and started driving towards The Needles District of Canyonlands. I reached a campsite just outside the park shorty before sunset. As I was getting my tent setup the setting sun...

The itch to camp does not stop when the cold grips the desert. The empty(ish) and FREE campground at Needles was a beautiful and extremely fun destination last December so I decided to hit it up again this year. Last year I saw Druid Arch which had enchanted me in photos and this year I wanted...

In an unabashed attempt to score some loot, I've decided to risk diluting the high quality of this website by posting my trip report. Last year, my brother-in-law and I spent a beautiful October day walking the Chesler Park loop in the Needles district. I've been near Chesler Park several...

This trip, as originally conceived, was to be a four night, five day excursion into the backcountry of Canyonlands National Park. I'd hoped to link the highlights of the Needles using an extended loop, traveling counter-clockwise from the Squaw Campground trailhead to Chelser Park, Elephant...