The Maze: Six Days Backpacking in Canyonlands

The Maze is the most remote district of Canyonlands National Park, lying west of the Green and Colorado Rivers in Utah. It is wild, remote, difficult, and dry. If you like arches, meandering canyons, ancient rock art, and above all solitude, then The Maze might interest you.

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Essential Facts

• Fee: the usual National Park entrance fee
• Difficulty: very hard, do not attempt without extensive desert backpacking experience
• Time: We took 6 days, and that felt about right. You could do shorter, but you’d miss out on some places. I thing 3 or 4 is the minimum if arriving via the jet-boat.

Why Go to The Maze

If you love the isolation, solitude, and challenge of desert camping in Utah — and have enough experience — you should go.

There’s no one sight in The Maze district that is an absolute must see. The Colorado-Green River Confluence can be seen from there, but that’s an awful lot of work for an overlook. The Harvest Scene pictographs are among the best art of the Barrier Canyon style, so if you’re into that it could compel you. But again it’s an awful lot of effort. The Land of the Standing Rocks, Ernies Country, The Doll House, and even The Maze itself — all of these are interesting, but not particularly unique in Utah.

What is singular is the isolation & solitude, and the challenge of moving across this dry landscape. It was May, prime time for doing this, and we saw no one else until our fourth day. For the six days, ten people total including rangers. You feel alone in a wide and wild country.

What is also singular is the skills and ability needed to comfortably pull this off. The Maze is a harsh environment and it’s isolation makes it a master class in desert backpacking. Even with an EPIRB, it’s be at least a full day for any help to arrive.

When To Go

Do yourself and the Search and Rescue folks a favor and don’t even consider going in June, July, or August. The lack of shade and water even made May unpleasant. The usual Utah desert seasons — spring and fall — are the best.

Map and Route

With all the canyons and trails, there’s no one way to explore The Maze. I picked this route because it hit all the sights I wanted to see. It was 62 miles, so an average of 10 a day.

Getting There

Just to get to the Maze District is an adventure in itself. I cannot stress how isolated this part of the country is. The one-way drive from Denver would have been two days of tough 4WD roads. You could try some crazy stuff like pack-rafting across the Colorado from the Needles District, but that too would add time and mileage on an already long backpack.

We decided that the jet-boat was for us. It isn’t cheap ($250 pp, round trip, as of 2023), but it shortened the trip and just made our arrival simpler. We booked the jet-boat from Tex’s Waterways, who made that part of the trip really easy. Just show up in Moab when & where they tell you to, do what they say, and in the 2 hours of jet-boatin’ you’re 50 miles downstream starting your adventure.

Details

Water

It’s all about the water. Carrying it. Drinking enough of it. Not drinking too much of it. Finding it. Filtering it. Carrying it. When we stepped off the boat or after we filtered from a spring, I started out with two gallons of water.

An unseasonably warm Spring — as they all are now — meant that we drank a lot of water. The heat also meant that the springs were few a far between. Any spring that wasn’t a year-round spring was dry or unusable. You plan the trip around the reliable springs. Ask the rangers about springs when you encounter them, they’ll know. But being hopeful about an occasional water source could land you into a lot of trouble.

Weight

That two gallons of water weighs around 16 1/2 lbs. You add that to six days of food and the usual backpacking accouterment and you get a heavy pack. And with this heavy pack you’ll have to walk miles and scramble up and down slick rock sandstone. Make sure it’s a weight you can bear.

Wayfinding

Well, they do call it The Maze, so just how easy is it to get lost?

I didn’t find the wayfinding particularly difficult, but there’s reasons for that. I spent time planning and studying our routes. Three sets of eyes are better than one. And in The Maze getting off route has consequences that other areas do not necessarily have, so we all stayed focused and didn’t just wander. Our experience in other Utah canyons served us well here — know where you’re going, stay in the main wash, recognize which bend is the side canyon.

Trip Report and Photos

Mike, Heather, and I went on this trip in May of 2021, staying in Moab before and after.

1 – CLIMB INTO ERNIES COUNTRY

As I stepped off the jet-boat at Spanish Bottom my legs felt the full weight of the heaviest pack I’ve ever shouldered. Before this 10:20 drop-off, and before the jet-boat set-off at 08:30 on our cold journey down the Colorado, and even before leaving the Gonzo Inn in Moab at 07:00, I filled up 2 gallons of water and placed it in various containers in my pack. The Maze is a dry place and we wouldn’t have access to more water until the end of our second day.

