May trip

Took the (closed) 4WD track to Devil’s Kitchen. Camped overnight and trekked back via the hiking path. Beautiful. The track easy to follow- concrete fillings poured in some spots gave you a clue. On the path, cairns well marked where to go. Also, dead logs and tree limbs indicated where NOT to go. The campsite at Devils Kitchen was one of the highlights of our trip. A grotto sheltered from the wind- the only sound was your own breathing. Except at one point we heard a breathing, panting, sound at the edge of our tent. Showed tracks to a park worker who identified as a bobcat. The grotto is enclosed and sandy. Perfect to pitch a tent. The sky- a trillion stars. Haven’t seen so many in decades. There are modern outhouses available. Wide open rock in the sun and a picnic table and other rocks to put packs in the grotto. What a fantastic place!

The trail can be a bit hard to follow at times but overall it seemed to be in decent shape. One pretty good scramble area, the main thing that stuck out to me was the lack of shade in some areas. Really recommend you pack more water than you think you’ll need, and then pack some more. I went in midsummer and thought I had more than enough but wound up underestimating the elevation, heat and sun exposure combo. But an absolutely gorgeous and isolated area, cannot speak highly enough of it.

Highly recommend this trail. We camped at devil’s kitchen and it was a pretty long trek in but dropped our stuff off at the site then hiked down to Chester. Ended up hiking the 4-wheel drive trail out to our car and it was still incredibly beautiful!

Highly recommend this trail. We camped at devil’s kitchen and it was a pretty long trek in but dropped our stuff off at the site then hiked down to Chester. Ended up hiking the 4-wheel drive trail out to our car and it was still incredibly beautiful!

Incredible

We used the map and it helped us to stay on the trail. On the way back, use the map because the cairns can be misleading before crossing the triple washes.

Just look up and head that way. Trailhead is way off the beaten path but well worth it!

Loved this place! The hike into the canyon was pretty hot and dry, and the “scree field” climb down is more just a bunch of steep, well-marked trails through boulders. The river was really high, muddy, and difficult to cross, but felt great wading through. We camped in Lost Canyon, which had a perfect amount of fairly fresh water, lots of LOUD frogs, and a few boulders falling near us at night

we reserved the devils pocket campsite for our backpacking trip & are so glad we did! the trail was beautiful start to finish! saw other groups of hikers up until chesler park but after leaving there, we didn’t see anyone! this loop is amazing if you want to feel secluded. took us about 6 hours to get to devils pocket as we found this hike quite challenging! would probably be a fairly easy trail without the 40lbs of water on our backs! would love to come back & do it again

really effing hard, never attempt the trail during the hours of 9 am to 5pm. you must leave at 6 am or 6 pm. My dog barley made it and bushwhacking is a serious way of navigation during the dark canyon adventure, you never know where your path will filter out to. This is a 3 plus day trip, do not attempt in 2 days. Travel as light as possible and bring a gallon of water no matter what. Simply stunning and amazing hike but definitely not for a beginner hiker:)

Excellent trail and don’t follow those little cairns, just hike straight up.

This is a fun walk over slickrock following cairns to a nice set of petroglyphs and, a bit further on, an intense cliff. Finding the glyphs requires hugging the wall once it becomes flat and vertical. Staying on the slickrock takes you to the precipice, but misses the ancient art. Both are worth doing. As the recordings show, its closer to 3.5 miles, 800'. Wear sunscreen, bring mucho water.

DOG OWNERS BEWARE! This is an amazing trail for backpacking but I really regret bringing my dogs. There were some dogs on the trail that seemed to do okay but their paws must have been well conditioned for the desert (we live in Colorado and my dogs paws were only used to shaded mountain hiking). The slope into the canyon is a steep hike with a lot of rock scrambles and loose rock and getting my very athletic dog to the bottom was one of the most miserable experiences of my life. His pads were sliced up and bloody by the time we got down and it took a few days of rest and healing before he could stand up and make it out of the canyon. Unless your dog is very used to these conditions or wearing booties I would recommend leaving the pups at home. Again some dogs out there appeared to be okay but if you're questioning how your dog will do I'd suggest leaving them behind or going somewhere else. But for humans........amazing and challenging hike!

Stunning !!!! very challenging! have to go back

Did an out and back from Elephant Hill trailhead to Devil's Kitchen. Did not do my homework, and so did not realize that I could have done a loop either back through Chessler Park or on the jeep road. Awesome area. There isn't anywhere you can go here where you aren't going to be stunned by the landscape. Depending on the time of year, it can get really hot. You need a lot of water.

I started at Elephant hill and stayed overnight at Devils Pocket. This was my favorite campsite ever. So secluded and peaceful. If you’re looking to feel remote and alone, this is the spot. You have a beautiful scene all to yourself. I sat on a rock right in front of camp and watched the sunset. This was the quietest and most peaceful place. I highly recommend staying here and if you can, leave and head towards Chester park and the joint trail. I stayed at CP4 the next night and it was also amazing.