Druid Arch to Chesler Park Loop

did this hike today as mapped out except in the opposite direction, hitting the joint and chesler Park loop first before going down to druid Arch. and I'm glad I did it that way because druid Arch was an amazing climax to the hike. I chilled there for 45 minutes or so enjoying the complete silence and the towering arch. My favorite section of the hike was cutting from the campgrounds over to the druid Arch trail fork. just a lot of fun stuff to climb over at that point. I was really feeling the nearly 17 miles by the time I got back to the elephant Hill trailhead.

Great hike in Canyonlands NP. Be forewarned - There is a lot of going up and down the rocks as you follow cairns about as much as a traditional trail. Make sure your knees can take it. Also, part of the hike goes through some dry, sandy riverbeds - so you will probably get some sand in your shoes. And the trail can be blistering hot and dry during most of the year - so have plenty of water. If you come prepared, you can really enjoy the hike a lot more. The hike to Druid Arch and over to the joint trail is less crowded than the Chester Park Loop. There’s some tricky spots to navigate, so make sure to look out for cairns to verify you are on the correct path. The AllTrails path I downloaded had 3-4 sections of false side trails - probably where a previous hiker missed a cairn or a trail sign and temporarily went in the wrong direction. The trailhead has lots of parking and overflow parking. It was mostly full when I arrived at 10:00 AM. There is a compost restroom at the trailhead. The dirt road leading to the trailhead can be driven with most vehicles, but it does have some narrow spots and blind curves. Drive carefully, and prepare for a great hike.

I visited and hiked in 3 national parks this weekend (Arches, Capitol Reef and Canyonlands). This trail is by far hands down the best trail I had done in 2020. I started the hike at 7 AM and finished in around 7.5 hours. Probably 2 hours of it was spent on taking photos. Lots and lots of photos because it was so darn breathtakingly scenic. The trail was full of surprises. I love the part of walking between a narrow gap of 2 giant rocks. I thought the hike to Druid Arch was cool but when I switched the trail over to Chesler Park, that was when the fun begins. Not sure why AllTrails marked this trail as 13.7 miles but I clocked in 15.9 miles. I know I didn’t run around in circles. I would do this trail again in a heart beat. But not until I get a nice foot massage.

Truly amazing. We did 2 nights at the end of June and stayed at Elephant canyon 3 and chesler park 2. Both great campsites. The 2 water sources we found in elephant canyon were both low and brown stained with tannins (i think), but filterable. Because we weren’t certain about the water status, we packed in 12 liters each instead, and though we had enough to survive, it wasn’t super comfortable. We were always wishing we could drink more than our 4 allotted liters per day. It’s really hot.

Great trail! Note that the park map has this distance at about 15 miles. The best parts are the joint and then Druid Arch, so definitely take the spur trail to the arch! Was a pretty easy hike though and many parts are easily runnable/joggable, so you could pop it off in 4 hours if you wanted to, 5 hours if just walking

Very beautiful park. Came here to escape CO cold in the summer. This place requires allot of preparation. I mean Water!!!! Have lots you need to hydrate before you do anything here especially in 100F weather. This is not for the faint hearted. Be prepared have at least a gallon of water on the trail. Most campgrounds have water to fill up. So just stop there to fill up or check with a Ranger. This place is really beautiful has allot of fantastic views that you will never anywhere else. Trails are marked the entire way with keys so you don’t get lost.

Did a modified version of this that didn't include the whole Chesler Park loop and didn't go to Druid Arch. The hike was great except the dry riverbed that goes to and from Druid Arch which was miserably boring. Chesler Park area is the most scenic and really worth it. Felt very happy to have skipped Druid Arch...even having not seen it I would not have wanted to spend any more time on that riverbed. Really unique topography though. Very much enjoyed.

Hiking between the rocks on the joint trail was neat and Druid Arch is impressive but the Chesler Park area was definitely the highlight for me. The rock formations rising out of the grasslands was beautiful, I was stopping every few steps to take photos. Whole hike took me just under 8 hours, went counterclockwise, started before 8 and didn't see anyone else until I was already headed up the druid arch trail, nice to avoid the crowds.

Feb11- this hike is 16 miles. We went counter clockwise and loved it. Especially happy to descend to Druid arch trail from the Chesler Park Loop instead of scrambling up it. Thankfully a very well marked trail with cairns - it would be easy to head the wrong direction if not paying attention. Lots of scrambling up and down the entire trail but the climb up to Druid arch was the funnest. Druid arch was well worth the extra miles. Terrain had lots of variety and views were incredible everywhere we looked. Trail was 99% dry. Only a little patch of snow just before the loop which didn’t require any special gear to safely transverse. Beautiful day for a winter hike and loved the solitude, only saw 7 others on the trail.

I would recommend counterclockwise. One of my favorites.

Gorgeous hike with a variety of terrain and views. We were at the trailhead by 9am with plenty of parking space. Hiked to Druid Arch first and stashed are overnight backpacks once it started getting too technical to wear. It was technical in the sense of some bouldering required. Then we hiked Chesler Park clockwise. It was technical at the beginning in just a few spots, but made it with our backpacks. Headed down the Joint and the wood ladder was a little difficult but still manageable. You do take a jeep road for a part of the stretch and is quite sandy. We could have done the whole hike in a day and be finished by end of day. Total walk time was 8 hours and tracked closer to 16.5 miles. All in all it was a gorgeous hike!

We hiked the Chesler Park loop counterclockwise after reading reviews, and were so glad we did. It’s much easier to go up the ladders than down them through the Joint. Chesler Park scenery was breathtaking in early March. Cold weather made for comfortable hiking conditions. After nearly completing the loop, the connector trail over to the Druid Arch Trail was fun, although a little sketchy. We only saw a few people in CP, but once we hit the DA trail it was like merging onto a hiker highway. The hike up the wash was long and honestly monotonous after the beauty of Chesler. The final climb up to the arch viewpoint was tough and required some rock scrambling. Druid Arch itself was beautiful, but again with so many people there we lost the solitary feel of the place. We were much happier once we left the endless wash trail and returned to the more scenic and varied Chesler Park trail. 5 stars for CP but I’d give DA a 4.