This is a long day hike with virtually no chance of finding water along the way. It is a trip with some challenges, though nothing extreme. There are many rewards, like the view from the top of the Waterpocket Fold, a nice section of open Ponderosa valley, and an arch. Care needs to be taken to follow the route on the map since some stretches of this route do not offer good guideposts. It is a great hike but not for everyone.
| TIME: | 8-11 hours. |
| ELEVATION GAIN: | 1750 feet. |
| DIFFICULTY: | Difficult route finding. Difficult scrambling. |
| MAPS: | Fruita, Twin Rocks |
| GEOLOGY: | Ten Formations. Morrison down to Moenkopi. The colorful soft rock where the hike starts is in the upper (Brushy Basin) member of the of the Morrison Formation. The rock was deposited about 144 million years ago. The hike ends at the Chimney Rock parking lot in the Moenkopi Formation which was laid down 248 million years ago. The hike covers all the rocks remaining from the 104 million years of the Triassic and Jurassic periods. |
| CIRCLE TRIP: | No. This is a through trip requiring transportation at Chimney Rock parking area. To get to the Chimney Rock parking area from the Visitor Center drive west on Utah Highway 24 three miles to the signed Chimney Rock parking area. Turn right (north) to park. |
| ACCESS: | From the Visitor Center drive 12 miles east on Utah Highway 24 to a road on the left (north) signed "River Ford". Turn left (just a slight angle) and follow the road to the ford. Cross the river (the downstream ford is usually best) and drive 6.6 miles north on the Hartnet Road to a well and abandoned drill rig. With a high clearance vehicle turn left at the unsigned two-track and drive 0.8 miles to a sandy wash. Four wheel drive could be required in the wash or on the clay if wet. At the wash turn right (north) and follow it for 0.7 miles until the two-track goes up the left bank. Leave the wash and follow the road 0.8 miles to an old cattle pond (unmarked Park boundary) and park. (S) |
From the vehicle walk west to the main wash then follow it or the cattle trails up stream. In twelve minutes there is a narrow bedrock section to go through. The rock is a part of the Salt Wash member of the Morrison Formation and is, here, composed of sandstone and conglomerate. The rock is made up of stream deposits.
Two hundred feet after the narrow portion widens out some, the main plant along the wash is Rabbitbrush. There is also a lot of old cut juniper wood in and on the north side of the wash, which was placed there along an old cattle trail or to stop cows from going down canyon. Just beyond that, on the right (north), there are a number of Apache Plume bushes growing around a small (7 foot high) Cliff Rose tree. The Apache Plume has a delicate three-lobed leaf while the Cliff Rose has hardy (and odoriferous when crushed) small multi-lobed foliage.
Where the canyon widens more and the wash splits, take the right fork (north). There is Tamarisk in the wash just upstream of the junction. At the next major junction go left (west).
Just past that junction there are two species of Mormon Tea plants on the right. Continue to the low saddle overlooking South Desert and you are at The Notch. An old, still discernable and easily walkable, cattle trail goes down to the edge of South Desert.
Observe the slope forming the north (right) side of the saddle you are in. The Morrison Formation is at the top of the hill. Just below that is the thin bedded red-brown Summerville Formation. Next down is the lighter colored gray Curtis Formation.
Before leaving The Notch (A), look at the Waterpocket Fold and find the low point on the Horizon that is almost due west. Follow the slope straight down toward South Desert. There is a significant red-brown formation that ends near the valley floor. Looking to the right, that layer seems to end at a canyon mouth, then farther right, there is another, much smaller, tongue of the red brown formation which ends at another canyon mouth. The route goes up that second canyon (B) so from here (A) pick out a way to get there.
At the bottom of the trail, head out across the sand. Unfortunately cattle grazing is still allowed in parts of Capitol Reef National Park and South Desert is one of those parts. You will eventually get beyond the grazed area.
At the mouth of the canyon you have been aiming for (B) since leaving The Notch, you will see that the red-brown rock (Entrada Formation) ends near the mouth and a much lighter rock layer forms the canyon. The lighter colored rock is the Carmel Formation which has many different colors, textures and types of rock. As you walk up the canyon the walls build slowly, and for a short time you seem to be walking through a layer cake made up of gray, green and red brown layers. At all junctions go up the main one.
This small canyon comes to an end at the rim of a larger canyon after weaving through a lot of gypsum to get there. When you reach that rim, walk it until you can get down to the bottom of the larger canyon, then head upstream. It could be about two hours from the Park boundary to this point.
Near where you enter the larger canyon there are a number of vertical, narrow, black bands of rock cutting across the other rock layers. These black bands, which can be seen in the wash and up both sides, are igneous dikes.
