Elephant Hill

Date 2015-04-10
Distance 24.4 km15.1 mi
Duration 6h:18m
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Fantastic four-wheel drive road in the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park.  The trail is difficult, but doable in an aggressive stock SUV with high clearance.  We took our '98 Jeep TJ with 31" tires and had no problems along the trail.  The trail begins by climbing up and over Elephant Hill.  This is by far the most difficult part of the trail.  When we descended the back side of the hill, I was worried that we might have a hard time getting back up the hill on our way out, but it turned out to be fine.The scenery along the trail is beautiful.  There are a few difficult sections of the trail that are connected by fairly easy dirt roads.  We drove to the Joint Trail where we stopped for lunch and a short hike. After the hike, we continued back on our same route until we connected back to the part of the trail that created a loop back to Elephant Hill. The ascent up the back side of Elephant Hill was more difficult than the front side, but we made it up with no problems (after trying a few different lines and skipping a few heart beats).  Overall, this is a fantastic trail if you want to do some good four-wheeling without worrying about getting stuck or damaging your vehicle.  If you're willing to make the effort to get there, you will be rewarded with a fantastic Canyonlands adventure.  

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