I don’t weight my packs because it doesn’t really matter — if you don’t need it, take it out. But adding 16 1/2 pounds of water to any backpack will make it heavy. Starting out I suppose it was around 55-60 pounds.

Spanish Bottom is a sizable flat area just a few feet higher than the river with 1,000′ canyon cliffs hemming in the sides. Not much there, though, and even less reason to stay. As we climbed the trail to put us atop the cliffs, Spanish Bottom spread out below us with the Colorado flowing past.

About halfway up we met a park ranger checking permits. We asked her about the water sources and she confirmed that just the main ones had enough, the secondary ones were either dry or too dirty to filter.

After the climb we arrived at the Doll House, one of places in Canyonlands with towering hoodoos of Cedar Mesa Sandstone. We took a side-trip loop to the south, passing by Surprise Valley, then had lunch near the granaries (smaller than they looked in other photos). We went back into the Doll House, squeezed through some sandstone fins, then took the jeep road past the last official campsite where it turned into a mere trail.

After stopping for some pictographs, we entered the wide open landscape of Ernies Country. Many places in Utah have a dangerous & lonely beauty to them, and Ernies Country might be the best example. Red and tan cliffs mark the north but the rest is just blue sky, gray-green sagebrush, and orange sand. The river is to the south, but the canyon blocks the way so you could only see it. And high above the unreachable river, no water. No water to be found. No one else was to be seen. No one to disturb you, no one to help.

By the time we reached the mouth of Sweet Alice Canyon, it was 16:00. We’d hiked around 7 miles already, but the day wasn’t over yet. We dropped our backpacks at what would be our camp for the night, put on daypacks for water, and set off up the canyon. I do tend to cram stuff into a day, so this extension wasn’t anything our ordinary. My justifications? 1) Tomorrow we wouldn’t have the time to explore both Sweet Alice and Sand Tank Canyons. 2) Are we just going to sit around camp for the four hours until sunset?

Was it worth the over 2 hours and almost 6 miles? Sweet Alice was charming, if not as dramatic as other canyons. We did get to spot Muffin Arch, but it was too late in the day for a closer look. The side canyons don’t get a lot of traffic, and are a bit overgrown. But exploring beat sitting around camp for those 2 hours.

We set up camp and ate dinner, carefully measuring out our water. Only at the end of the next day would be able to refill.

It was a good first day. The ascent from the river was the hardest bit, which the water-filled backpacks made even more difficult.

STATS:
distance: 12.8 mi
elevation: +1,840, -680
6 hours moving time

2 – HOT DAY IN THE FINS

We had breakfast, struck camp, and got going by 08:30. After 1.7 miles, not long at all, we arrived at the head of Sand Tank Canyon. We swapped backpacks for daypacks and went into the canyon to explore. The main attraction of Sand Tank Canyon is a feature called The Fins. They are large sandstone formations long but thin in width, not dissimilar to the Fiery Furnace in Arches, but on a much larger scale. They are situated perpendicular to the drainage, so as you walk up the canyon they seems like huge ocean liners docked on either side.

Near the end of the canyon, Tibbett Arch perches high off a side-drainage. We got a good vantage to see it, although it would be possible to get higher for a closer view. But we had an appointment with some water, so that’s as far as we went. It was sunny; it was hot; it was sandy. The broad and shallow nature of the canyons in this part of The Maze meant that shade was hard to find. We sheltered beside one of the Fins for lunch, taking what little shade it provided. The unseasonable heat wasn’t what I planned for by going in mid-May, but with the changing climate I shouldn’t’ve been surprised.

After retrieving our backpacks, we set off to climb out of Sand Tank and into Range Canyon. It was nice to be out of the sand. Since we’d been walking on canyon bottoms for half of the previous day and all of this day, the firmer footing felt like a relief. The well-marked trail led us up into a small east-west canyon called The Chute which separates larger north-south canyons. Tomorrow we would head north up Range Canyon, but for now we needed water and that was further west. And up a 200′ ascent/descent that involved some light scrambling. It was nothing technical, but by the time we stood on flatter ground we were all out of water. Lou’s Spring, luckily, was finally nearby.