Ten minutes past the dikes there is a pour-over that must be climbed right at the contact between the Navajo Sandstone and the Carmel Formation. The Navajo is the light tan rock at the bottom and the yellow brown rock at the top of the pour-over is the bottom of the Carmel. The next pour-over can be circumvented to either side though the left is easier.
After about half an hour in this wash the canyon starts to widen out and Ponderosa Pines begin to appear. The canyon continues to widen to a sizable open area with rolling vegetated sandy soils ringed by vertical sandstone cliffs that are carved and weathered. Along the wash and on the vegetated slopes some of the common plants are; Little Leaf Mountain Mahogany, Service Berry, Prickly Pear (jumping cactus) and Indian Rice Grass. Notice that the Mormon Tea in this area is all the brighter green species.
The soils in this area are very fragile so any walking out of the main wash should be done on bedrock or while following the tiny water courses.
From the open area head toward the base of the highest hill on the horizon due west of you. (Marked on the Fruita map as 6669T). That is the long smooth topped hill with the rugged, jumbled sandstone to the right (north).
At a point where the main wash makes a significant bend to the left (south) and you are almost past the last of the major high points on the right (north) side of the wash there will be a jagged sandstone hill with a smooth overhanging cliff face off to the northwest. Leave the wash (C) and head toward the base of that hill. From there head for 6669T which, though temporarily out of sight, will soon be visible again.
Water: That next canyon north has the best chance for water in the area, with numerous pot holes fairly near the top of the canyon.
On the way toward 6669T there are a few minor drainages or valleys to cross. Go through the last little pass before getting to the base of 6669T (E) then turn left (south) and go down the valley east of 6669T. That will take you to the rim of another canyon.
Turn right (west) and walk the rim to a nice break in the wall a little way up stream. Drop into the canyon and again head upstream. This canyon is first bouldery then narrow and steep but push on. Near the top of the canyon you will be forced out to the right (east). At that point (F) move up to the left to the top of a bench. From that bench it will be apparent that you came up a side canyon to the main one, but that is good.
Once on the bench and facing upstream, turn 45 - 60 degrees left (to head a bit north of west) and head up to the top of the Waterpocket Fold. You will eventually need to go north on the top so you can angle that way as you climb.
Once you reach the top and can see west and south, follow the highest point of the ridge north. For some distance there will be many acres of Pinyon - Juniper covered land west and only slightly lower than the ridge you are on. That bench will end and you will be following a ridge above a sheer drop of oven 100 feet. About 350 yards after the bench ends stop on the edge of the rim and observe. There is a large bowl below to the west and north. A steep walled canyon comes into that bowl from the southwest. Eventually you want to walk the close (left as you face down stream) rim of that canyon so while high, observe where you will walk once you get down into the bowl.
There is more than one way into the bowl so follow the rim north and on around toward east until you find a comfortable way down.
Once in the bowl, head down the wash trending slightly west of south, cross the intersecting drainage, turn slightly right (southwest) and head for the edge of the previously noted canyon. You go north then west of the high point marked 6981 on the Twin Rocks map.
Digression: The hill marked 6981 has an arch at the north end which you may want to look at. The arch was visible, though not at all obvious, for much of the walk along the high ridge above the bowl.
Walk along headed between 6981 and the canyon staying close to the canyon rim. Before getting due west of the high point (center of the main mass) of 6981 be right along the comfortable bench looking down into the canyon. There will be a little cut near the rim going down a level. (H) Take that. (If it brings you right back to the top you were a bit too early; continue southwest.) Drop three or four levels (Total 60 feet) staying within 100 feet or so of the canyon rim.
There will be an easy bench to walk for a ways then as it disintegrates continue slightly down in the same general direction until on the edge of a bedrock floored bowl. Cross the bowl and once on the far side do not climb up, but follow the yellow brown slickrock a short distance to some boulders.
Wind through the middle of those few brown boulders to another slope of yellow brown bedrock and follow it down staying to the left (east). The slope will steepen but stay with it until it is necessary to step over and around a few light colored boulders on the east edge of a slickrock slope.
Walk down only forty feet beyond the boulders to dirt, then turn left (southeast) and go 100 nearly level feet to the edge of a drainage. Turn right (west) and work down the rocky drainage. Where it turns right and heads off into the canyon go straight, climbing just a few feet to a little ridge with darker brown rocks.
From the ridge you see a drainage going from your left (south), across in front of you and on down to the right. Follow that drainage to the bottom of Spring Canyon. Part way down there may seem to be two ways to go, one to the right through red rock and one to the left close to the edge of Spring Canyon through tan rock. Go left (west).
Once in Spring Canyon turn left (south) and go down stream about half a mile to the first canyon coming in from the right (west). That is Chimney Rock canyon. Go up it to the Chimney Rock trail then turn right (west) on the trail and that will take you to the parking area.(L)
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23June2017
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