San Rafael Swell - Canyonlands - Elephant Hill

I spent this past weekend with our local club Wasatch Cruisers down in the San Rafael Swell. It was a fantastic trip! We drove down Friday to spend the night at the Lone Warrior campsite in the Swell with people from the club. We had one more member meet us Saturday morning before we hit the trail. We drove up Buckhorn Draw to the Buckhorn panel and then up to The Wedge. After lunch at the Wedge we drove through Cane Wash and up to Locomotive Point before returning to Lone Warrior for the night. After another night at Lone Warrior we headed down Temple Mountain Road where we split from the group. The club went on to explore a few of the old mines in the area while my family and I headed down toward Goblin Valley. We also drove into Black Dragon Wash to see the Petroglyphs and the hidden cave.
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Then we made our way to Moab and camped at the Canyonlands campground in town to have a shower and clean off two days of dirt. On Monday we met up with a neighbor of mine in his Jeep and headed into Canyonlands NP and to Elephant Hill. I'm embarrassed to say that in 20 years of wheeling in and around the Moab area I've never been out to Elephant Hill until now. I've been missing out. What a spectacular trail. Fun mix of rocks and high-speed dirt and some great side hikes. Not to mention the spectacular scenery that is everywhere you turn.
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I'm not going to off much of a play by play of the trip but will share a ton of photos. Hope you enjoy them.
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Sunrise at Lone Warrior

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Mr. Cruiser Outfitters roughing it on his roofrack.

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Had the wife and all 4 kids with me. There is a lot of gear required for 2 adults and 4 kids for 5 days. I'm trying to teach them how to take a minimalist approach but they're still pretty young so they need some extra comforts.

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My boys checking out Swasey's cabin

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had some BFF's along

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I love this FJ62. It was originally picked up by a club member a few years back for his daughter to drive. It was completely stock. Didn't work out for his daughter and was sold to another member in the club who did the lift/tires rack and stripes. And then just recently changed hands again and is now owned by our club president. These old wagons are so cool

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coming out of Lone Warrior toward Buckhorn Draw.

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Remember that FJ62 I told you about that changed hands a few times. Well the guy who just sold it to our club president sold it because he just picked up this killer HJ61 high-roof cruiser from Japan. Turbo diesel, RHD. I have some serious envy issues with this truck. Stay tuned there are a few more pics of this beauty. This is our group lined up at the Sinkhole just off of Buckhorn Draw.

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Let's see we had an LX450, UZJ100, two FJ62s, an FJ40, two Tacomas, a Tundra, an FJ Cruiser and a FZJ80.

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Bottleneck peak

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and the Buckhorn panel

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I spy a coveted birfield shirt

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Wasatch Cruisers is accepting of all styles of dress on our club runs.

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The Wedge

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my twins said it was a good time for lunch

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must have been a pretty good view

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JDM anyone?

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This was part of the climb up out of Cane Wash toward Locomotive Point. It gave a mild challenge to an otherwise relaxing day.

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the other 62

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finished it off by taking the road through the culvert under I-70 to get back to Lone Warrior for the night

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The next day we all packed up and headed down Temple Mountain Road. Most of the group headed home after seeing some of the mines in the area, while I took my family SE toward Moab.

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Had a great view of Temple Mountain as we crossed the Swell

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Checking out the petroplyphs in Black Dragon Wash

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The next day was in Canyonlands with a stop at Newspaper Rock

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and a little exploring

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and using imagination

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We were joined by a neighbor in his Jeep and we headed out to Elephant Hill. Can't miss getting a picture in the Squeeze

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Chessler Park is stunning in the spring time

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There are some caves and tunnels behind some primitive campsites at Devil's Kitchen

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Jealous

 

Taking the loop out to the Joint Trail. These high-speed tracks are a blast.

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The Joint Trail is a great hike into Chessler Park through caves and slot canyons. This was the "hall of Cairns" as my boys called it. Hundreds of Cairns all over inside.

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we were rewarded with this view

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And then the drive out to enjoy it all again. That is all.

 

i'm having serious adventure envy and am anxious to do something like this in my new truck. is san rafael the name of the area? i live in an area where san rafael is the name of a city. thanks for sharing your words and rad photos, looks like fun.

 

and a little flexing since happened upon the perfect ditch.

 

Could my 2014 tacoma offroad handle the trails you visited? Thanks again.



Probably not.

 

The San Rafael Swell is a massive geological area in Central Utah. Tons of trails to drive and hike in the area.

 

Absolutely. Especially the stuff in the Swell. That stuff was all very mild. Elephant Hill has some mild challenges but it's mainly just a few steep narrow climbs and tight switchbacks, otherwise it's fairly mild trail too.

 

I love it. I'm going.

 

Awesome sights and pictures as always, what kind of camera are you using?

 

I'm WAAAAYY overdue for an upgrade in the camera department. I'm using a Canon 30D. It should be replaced by either a 70D or a 5D sometime this year. But it's no secret that the lenses make a bigger difference than the body used.