Our destination was Arch Canyon in the Cedar Mesa area west of Blanding. There’s a fantastic ruin at the mouth of the canyon we’d visited on a previous trip, and made a note to return for a longer hike up the canyon. We drove up Friday morning and hit the trail around noon.

The lower few miles of the trail are a multi-use two-track in the BLM, following an creek that appears to have regular springs providing regular water intermittently along its length. The canyon is gorgeous, full of interesting spires and rock formations.

There are several ruins scattered through the lower part of the canyon, some easily visible from the main trail.

Given our late start at this time of year, we hit our cut-off time for the day, and not knowing what was ahead, we camped about a mile below Texas Canyon, where the two-track ends at the BLM boundary.

The second day, we headed up the canyon. The forest turns to ponderosa pine as the trail approaches Texas Canyon, with a few good spots to camp near water. At the BLM boundary, the trail enters the Monti-La Sal National Forest and turns to a hiking trail (no motorized vehicles allowed). Cathedral Arch is visible from the end of the two-track, and Angel Arch is 15 or 20 minutes up the trail from there.

The trail continues wandering up the canyon among the ponderosa pines. Lazy, oversleeping bums that we are, we hit the trail pretty late. We made it as far as the junction with Butts Canyon, where we had lunch before heading back to camp. We didn’t make it to Keystone Arch, which is another two or three miles up Arch Canyon from Butts.

We packed up camp and headed back Sunday. While this isn’t a particularly long trail, there is so much to explore, I believe the trail guides’ claims that one could spend a week in this canyon. With lots of ruins and several side canyons, there is lots to see. We certainly plan to do a longer trip in the future and taking more time to explore.

See all our Arch Canyon photos from this trip on flickr.

Resources

• USFS: Arch Canyon Trail
• BLM Monticello Field Office: Hiking and Backpacking
• Book: Non-Technical Canyon Hiking Guide to the Colorado Plateau, Mike Kelsey
• Book: Utah’s Incredible Backcountry Trails, David Day
• Book: A Hiking Guide To Cedar Mesa, Peter Francis Tassoni
• Map: Grand Gulch, Cedar Mesa Plateau [BLM – Monticello Field Office] (National Geographic Trails Illustrated Map)

The loop is approximately seven miles long with a 1,900′ net elevation gain from 8,500′ at the trailhead to 10,400′ at the top of Abineau Trail. The Bear Jaw and Abineau legs are quite steep in places. Waterline is an access road following an old waterline, and as such, is a wide trail with a gentle grade. Most trail guides suggest four to five hours for this loop. With stops to water the dogs, take photos, snacks, and lunch, we generally plan on a leisurely five to six hours.

After the short trail to the junction of Abineau and Bear Jaw trails, we hung a left to head up Bear Jaw, which follows an old two-track for a while. The trail heads generally uphill, rolling gently early on, becoming steeper near its junction with Waterline. There are a few views along the trail of the Peaks, but mainly, it’s a beautiful forest hike. The last half a mile or so goes through a thick stand of aspens, one of my favorite spots in the autumn. This year, we hit it after a lot of the leaves had fallen, carpeting the forest floor in gold. Bear Jaw meets up with Waterline near 10,000′ elevation.

From Bear Jaw, Waterline is a steady, gentle uphill stroll along an old access road. The trail offers frequent views north through the trees. There are a lot of aspens along the trail, which carpet the roadbed with yellow fallen leaves in the fall. Locals often refer to autumn Waterline hikes with the phrase “Golden Road.” Near the upper end of the road, the path breaks out of the forest into a stunning view of the Peaks. The air was incredibly clear, giving us a gorgeous view of the cinder hills, high desert, cliffs, and Grand Canyon to the north.

Abineau is the steepest leg of the loop, dropping nearly 2000′ over its two mile length. The first half mile below Waterline is the most strenuous portion and the footing can be tricky. An avalanche in 2005 caused part of the trail to be blocked off, and the trail was rerouted around the trees and debris. The going gets easier after the trail goes back down onto the canyon floor and into deep forest, but it’s still a steady downhill back to the junction.

The aspens had recently lost a lot of leaves, so there was a thick, fresh carpet of golden leaves on the forest floor and decorating the evergreens. It was absolutely magical.

Resources & Related Links

• View all my photos from this hike on Flickr
• Abineau/Bear Jaw Trails (Coconino NF)

The two track keeps heading southwest through the meadows. We headed southeast on the foot trail just past the tank, which crosses the meadow and drops down off the hill into the forest.

The trail quickly meets up with Brookbank Trail. There is a trail sign at the junction that points up the trail we came down as the way to “Schultz Loop.” We headed left on Brookbank, heading for Sunset Trail.

For some odd reason, I’d never hiked this section of Brookbank. It’s a beautiful trail that gradually climbs before dropping down to Sunset. The trail skirts along the side of the hills through thick forest, offering lovely views of the San Franscisco Peaks through the trees.

We hung a left on Sunset, enjoying the view of aspens changing on Mt. Elden from the top of the hill. We stopped for lunch on a boulder, then continued down Sunset to the trailhead.

Resources

• Sunset Trail #23 (Coconino NF)
• Brookbank Trail #2 (Coconino NF)
• Dry Lake Hills (Arizona Hiking)

We set up camp near Beaver Meadows, knowing we were expecting a bit of rain that night and the next day. It started drizzling a half hour after we finished setting up and rained off and on for the rest of the night. As we were lounging the next morning in our toasty sleeping bags, I realized some of the raindrops on the tent looked slushy. Then the sound of rain hitting the tent changed to the sound of slushy snow. After a bit, we decided it wasn’t going to stop, and made the decision to pack up and head to Durango for the day.

After a night in Durango, we headed back out and set up camp near the Piedra River. We found a great campsite that ranks among the top ten campsites of all time. The road went up through a meadow surrounded by ponderosa pines. The ground is level, there’s almost no undergrowth, and previous occupants had left the site absolutely pristine.

A couple times, folks on horseback passed near camp, one definitely out looking for their cattle. On our way out one day, we came up behind the big roundup, with eight or ten folks on horseback and a couple dogs herding a small herd down the road. It was fun watching the dogs bouncing around behind the herd and around the horses. Eventually, one of the hands guided us through the herd so we could be on our way.

We did several hikes in the area. I’ll post photos as I get caught up this week.