Suggestions for shuttle hike in the Needles district of Canyonlands

Melissa

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Hello!

We are heading to Moab in early March, and have a small group doing a day hike in the Needles. Originally, I was thinking of doing the Big Spring Canyon-Elephant Canyon lollipop loop, and we may well wind up doing that.

But it turns out that part of our group will be spending that day driving 4WD roads in the same area of the Needles (it's baffling to me why you'd want to be in a car when you could be hiking, but to each their own).

Given that, are there any one-way hikes that would normally require a shuttle vehicle in that area we could do instead? I'm happy to stick to our original plan, it just occurred to me that there might be something we could do that would take advantage of our 4WD contingent's willingness to pick us up at the end. I mean, we can do a loop hike anytime, but we almost never have access to a shuttle vehicle, so I thought it'd be cool to use the opportunity to do a one-way hike.

We'd like to keep it around 10 miles maximum. Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

Edited to add: our pickup vehicle will NOT be driving Elephant Hill. Are there any pickup locations that don't require that?
 
Last edited:
Hello!

We are heading to Moab in early March, and have a small group doing a day hike in the Needles. Originally, I was thinking of doing the Big Spring Canyon-Elephant Canyon lollipop loop, and we may well wind up doing that.

But it turns out that part of our group will be spending that day driving 4WD roads in the same area of the Needles (it's baffling to me why you'd want to be in a car when you could be hiking, but to each their own).

Given that, are there any one-way hikes that would normally require a shuttle vehicle in that area we could do instead? I'm happy to stick to our original plan, it just occurred to me that there might be something we could do that would take advantage of our 4WD contingent's willingness to pick us up at the end. I mean, we can do a loop hike anytime, but we almost never have access to a shuttle vehicle, so I thought it'd be cool to use the opportunity to do a one-way hike.

We'd like to keep it around 10 miles maximum. Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

Hmmmm...I seem to remember a portion of the Chesler Park Loop crossing a 4WD drive road of some kind.....
 
I usually take the Elephant Hill Jeep trail and start hiking from the Joint Trail....you could make a route that starts or ends there?
 
(it's baffling to me why you'd want to be in a car when you could be hiking, but to each their own).

I like to combine hiking with Jeeping and maybe even some rafting, mountain biking and even backpacking....makes for an adventure!
 
I usually take the Elephant Hill Jeep trail and start hiking from the Joint Trail....you could make a route that starts or ends there?

This is exactly what I was thinking if they are going over to that part of the park. The hike from Elephant Hill to Chesler and out the Joint trail would be fantastic and getting a ride back would be the icing on top. Total one way mileage would probably be around 6-7 miles but you could add on to that a bit with side explorations if desired.

Here is my trip report:
http://backcountrypost.com/forum/threads/backpacking-chesler-park.107/

And my trail guide:
http://backcountrypost.com/forum/trail-guides/chesler-park.31/
 
There are a couple good options if your other group would be willing to pick you up at Devil's Kitchen. You could hike in from the Elephant Hill trailhead and do a Chesler Park/Devil's Pocket combo. The best way to do that would be to do the full loop around Chesler, then when you get to the point you began the Chesler Loop follow the trail signed for Devil's Kitchen. Going that route the scenery is much better than if you go straight from the Joint to Devil's Kitchen. That hike would be 10.3 miles. Another cool one would be to hike out to the Confluence Overlook then head down Cyclone Canyon and past Devil's Lane to Devil's Kitchen (8.6 miles).
 
Ok, our pickup vehicle will NOT be going over Elephant Hill. What does that leave us with? Sounds like we could do something with a different start point that ends at the Elephant Hill trailhead.
 
So where are they going?
Ok, sorry, to clarify, they'll be tooling around doing whatever that day and are then willing to come pick us up at a designated spot in the Needles so long as they don't have to drive over Elephant Hill.

It's a birthday deal--our birthday person has her heart set on a day hike in the Needles, and her parents, who enjoy doing fourwheeling offered to pick us up if that would open up any options for our hike. They don't seem to care where they go with the caveat that they won't drive Elephant Hill.
 
I like to combine hiking with Jeeping and maybe even some rafting, mountain biking and even backpacking....makes for an adventure!
Fair enough. I'm all about four wheeling or getting into a boat if it gets me to a good hike. :)
 
The only other thing that comes to mind would be to do a point-to-point between Peekaboo and Squaw Flats. I'm not sure if the road to Peekaboo is open though, it's often very sandy, wet and full of quick sand so even if it is, they might not want to go down there either. I haven't done much elsewhere in the Needles but perhaps others will chime in.
 
I'm pretty sure the road to Peekaboo is still closed. The only other 4x4 roads besides Elephant Hill in the park are the Colorado Overlook trail and Lavender Canyon...and I can't think of any hikes that would work with those.
 
Elephant Hill is one of my favorite 4x4 trails, they're missing out. The rest of the 4x4 trails in the area are pretty much dirt roads.
 
If they won't go over Elephant Hill and Peekaboo Road is closed I can't think of any other point to point options. One of the fabulous things about the Needles though is how many different loop hikes you can make, so I'd suggest you take advantage of that.
 
Ok, thanks folks! Looks like sticking with a loop is the way to go. When I started this thread, I was assuming Elephant Hill was an option and/or hoping there were some other good road accesses into the area. I really appreciate all the feedback.
 
I'm pretty sure the road to Peekaboo is still closed. The only other 4x4 roads besides Elephant Hill in the park are the Colorado Overlook trail and Lavender Canyon...and I can't think of any hikes that would work with those.
We may yet do a loop hike, but I'm also thinking about figuring out a Davis Canyon hike that would end somewhere the 4WD group could pick us up if they did Lavender Canyon.
 
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