Chesler Park: Part 2

In celebration of Roomie's graduation, we took off to the desert to hike the entire Chesler Park trail (see Chesler Park Part 1) in the Needles District in Canyonlands National Park.

This little guy was hiding under my tent the first night camping.

We set out on the trail a little later than planned. This meant for a hot afternoon, but it was totally worth it. The scenery was spectacular!

Heading up the trail, about 3 miles in.

We were pretty focused on getting through the trail, so we didn't end up with a ton of shots of the general scenery, which is completely amazing. Once you hike the main out-and-back trail, it opens up into Chesler Park about 3.5 miles from the trailhead. The area opens up into huge spaces and the loop begins. We decided to start looping to the east. On the farthest end of the circle, the trail ducks down into an impressive slot canyon.

 

The slot continues down into an open room, covered in cairns. Once you climb through the rest of the room, the trail opens back up into the rest of the park.

Up until this point we had only seen one other person. After we left the slot canyon, we began to see quite a few more, most with only minimal water. We were on the far end of the loop and still had a good 5 miles to go with the heat of the day upon us. I was starting to worry for these people without adequate water supplies, when we stumbled on a parking lot, picnic tables under trees, and even a restroom. Apparently, part of the loop trail joins up with a 4x4 road. Who knew?

After we left the road, we hopped back on the trail which goes into Devil's Garden. It is aptly named as it is beautiful and mysterious, but also blazing hot and the trail rolls around the scenery, never ending. Best to get up earlier and avoid this part of the trail in the heat of the day.

Despite the heat and blisters (Make sure you wear the best shoes you've ever owned! Roomie lost 2 toenails and it took me a couple of months to heal from all of my blisters.) this is a fantastic trail! It is especially breathtaking and definitely one I would recommend for those looking for a great way to see some deeper country and picturesque scenery!