This hike offers spectacular rim views of Halls Creek valley and the highly eroded Waterpocket Fold. The twisting and flexing of the Fold is abundantly apparent and a thrill to observe.
The first part of the walk goes up the beginning of the east flank of the Waterpocket Fold. Once on the rim the views are awesome and the walking easy all the way to the described end of the trip.
| TIME: | 4-5 hours. |
| ELEVATION GAIN: | 400 feet to the rim. |
| DIFFICULTY: | Easy route finding. Easy walking. |
| MAPS: | Deer Point, Clay Point |
| GEOLOGY: | Morrison through Wingate Formations are visible plus great structure views of the Waterpocket Fold. |
| CIRCLE TRIP: | No. |
| ACCESS: | From the Visitor Center drive 9.2 miles east on Utah Highway 24 to the signed Notom Road. Turn right (south) and drive 13.6 miles to the Sandy Ranch Junction. Bear right (south) and drive 19 miles to the signed Burr Trail junction. At that junction go straight (south) 11 miles to a junction with a paved road. Turn right (south) and drive 0.8 miles on the pavement to a signed junction to Halls Creek Overlook. Turn right (west) - NOT RECOMMENDED IF THE GROUND IS WET - and drive 2.6 miles to the second turn off to Halls Creek Overlook. At that junction go straight (south) 3.3 miles. There will be some two-tracks going off, stay on the main road. The road will turn and drop off a section of Big Thompson Mesa. Near the bottom there will be an unsigned two-track going to the right (south). Turn right (south) and drive 0.8 miles to an unsigned junction where you go left. Drive 1.8 miles where just after driving up a little rock ledge there is a junction. Take the right fork and park. |
Since this was described, the road has been substantially improved. (roads in this area can be devastated by just one storm so it may still be bad) The easiest way to the rim now is to follow the road (BLM 12260) to the end then just go up hill to the rim (S).
As you leave the vehicle and start up the old dozer track the main shrub in the area (for the entire hike) is Blackbrush. One Hundred feet from the junction, on the crest of a rise there is a Four-winged Saltbush on the left (south). Where you cross the first wash there are some taller tree-like Cliff Rose bushes growing almost in the wash on both sides of the track.
The first large boulders along the track are on the right (west) and about twelve feet high. Just past them bear left (south) and go up that old dozer track (starts off looking like a wash). The route is in the Morrison formation which, here, is changing from a soft colorful clay to a coarse sandstone, or conglomerate.
Follow the track to its end or to the first ridge to the southwest. Once at the ridge, turn right (west) and follow the north (right) side of it until the boulders disappear and the slope lessens. In that area there is an ATV track which can be followed to the rim overlooking Halls Creek. A thirty minute walk from the vehicle ends at the top of a 1,000 ft. cliff with a stupendous view of the Waterpocket Fold and Halls Creek valley.
The myriad of canyons cut into the Waterpocket fold are all different and fun to hike. The rock layers run different distances up the slope, then are eroded away to the north or south. The tan Navajo Sandstone makes the most impressive runs with some high vertical or nearly vertical walls between the main canyons.
The whole scene is the result of the erosion of rocks having different abilities to withstand erosion. The bottom of the valley has the softest rocks, the Carmel Formation, and they have been eroded the most. Close to and forming the base of the cliff is the orange/brown Entrada Sandstone. This and the overlying Curtis and Morrison formations in the cliff are, in part, harder and form the nearly vertical cliff. Across the valley the more resistant Navajo Sandstone has been eroded off only part of the slope and remains in a bazaar zig-zag pattern with low points in the drainages and high points between. Under the Navajo the relatively thin red-brown formation is the Kayenta. It covers much of the fold particularly in the northern part of your view. Showing through the Kayenta Formation in some places is the red-orange/tan rock of the Wingate Sandstone. In all the view includes million years of rock deposition and the result of 60 million years of erosion since the building of the Waterpocket Fold.
Two other things obvious from here are that the Fold is not straight but bends and twists. Also, it flexes from steep, 23 degree slope in the north part of the view, to just 10 degrees at the south end.
Once on the rim, turn left and head south for as long as you like. Staying on or very near the edge of the rim offers the best views and usually good footing.
After fifteen minutes, notice that due west of you Halls Creek turns west and goes into the Navajo Sandstone. That is the beginning of Halls Creek Narrows.
Along the rim the main plants are still the Blackbrush and Mormon Tea with a few Silverleaf Buffaloberry bushes (Soft to the hand and eye) intermingled.
As you follow the rim from here south for a ways there will be a number of areas with many round brown balls. These are called "Moqui Marbles". They are composed of sand grains but the grains are coated with a concentrated iron deposit which was leached out of the now white sandstone.
About one hour after first getting to the rim the maximum view of Lake Powell appears including Bullfrog Marina and the many boats moored out in the lake. Look down and west and notice the creek coming out of the Navajo Sandstone and back into the valley bottom. This is the foot of Halls Creek Narrows. Notice also that significant canyon walls continue south a ways. Those are the walls of a textbook abandoned stream bed. The creek used to flow through there but was able to cut through to the valley and abandon that part of its earlier channel.
This is the end of the described route. Enjoy!
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23June2017
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