Salt Creek canyonlands

[Schmede]

I snagged some permits for salt creek. I have 3 nights at SC1, but am considering switching the second night for a night in Salt/Horse zone or even Butler/West zone if that makes sense With that arrangement it will be an out and back or even a base camp at SC1 with some day hikes. It will be me my husband and three kids. The kids have done 14 miles in two nights in Chesler park. I want to keep it around 14-18 miles total, including exploring etc.

Anyone who has been in this area 1) what would be your turn around goal? Angel arch seems a little too far so maybe 4 faces? And 2) where would you camp in the salt/horse zone (or butler zone) the second night? It looks like from the map salt/horse zone may be farther than we want. Any other hot tips you could send my way would be great! Thanks!

 

[Janice]

When are you going? I've only been to Salt Creek once, so I'm not as knowledgeable as others here who have been multiple times, but I think water sources could be an issue for you in the Salt/Horse zone. (I don't know anything about Butler/West.) In early April 2023, which followed a much wetter winter than this one, we camped in the zone and found enough water, but someone we talked to who knew the area well said there was a lot less water that day than there had been just a few days prior, so we realized that water around there is very limited at best. If you consider switching, I would definitely check on the situation.

Assuming you stay at SC1 all three nights and do dayhikes:

1) If you want to keep total mileage at 18 or less, you would only get to 4 Faces if you have a day where you do nothing, as it's almost 5 mi one way from SC1 to there. Maybe you could get to All American Man, but that's still almost 4 miles one way.

2) Even if you don't make it to All American Man - Big Ruins and the Squash Patch area are interesting and should be close enough that your family can get to them. If you're not familiar with those, I can provide details.

3) Depending on when you go - If you care at all about flowers you might want to go a bit past Squash Patch to 38.02335, -109.75043, where there are a ton of cacti. They might be blooming, and that would be spectacular. I was wishing I could see that! Here's a photo pre-bloom:


4) When we camped at SC1, we went up on the rocks above camp (to the east) shortly before sunset and loved that. Your kids might enjoy some scrambling and the views were fantastic.


5) In addition to going down the Salt Creek trail, you might enjoy exploring Big Pocket and/or the nearby part of this route: https://www.backpacker.com/trips/canyonlands-national-park-salt-creek-lavender-canyon-loop/ We didn't do this, but I was intrigued - and if we had been basecamping at SC1, I would have given this a try.

Hope you'll have a great trip!