As bucolic as the name sounds, the spring’s reality was anything but. It is an algae-filled leaky trough with a small pipe dripping water into one end. But. It. Was. Glorious. Cool, fresh water. We all got out our water filters and filled and drank in the shade of Lou’s Spring’s sheltering cove.

We found a camping spot nearby (no camping next to the spring, that would be rude) and set up. Mike & I hiked up the South Fork of Range before dinner: nice quasi-slot canyon, Cedar Bark Ruins in an alcove (of recent construction, not historic), and Range Arch spanning the very top of a dry fall that turned us around.

And that was it for day 2. Although the second day didn’t have the elevation gain of the first, the pervasive sand in the appropriately named Sand Tank Canyon and the unseasonable heat kept it from being an easy day.

STATS
distance: 10.0 miles
elevation: +780′ -710′
6.5 hours moving time

3 – INTO THE MAZE

The hardest part of getting going this morning was knowing we had to climb back over that 200′ ascent/descent. But in the cool of the morning after coffee and breakfast, it wasn’t nearly the hot & tiring effort that we covered the previous day. Thus far on the trip we’d turned around and backtracked out of the canyons we explored. Today we’re on a one-way walk through Range Canyon, following it until it ends, then climbing out.

We soon came upon Whitmore Arch. With a impressive span of 64′, it’s the largest arch we saw in the Maze District. It’s pretty thick, making a substantial sight. And since we were going to continue contouring along the east rim of the canyon, our route went right through it.

We walked on the sandstone of the canyon rim until the bottom rose to meet us. It is a handsome canyon with a couple of smaller arches and and a dramatic dry-fall that plunged straight into the darkness. We missed the climb-out and dead-ended at a nice arch or window at the top of another dry-fall. We backtracked and climbed up the west side getting to the open upper canyon and its shallow dry-falls. And shortly thereafter found the jeep road. Although the jeep road isn’t all that scenic, especially compared to the last couple of days, you make much better time. And since today was going to be long, it was good to be moving.

We were now in the part of the Maze with the B-movie name of Land of the Standing Rocks — a broad ridge that separates the shorter, shallower canyons in the south from the longer and deeper canyons in the north. And upon this broad ridge stands a handful of contrasting dark red rock formations of ranging in size from a broad mesa (Lizard Rock) to a single slender spire (Standing Rock). This is the Organ Rock Formation, formed mainly of silt and mud, which lies atop the Cedar Mesa sandstone.

We ate lunch on the shady north side of The Wall. From there could see right into a canyon the Maze — Pictograph Fork, the one we would camp in later today. As we followed the jeep road around Lizard Rock, we saw our old friend Tibbett Arch from the first day — this time from above.

We saw The Plug and Standing Rock, but got no closer as the trail took us off the road to descend to the canyon bottom. Our descent into canyon was much steeper than our morning’s climb out — 1,000′ of scenic, monumental sandstone. The canyons on this north side of The Land of the Standing Rocks are known as The Maze, and give this District of Canyonlands its name.

We were now properly in The Maze. Clear, flat ground for a campsite can be a hard find in canyon bottoms, but we found a sandy spot and set up another dry camp in Pictograph Fork for the night.

STATS
distance: 11.0 miles
elevation: +1,150′ -1,500′
5.5 hours moving time

4 – MAZE CENTRAL

In the morning we all were a bit excited because one of the sights that drew is to The Maze was a little less than three miles away. The Harvest Scene pictographs is a major rock art site in the Barrier Canyon style. Having done a fair amount of hiking and backpacking in Utah, I’ve seen a lot of rock art. My favorite by far is the Barrier Canyon style. You can find it in (Horseshoe Canyon https://greg-willis.com/2021/horseshoe-canyon/), as well as other remote places in Utah. To me it shows a sophistication both in technique and style unmatched by other styles.

The flat and easy walk down-canyon brought us to the Harvest Scene in about an hour. On a south-facing wall of the canyon, there are 6-7 group of pictographs stretching for about 500′. The hallmark of Barrier Canyon style are large figures (life-size or more) that loom over the viewer and have a spectral, ghost-like quality. In Grand Gallery in Horseshoe Canyon the figures seem solemn and almost foreboding. And here those figures appear, as well, some with horns and others with thin horn-like almost antennae coming from their heads.

