 Distance:
13.5 miles (loop)
Walking
time:
day 1: 5 1/4 hours
day 2: 3 1/4 hours
Elevations:
1,560 ft. loss/gain
Chimney Rock Trailhead
(start): 5,460 ft.
Harvest Scene Pictographs:
4,580 ft.
Maze Overlook: 5,160
ft.
Trail:
That portion of the trail in the sandy bottom of the
Maze is unmarked, but the route is not difficult to
find. The slickrock part of the trail above the Maze
is marked with cairns. Some scrambling is necessary
to reach the Maze Overlook, and a 20-foot length of
rope is useful in raising and lowering backpacks.
Season:
Spring, early summer, and fall. This hike is very
hot in the summer and cold in the winter. The best
times are during the spring and fall. The road to
the trailhead may be impassible, even with a 4WD,
after a heavy snow or rain. For current conditions
call the Hans Flat Ranger Station, Canyonlands National
Park, at (801) 259-2652.
Vicinity:
Canyonlands National Park, Maze District, near Hite
 The
Maze District of Canyonlands National Park, separated
from the rest of the park by the Green and Colorado
Rivers, is one of the most rugged and remote desert
areas in the United States. As described above, just
getting there requires seven bone rattling hours of
driving across a narrow unimproved road, the last
fourteen miles of which cannot be completed without
a 4WD vehicle. To their credit, the National Park
Service intends to preserve the remoteness, and there
are no plans to improve the access road. Indeed, there
could hardly be a more appropriate preamble to an
experience in the Maze than the long journey across
the open desert required to reach it; the rugged canyon
country’s isolation definitely adds its appeal.
The Maze, which actually
occupies only a small part the Canyonlands Maze District,
includes about thirty square miles of land, etched
and sliced apart by five major canyons and dozens
of smaller side canyons. How could such a small piece
of land be carved into so many canyons? From the plateaus
above it looks like a labyrinth with the top removed.
A convoluted work of art, tenaciously sculpted by
ten million years of rainwater searching for a way
to the Colorado River.
This loop hike affords
fine views of the Maze from the upper plateaus, as
well as the experience of walking through one of the
canyons below. In addition, the trail also passes
by the Harvest Scene pictograph panel, considered
to be one of the finest examples of Archaic Indian
rock art in the Southwest. Many hikers complete the
basic loop in one day, but spending an extra night
in the canyons will allow you to include a side trip
to the Maze Overlook, the best single place to see
the Maze from above. Also, it would be a shame not
to spend part of a day exploring a few side canyons
before climbing back to the trailhead.
|
|
|
Day
1
There are four cairned
trails leaving from the Chimney Rock parking area. The
first trail on the left, bearing around the west side
of Chimney Rock, leads to the bottom of Pictograph Fork.
When you return to the trailhead at the end of the loop
you will be on this trail. The second trail from the
left passes by the east side of Chimney Rock and heads
north across the plateau above Pictograph Fork. The
hike starts on this trail. (The third and forth trails
from the left lead to Jasper Ridge and Water Canyon,
respectively.)
As you walk northward
across the slickrock from Chimney Rock you will see
Petes Mesa directly in front of you. The large butte
behind Petes Mesa is Ekker Butte. If you loose track
of the cairns just stay high on the ridge as you continue
towards Petes Mesa. When you get to within a half mile
of the mesa, however, be sure to watch more carefully
for the cairns so you will not miss the turn when the
trail begins its descent down into Maze. Also, be on
the lookout for mountain sheep in this area. They are
often sighted on the plateau near Petes Mesa.
Once you reach the bottom
of the Maze you will be on the sandy floor of a small
side canyon leading in a northwesterly direction. Soon
you should see three large red rocks that look like
a grove of mushrooms growing out of the edge of the
rim about a mile down the canyon. This rock formation
lies just below the Maze Overlook.
Within fifteen minutes
after you spot the mushroom rocks you will pass by another
major canyon entering the drainage from the south. This
is Pictograph Fork, the canyon containing the famous
Harvest Scene pictograph panel. There are several other
smaller side canyons in the area, but Pictograph Fork
is the largest one. It is nearly 200 yards wide at the
junction, with a 150-foot-wide span of slickrock in
the center of the stream bed. Also the Chocolate Drops
formation is clearly visible from the canyon mouth.
