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Matt and I decided to take a trip down to Canyonlands National Park and do some camping and hiking. You can read about our full trip here. As for the hikes, there are many hikes to do in the Needles District.
One of those, is an 11 mile roundtrip hike to Druid Arch. I would rate this hike moderate because of the length. The trail is mostly flat as you walk through the canyon floor/wash for the majority of the hike. The trail starts at the Elephant Hill trailhead and ends in Elephant Canyon.
The first couple of miles you’ll hike over lots of slickrock and you’ll want to stop and take pictures at the incredible viewpoints of the canyons below.
The first couple of miles of the trail is also the main route to Chesler Park. Then the trail branches off into Elephant Canyon and leads to the arch. Fewer people choose to hike to Druid arch, so once you enter Elephant Canyon, you won’t see as many people. We saw about 6 people for the remainder of the hike to the arch.
You’ll pass through a few tight spaces, including this small slot canyon. We enjoyed the variety that this hike offers.
The remaining 3.5 miles to the arch are hiked mostly in a dry wash canyon. You may encounter a couple of places with big pools of water, but we were able to hike around each of these so we didn’t have to get wet. When you are nearing the arch, you’ll come across this steep slickrock hill. There aren’t any ropes but with good footing you shouldn’t have any trouble getting up.
As you are nearing the arch, you’ll see a big rock jutting out like a fin. This is the side view of the arch. You’ll follow the trail and hike to the left in order to view the arch from the front. At the end of the trail, you’ll need to scramble up a small ladder and a steep hill further on.
When we got to the top, I was amazed. I couldn’t believe how massive the arch was! I had seen pictures of it before, but I didn’t realize how tall it really was until I was standing in front of it. Druid Arch is a freestanding arch that stands 450 feet tall! It is named because of the resemblance to Stonehenge in England, a place long associated with druids.
After taking some pictures of the arch, it is time to turn back and hike ~5.5 miles back to the car. This hike was fairly long, and provided very little shade. Once we got to the trailhead and started the hike, it was 8:15am and we finished about 3:30pm. Now, keep in mind, we were slow hikers, especially the last mile and a half or so because I was in quite a bit of pain. I have bad knees, and once I start hiking, especially downhill, my knees start to hurt pretty bad and make it hard for me to walk. So if you do this hike, I’m sure you could get it done much faster.
Overall, we loved this hike, even through the pain. The views were incredible and we are excited to go back to Canyonlands and explore Chesler Park. Let me know if you end up going!
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