The images most commonly associated with the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park are from areas such as Chesler Park and Elephant Canyon. In the southeast corner of the Needles, however, lies Salt Creek Canyon. According to the National Park Service, "Salt Creek is the most extensive perennial water source and riparian ecosystem in Canyonlands National Park, other than the Green and Colorado Rivers. It is also the heart of the Salt Creek Archeological District, the area with the highest recorded density of archeological sites in the park." In the last week of March 2009, my girlfriend and I hiked for two nights, three days, and 35 trail miles plus tons of scrambling and exploration in Salt Creek Canyon. Between the reliable water of Salt Creek, the archaeological diversity of the area, and the wonder that is Angel Arch, it was a special adventure.
We departed from Squaw Flat Campground at about 5200' and headed southeast towards Peekaboo Camp.
The weather was on the cool side, and a bit cloudy, but it was nonetheless a big improvement over the wind and sand storm that had taken over the Moab and Grand Junction areas the previous day. Much of the trail in this section is on slickrock, and it can get a little tricky when wet or icy. We planned to sleep under the stars in bivies, and brought along a small tarp in case of rain or snow that would have been quite cramped for two- more survival than comfort.
Not too long after leaving Squaw Flat, we started to see down into the canyon floors.
For anyone familiar with the area, the La Sals are on the horizon shrouded in snow. To the right is, I believe, one of the Six Shooter Peaks.
Peekaboo Camp is next to the road, center-left on the canyon floor. For those concerned about such things, there is a vault toilet at Peekaboo. Until a few years ago, vehicles were able to travel deep into the canyon, at least as far as Angel Arch. Now, vehicles are prohited south of Peekaboo. Since the policy change, I've read that many species such as bears are making a resurgence. As we were able to hike a day and a half without seeing another hiker, I have no complaints.
To the west of a window above Peekaboo are petroglyphs. Underneath the white Fremont shield figure drawings are faint, reddish, Barrier Canyon Style designs. Fremont drawings date to perhaps 1300 AD, Barrier Canyon Style at least 1,000 years earlier, perhaps much older.
From Peekaboo, the Salt Creek Trail winds south up the canyon. Perhaps it was my mood, or something about the day, but I would say that, compared to other canyons in the area, such as Dark Canyon or Grand Gulch, Salt Creek Canyon is about as beautiful as they come. Salt Creek was dry for a little ways below Peekaboo, but we were soon walking past pools and running flows of water. The ranger said that water would be scarce, but I know they have their reasons for being very conservative about such things.
Crescent Arch is about 7 miles south of Peekaboo.
We camped just north of the Angel Arch Trail junction.
We set up the tarp primarily as a windbreak, and extra rocks were necessary to secure the stakes in the loose soil. Temperatures were below freezing, but not by too much. After breakfast, our destination was Angel Arch, perched at about 6000' above a trail that extends southeast 1.5 miles from Salt Creek. Just north of the trail junction is a very pleasant looking camp site under some Cottonwoods.
When the arch came into view, we wondered how close the trail would take us. Well, it kept going up…the final section is a bit of a scramble.
Looking towards Chesler Park Area from the arch.
From Angel Arch, we returned to Salt Creek and continued south to the junction of Salt Creek and the West Fork. There we explored an extensive series of ruins along a ledge above the canyon floor, midway up the picture below.
From the ruins, we retraced our steps north, bound back to Squaw Flat, making camp north of Crescent Arch. Far from backtracking, the different lights and angles on our return made for pleasant walking, and we glimpsed a few more ruins high on the cliffs that we had missed on the way down.
Before leaving Utah, we car camped near the southern trailhead of the Salt Creak Trail, below Cathedral Butte at about 7500'. Here are some pictures of a Lunar Duo in snow (which held up very well, especially given the guyline options) and the canyons after snow.
What would a trip report be without gear talk? Well, homemade reflectix coozies worked miracles, a pair of Golite Sun Dragons provided me the most comfortable hiking I've had (where I actually felt stronger on my feet as the hike went on), REI mistral gaiters with a velcro patch on the heel and railriders pants over the gaiter tops worked great, another big vote for trekking poles, a little duct tape in the repair kit fixed a dual sunglass frame failure, and 30 lbs. (a long story) is doable but not optimal with the Golite Pinnacle. Oh, and I finally scanned and enlarged sections of my map for use on the trail- this worked wonders- no more fiddling with folding and refolding an expensive map to death, no worries about the copy getting a little beat up, and freedom to mark locations and water sources on the map as we went. Heavenly.
Though Salt Creek Canyon may be often overlooked in favor of its more needle-like neighbors, it is a wonderful spot worthy of a few days on foot. I hope to return someday to explore the southern end of Salt Creek Canyon, which holds many other features of natural and archaeological interest.
