Picks and Pans: Needles in Canyonlands National Parks

We created our own 8.6 mile loop by starting from Elephant Hill, hiking out toward Druid Arch, and looping back through Chesler Park right after passing the spur toward Druid Arch. Turns out the best part of the whole hike was also the least populated. The 1-mile section between the turn for Druid Arch and the signpost for Chesler Park was a giant fantasy stone playground. There were intricately varied slick rock formations everywhere. We could barely bring ourselves to leave, but the setting sun beckoned us away. We can’t wait to go back to play in the backcountry another day.

Since we arrived on a Friday, we knew we had to get to the campground early to claim a site. As planned, we arrived between 10-11am, claimed a spot, took a picture of our registration slip on the site post (per Sean’s obsessive behavior) and left for our hike. Returning to our campsite, with dreams of a hot meal and the chance to wash up a bit (there’s running water, but no showers) we found a posse of Texas yahoos had set up their shanty town in our spot. Upon confrontation (with our photo evidence), these skeezy Texans claimed our registration slip must have “blown away”. We were slightly perplexed at this assertion, given that we had been in Needles all day and had yet to feel a substantial breeze. The very conciliatory park employee was hesitant to kick anyone out, but ended up offering us a spot at the group campsite, which we gladly took to get away from our new arch nemeses, the trashy Texans. Turns out it was better for us anyway because we met park surveyors and Moab residents, Josh and Steph, who gave us some great tips on Moab and the surrounding area and were also generally cool people to hang out with. And while our evening turned out pretty well, we still fantasize about the ultimate revenge we should have taken on the campsite thieves. Certainly they will use this dastardly ploy on some other unsuspecting campers, since they more than got away with it this time. Hopefully, the next park ranger will be more of a fighter and less of a lover.
Sean says: There was no justice this time. We either ruin our tired evening dealing with jerks or we let off the thieves without reprimand. Next time justice will be served swiftly. It is amazing how dead the camping “ethic” is. Getting our stove + propane tank stolen in South Carolina after leaving it to mark our site and now getting our site stolen when we didn’t leave anything… seems you need to carry a portable locking gate to secure your site.

On our way out of the park, we checked out a couple of the scenic stops. Roadside Ruin had a short paved path to the remains of an Anasazi granary, which was pretty neat. Pothole Point was uninteresting, but only because we were there during the dry season when the small rocky concavities were empty of their water, flora and fauna. As advertised, Wooden Shoe Arch looked like a big wooden shoe. But if I had to recommend one stop it would be Big Spring Overlook, definitely the best of the bunch for its views and slick rock hopping opportunities.