This junction is a very pleasant place to stop for the
night. There are several good campsites in the area
and it is also a good base from which to take a side
trip to the Maze Overlook.
Maze
Overlook
If you got off to a late
start you may want to wait and see the Maze Overlook
in the morning. But if you plan to take photographs
it is best to be there in the afternoon when the sun
is in the west. Plan on about two hours for the walk
from the mouth of Pictograph Fork to the overlook and
back.
From the mouth of Pictograph
Fork continue walking northwest along the floor of the
Maze towards the mushroom formation. After 0.5 mile
the drainage dead ends at South Fork Horse Canyon. Turn
left here and walk south for another 0.3 mile to a point
where a break in the canyon wall provides access to
the rim above. The cairned trail up to the rim begins
on the end of a long toe of sandstone that protrudes
into South Fork from the west rim. Look for the cairns
marking the canyon exit point. Also there is a spring
in the canyon at the end of the toe, and there is usually
a large pool of water in the stream bed at the point
where the route starts up.
The trail from the bottom
of South Fork to the Maze Overlook is an exciting one,
with some scrambling required. If you are carrying a
backpack you should have a 20-foot length of rope with
you to pull your pack up some of the pitches. If you
exercise reasonable care the route is not dangerous,
but there is just enough scrambling to make it fun.
The trail heads straight up to a ledge just below the
White Rim Formation, then turns north and traverses
around the stone mushrooms to a break in the White Rim.
From there it is an easy climb out to the top.
The view from the overlook
point is one of the grandest views in Canyonlands National
Park. The loneliness and serenity of this point, with
the tortuous jumble of natures handiwork in the canyons
below is enough to inspire even the weariest of hikers
. How and why could such a vista have been created?
The complexity of the panorama astounds.
Given enough time, one
must conclude that almost anything is possible. It has
taken the forces of nature ten million years to produce
this scene. They began by washing away thousands of
vertical feet of sedimentary rock that had been deposited
during an earlier era to get down to the 250-million-year-old
Cedar Mesa Sandstone, from which the Maze was sculpted.
The excavation is ongoing, and is still not complete.
Here and there one can see remnants of younger rock
that still has not been entirely removed: Chimney Rock,
the Chocolate Drops, Lizard Rock, the Standing Rocks.
Everything else has already been washed down and swept
away by the relentless Colorado River. Presently the
Maze itself is slowly being etched and chiseled away
by the rain and the sun and washed to the sea by the
river. The dramatic scene we see now represents only
a brief interlude in the long evolution of the Colorado
Plateau.
|
|
|
Day
2
From the mouth of Pictograph
Fork it is 0.7 miles up the dry canyon to the Harvest
Scene pictograph panel. The panel is located at the
bottom of the cliffs, about ten feet above the west
side of the stream bed. You will find it about three
hundred yards before you come to a thumb-shaped pillar
of sandstone in the bottom of the canyon.
No reliable method has
yet been developed for dating Indian rock art, but most
archeologist believe that the Harvest Scene was painted
by the Archaic People who lived in Utah from 8,000 to
2,000 years ago. These are the same people who produced
the famous Great Gallery pictographs 18 miles to the
north in Horseshoe Canyon (see page 191). The Archaic
People, who predated the better known Anasazi, left
few other remnants of their ancient culture for us to
study; hence archeologist have long struggled to interpret
their art. But deciphering the paintings has proven
just as difficult as dating them, and we still know
little about what they mean. In this panel, one of the
figures appears to be holding a sheaf of rice grass;
hence the name Harvest Scene.
Continuing up the canyon
from the Harvest Scene for another 1.6 miles will bring
you to another junction with a major side canyon. The
trail splits at this point. If you bear right you will
be continuing up Pictograph Fork on a little used trail
that finally ends near the east end of Lizard Rock.
Most hikers, however, turn left at this junction and
follow the cairns up an easier route to the rim that
finally ends at the Chimney Rock Trailhead.
Content
from the book
Utah's Favorite
Hiking Trails
by David Day |
|
Utah's
Favorite Hiking Trails
access
info for 113 trailheads
75
detailed trail maps
250
photographs
loads
of hiking tips
|
Need
more information?
|
Regularly $14.95
now on sale for only
|
|
$11.95
|
|
| click
here to order |
|
| Canyonlands
Area Hiking Trails |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
