Canyonlands Needles and Druid Arch

The Needles district of Canyonlands National Park is quite remote. From the highway it’s about 35 miles down a 2-lane road to reach the visitor’s center. I was here in 2019 and hiked Chesler Park Loop, which was beautiful. This time I hiked to a most unusual arch - Druid Arch. We first had to drive three miles down a narrow gravel road to reach the Elephant Hill parking lot where the trailhead for several hikes was located. The Druid Arch hike is 11 miles RT and almost 1,500 feet of elevation gain. Elena accompanied me for the first 1.3 miles to a nice overlook of the Needles.

Hiking up from the Elephant Hill parking lot - see our van?

At the first Needles overlook

More needles

I continued on for the remaining hike to reach the Druid Arch. Much of the hike was in Elephant Canyon - a mix of rock and sand. Much of the rock is a dark purple sandstone - a very unusual color. At one point, where the canyon is narrow and filled with boulders and water, you have to scramble up the side of a cliff and walk a narrow ledge until you can drop back in the wash. It was not an easy scramble. 

In Elephant Canyon on the trail

In Elephant Canyon on the trail

When you finally get near the arch, you can only see the side profile. To view it you must scramble up through a very vertical boulder debris field. About 500 feet of the total vertical climb is in this final section. But once you get up to the top and stand on the flat section, you get a full view of the unique arch. It’s well over 150’ high - it’s bigger than it looks in the photos.

I made it to the Druid Arch!

I could be on Instagram

Druid Arch

I started fairly early, and one female hiker was departing as I arrived. I sat down and had a snack and enjoyed the solitude for about 30 minutes. As I got ready to depart, I saw one person scrambling up the boulder field. Then two more, Then another pair. In the first 30 minutes of my return hike, I passed over 20 other people coming in. I was glad that I had the place to myself. I was pretty worn out when I returned to the van, but glad to have made the hike to see such an interesting formation.

Looking back up Elephant Canyon - I came up that little crack.

Flowers and rocks

Almost back to the trailhead.

Nearly done

 - Paul