Canyonlands (Chesler Park) backpacking questions

[rdp32]

I will be backpacking in Canyonlands (Chesler Park) next week; my tentative plan is as follows:

Day 1: Drive there from Denver, start at Elephant Hill trailhead, hike the ~3.2 miles to CP1 campsite. Perhaps explore part of the Devil's Kitchen trail as time permits. Or if I leave early enough from Denver, I may even try to squeeze in a short bike ride (mountain bike) somewhere on the way.
Day 2: Hike to Druid Arch (~4 miles), get water in the pool near Druid Arch, hike the Joint Trail loop that spits me back to my CP1 campsite. About 11 miles for the day.
Day 3: Hike the 3.2 miles back to my car, go do a short bike ride somewhere out of Moab (or perhaps Fruita) on my way back.

I have never been to Canyonlands and am pretty new to desert backpacking, so I have several questions:

1. I have mostly heard that there is no water in the vicinity of Chesler Park, especially at this time of year. However, I have also heard that there is a reliable pool of water near Druid Arch. Can anybody confirm that? If there is water near Druid Arch, then I would definitely hit Druid Arch the morning of my 2nd day, as outlined above. If there is reliable water there, how clean is it?

2. When I go backpacking here in CO, I prefer trail runners over my hiking boots. Will the sandy desert environment make the taller leather hiking boots the better choice? How sandy are those trails?

3. How hard is the route finding on these trails? Does it ever get harder than, say, the primitive loop (from Devil's Garden) at Arches? Any recommended maps for the area?

4. I want to just bring my tarp for a shelter with the plan of just sleeping under the stars if the weather looks good. Should I be concerned about desert critters if I go that route? I don’t want to wake up with scorpions in my sleeping bag! Along those lines, for those of you who have camped at Chesler Park, is the ground easy to drive stakes into? If it is too hard to drive stakes into, I may opt to bring my tent instead of my tarp shelter.

5. Does anyone have any favorite beginning/intermediate short mountain biking routes in the Moab area? As a point of reference, I'm probably looking for something harder than the Waterton Canyon road, but easier than the trail loop at the end of the road.

Thanks in advance for any input! If anyone has any recommended changes to my itinerary, or any must-do trails in that area, please chime in as well!

[Jon Frohlich]

1) Correct, there is no water near or in Chesler Park. There are some pools in Elephant Canyon and Druid Arch but I'm not sure if there'd be anything in them this time of year. Last time I was there I recall the one in Elephant Canyon being pretty nasty. Better recommendation is just take 6-8 liters of water when you start and don't worry about it.

2) Elephant Canyon is pretty sandy. Other than that not much. My friend wore trail runners the whole time and was totally fine.

3) Not hard. They are reasonably well marked and cairned. We didn't have any trouble.

4) We used rocks as anchors for the tent. Don't know how much luck you'd have with stakes (my guess is not much). Don't know about scorpions. We didn't see anything.

[kaiman]

1) Correct, there is no water near or in Chesler Park. There are some pools in Elephant Canyon and Druid Arch but I'm not sure if there'd be anything in them this time of year. Last time I was there I recall the one in Elephant Canyon being pretty nasty. Better recommendation is just take 6-8 liters of water when you start and don't worry about it.

2) Elephant Canyon is pretty sandy. Other than that not much. My friend wore trail runners the whole time and was totally fine.

3) Not hard. They are reasonably well marked and cairned. We didn't have any trouble.

4) We used rocks as anchors for the tent. Don't know how much luck you'd have with stakes (my guess is not much). Don't know about scorpions. We didn't see anything.

Just to add on an reaffirm the advice in John's post:

1. Definitely bring water for your entire trip to Needles. As John pointed out the water is seasonal and even then pretty scarce. Plus sometimes even when you do find water it is hardly palatable and needs heavy filtering.

2. You'll be fine in trail runners, just keep in mind that the sand in the desert gets into everything so you'll be dumping out your shoes, tent, etc. on a regular basis unless you're super careful.

3. As John says the trails in the Park are cairned and well marked so I wouldn't worry too much about getting lost. You could pick up a copy of the National Geo Needles District map to use as a reference, but unless you're planning on hiking off trail in a remote area that you didn't mention in your first post there's no need for you to get the quads or take a GPS or anything fancy.

5. You'll probably want to take Johns recommendation and plan on using rocks as anchors for a tent, tarp, etc as stakes don't work very well in the sand or bedrock.

As far as scorpions are concerned, I've only seen one since moving to Moab 5 years ago and it was delivered to my house in a truckload of sand that I was using for landscaping.

FWIW there are two rules of thumb for avoiding scorpions in the desert:

First the larger red and black ones don't have as bad a sting as the small translucent ones so stay away from the latter.

Second don't pee close to your tent. Urine attracts ants and ants attract scorpions so the further away from your tent you can do your duties the better.

