Horse Canyon on Canyonlands

[Carlos]

I hiked the Peekaboo trail in the Needles this past Thanksgiving and I am coming back in late March to hike that area again (day hike). As part of the hike I went into Horse Canyon and I hiked as long as time permitted (which was not much), but I managed to find Paul Bunyan's Potty (just in distance, next time I will hike up to it) and then Tower Ruins. I ran out of time, so I didnt try to get close to it.

My question is: how close can I get to the ruins ? I have seen a You Tube video of someone that took it from the rock formation next to it. I hike alone, so I dont want to take unnecessary risks, and I am very careful with ruins. Obviously you can get to the ruins because people lived there, but I want to make sure that is still the case that someone can hike up to them in a safe manner.

Also, are there any ruins to explore close to Paul Bunyan's Potty of somewhere in that vicinity ?

After the Tower Ruins, should I continue hiking into the canyon ? I have seen in Google Earth some tags of some arches further into the canyon, but I am not sure if its worth the hike. As a reference, I love to photograph the needle rock formations, so if there are more further into the canyon that would be great to know.

I know about Salt Creek Canyon (in case someone suggests it); that is also part of my March hiking trip.

 

[IntrepidXJ]

Tower Ruins are pretty inaccessible unless you are a rock climber. I would guess when they were inhabited that they used a ladder to access this location. You can see them from the ledge below the site.

Horse Canyon is a great place to explore and there is a lot of stuff to see further up canyon!

http://adventr.co/2012/07/the-elusive-horse-canyon/

 

[Carlos]

Tower Ruins are pretty inaccessible unless you are a rock climber. I would guess when they were inhabited that they used a ladder to access this location. You can see them from the ledge below the site.

Horse Canyon is a great place to explore and there is a lot of stuff to see further up canyon!

http://adventr.co/2012/07/the-elusive-horse-canyon/

great trip report !!!

Quick question: how far from Tower Ruins is the Thirteen Faces pictographs in miles ? I keep googling about it and I cant find a general location. Same with 9 faces

 

[IntrepidXJ]

great trip report !!!

Quick question: how far from Tower Ruins is the Thirteen Faces pictographs in miles ? I keep googling about it and I cant find a general location. Same with 9 faces

Drawing a quick track on a map, it looks like about 4 miles past the turnoff for Tower Ruin. Thirteen Faces is marked on USGS topo maps.

 

[Carlos]

Drawing a quick track on a map, it looks like about 4 miles past the turnoff for Tower Ruin. Thirteen Faces is marked on USGS topo maps.

oh yes, just checked the topo maps and I see them there. Thanks !!!

 

[Carlos]

I

Drawing a quick track on a map, it looks like about 4 miles past the turnoff for Tower Ruin. Thirteen Faces is marked on USGS topo maps.

OH WAIT !!! I remember you now. I have been looking for the Cave of 200 hands and rock art in the Devils Kitchen are in the Needles and I saw this website (http://www.myxj.net/blog/cyclone-canyon-the-devils-pocket/#more-6749) and I realize that is you. Could you please give me an approximate location of it ? I will be there in March and I was thinking of hiking Devil's Lane from Devil's Kitchen into SOB Hill because I suspect its there, but that is a big area and I might miss it again. How about the location of that second trapezoidal anthropomorph panel ?

 

[Kullaberg63]

When I was in Horse it had long been closed to vehicles and the whole area beyond Tower seemed very remote and almost forgotten.

I think the two arches up Horse are well worth the distance. Especially one of them, don't remember which, have an interesting trail with this ladder somewhere along the way:

image by jan nikolajsen, on Flickr

 

[John Morrow]

Horse is truly wonderful when the jeep trail is out. I've been there twice to backpack and never saw anyone past the Potty. Tower is inaccessible like IntrepidXJ says but with some friction skills you can get nearly level with it (his pics). Hardest part is lack of water and annoying deep sand for the first few miles. Take binocs, avoid the crust, and go explore. You'll discover stuff. That's how I found 11Faces. I have found pothole water a week after rain and even seep pools in a sand wash of side canyons, but don't count on it. It bought me an extra day/night of exploring from a basecamp with my Salt/Horse 3 night permit. Many arches if you like those.