5. As far as beginner and intermediate Moab mountain biking goes, I would start with the Moab Brands/Bar M trails right off 191 across from the Gemini Bridges road parking area, and the Klonzo Trails off the Willow Springs Road (high clearance 2WD vehicle needed). Also Dead Horse Point State Park off 313 going into Island in the Sky has 17 miles of mtn bike trails for beginners and intermediate riders. Finally if you want more intermediate to advanced riding I would recommend Klondike Bluffs 10 miles north of town or Navajo Rocks (again off of 313). The bike shops in town have maps for all those areas.

Hope you have a good trip,

Kai

[rdp32]

Thanks for the quick and thorough answers! Sounds like I'll need to carry my own water, which is unfortunate, but I'll also be fine without my heavy tent and hiking boots, which is good. I hadn't heard those two rules of thumb about scorpions, so thanks. And I'll look into those options for a bike ride on the way in/out!

[Scott P]

It is true that sometimes the pool near Druid Arch can dry up, but this is pretty unusual. As far as the quality of water, that depends on the amount of recent rain. When it hasn't rained in a while, the water isn't as pleasant.

It may be worth checking with the rangers about the water situation. There were some good rains in the Needles in late September, so there should be water there, but it may not be of the best quality (though this is nothing unusual in the desert).

Over the years, I have drank that water many times and haven't died yet. I'd recommend purifying it though.

[planet54]

3. How hard is the route finding on these trails? Does it ever get harder than, say, the primitive loop (from Devil's Garden) at Arches? Any recommended maps for the area?

I have been there many times and all I needed was this map that was always available at the visitor center. Sand slogging gets a little tedious at times but not too bad. Take all the water that you will need.

Image.jpg

[cougar]

here's a picture of that water source near Druid Arch (taken late Sept).

DSC01167.JPG

rather scuzzy.

Similar to the other comments, trails are well marked and cairned, but a mix of class 1 and class 2 (hiking over slab/rocks and sand, dry stream beds, etc..). There are plenty of signs at all the junction and campsites. Expect a lot of little ups and downs on rolling terrain, and a lot of variety of rock formations and scenery.

I'd also keep extra water in your vehicle as the campground/visitor center source may be shut off (good practice in the desert anyway). When I went a few years ago they had trucked in water due to some issue with the well. Not sure how late in the year they keep the water going.

I'd also watch out for mice at night as they tend to get into your gear, looking for food or making nests, and carry disease. Once a fellow camper woke up to a mouse chewing on his finger, and another found a mouse made a nest in her dry bag overnight.

[rdp32]

Thanks! Yeah, I think I'll carry in my water...

[mcmanusj84]

I stayed at CP1 in late September of this year. In my opinion it's the best campsite in Chesler park. The sand there is definitely deep enough to drive stakes into. I brought my non free standing tent and was a bit worried but it wasn't a problem at all.

Check out the area right behind your campsite that has a fantastic view of the needles. I ate all my meals perched on a cliff above elephant canyon

[rdp32]

Kaiman --- I just googled "mountain biking Dead Horse Point State Park" and the scenery looks amazing! How easy is that one? I'm hoping to do something pretty easy on day 1 to make sure I'm feeling fine (have only been mountain biking a few times this year because of injury recovery), but not necessarily so easy that anyone can do it as a first mountain biking experience.

[kaiman]

Kaiman --- I just googled "mountain biking Dead Horse Point State Park" and the scenery looks amazing! How easy is that one? I'm hoping to do something pretty easy on day 1 to make sure I'm feeling fine (have only been mountain biking a few times this year because of injury recovery), but not necessarily so easy that anyone can do it as a first mountain biking experience.

Yes, Dead Horse Point is definitely one of the nicest mtn bike trail areas in Moab. Scott Escott, the head of Trail Mix (our local trails non-profit) won an award from the Governors Office for the design and layout of those trails. The only downside is the $10 entrance fee as it is a State Park, however the pass is good for three days so you could come back if you wanted.

Here's a quick overview. There are two sections: the eastern half that is near the parking lot and overlooks the White Rim and Potash plant and the western half that overlooks Gooseberry Mesa and another section of the White Rim. Personally I like the western half better as it is less crowded and very scenic, however, it is also a bit more technical and sandy than the trails on the east side. Overall I would rate the east side Intermediate Beginner and the west side Easy Intermediate to Intermediate with the difference between the two being that the east side has more non-technical dirt single track and the west side has a few more short slick rock rollovers and rocky areas to negotiate that require speed and good bike handling skills. Of course you can always get off and walk any sections you're not comfortable riding.

My suggestion is to start with the east side trails and see how you feel and then cross the road and try the other trails afterwards if you have the energy

Kai

[rdp32]

Sounds perfect! Thanks!