In addition to these usual spectral figures, though, the far right of the Harvest Scene shows, well, a scene of harvest. Two figures with what looks like baskets on their backs are hunched over, picking from the ground. Another, larger figure holds out a large right arm with a huge hand. At the end of the middle finger springs a plant, Indian rice grass. Is this maybe a caught moment of metamorphosis? Animals runs down the arm and surrond the figure. This figure, in contrast to the spooky neighbors, seems friendly and inviting. There’s an expansive, even delightful feel to this end of the wall. It was a unique privilege to see these figures who have been looking down from these walls for at least a thousand years.

We continued down the canyon a short way until it joined with the larger South Fork of Horse Canyon. We took off our packs because this was our camp for the night. This area of The Maze is where we encountered other people, our first since we climbed out from Spanish Bottom three days ago. The nearby Harvest Scene and a 4WD overlook brought non-backpackers on day hikes. And for the next couple of hours we had lunch, napped under the trees, and generally did nothing. Today was relatively easy, so we had our first (and only) break of the trip.

Later in the afternoon we had two other items to accomplish: filtering water and hiking to the Maze Overlook. The spring that was close was a shallow not-quite-stagnant pond, which made Lou’s Spring seem magical in ease of filtering.

After filtering it was almost 17:00. The sun was starting to slant and the temperature go down, so it was time to hike the 700′ to the Maze Overlook. It’s a pleasant trail with a few light scrambling sections. We were glad we didn’t have to go up or down in a full pack, you’d definitely have to rope your pack up or down to be safe.

We got a peek of the Chocolate Drops from the canyon bottom this morning. But as the trail rose they began to show their full profile. The Chocolate Drops are the same dark red Organ Rock Formation of the Standing Rocks, and here they are capped with contrasting White Rim sandstone. At the top of the overlook the Standing Rocks stood on the horizon above the swirling tan and red Cedar Mesa sandstone of the canyons. The overlook is one of the few opportunities to get above the canyon floor and see The Maze in its confused beauty.

As the sun was heading down, we did too. We picked up our water from the spring and walked back to camp. Today was by far the best day of the trip — short, scenic, with important sights.

STATS
distance: 9.7 miles
elevation: +1,100′ -1,200′
4.5 hours moving time

5 – LONG DAY UP MESAS AND DOWN CANYONS

Today was going to be the longest distance of the trip with plenty of ascents and descents to match, so we struck camp early and got underway. The first ascent was out of Horse Canyon. We followed a dark side canyon east and climbed into the sunlight on Pete’s Mesa. Although not as high as yesterday’s overlook, the mesa had a good view of the surrounding country and occasional ones into the canyons. The trail was flat and well-marked.

For almost the entire 3 miles on Pete’s Mesa we could see Chimney Rock, starting as just a small finger pointing up from the horizon. After an interminable amount of walking, we finally arrived and took a break in its shade, the only break from the sun on the mesa. From here we worked our way down into Shot Canyon via some floating stairs and a series of dry-falls.

Shot Canyon I found to be very striking. It’s a wide canyon enclosed by high red and tan sandstone walls. We then crossed over to the next canyon, Water Canyon, by ascending and descending some nicely weathered sandstone with great views.

In Water Canyon was our last spring. So we set up shop for the filtering, which took about 50 minutes. It had trees and shade, so it was a nice break. We then took a side canyon south and climbed out. We continued southeast with a wonderful view of the hoodoos in the Needles section of the park until we came near the Colorado River rim. It was around 17:30 and we set up camp in the shade of a large rock.

But the day was not done, for a half-mile away was the Confluence Overlook. On our way there we passed by places where the rock had fallen away and you could see the Colorado below. From the end of the trail we could just see where the Green and the Colorado Rivers meet. We came through the confluence five days ago on the jet-boat, and we’d be going back through tomorrow.

The short hike was a good way to conclude our stay in the Maze district, although we still had to get to the boat tomorrow.

STATS
distance: 13.4 miles
elevation: +2,100′ -1,500′
7 hours moving time

6 – BACK DOWN TO THE RIVER

The jet-boat was going to pick us up at 09:30, so although is was only around 5 miles, we needed to get an early start and not dawdle. Although we weren’t in any canyons today, it was a beautiful cross-country route. After backtracking through some desert scrub, we got to the main surface – faulted sandstone. Sometimes the tail led us over the benches, sometimes through the narrow eroded faults between them. They are fins in the making.

As we got closer to the Dolls House, we passed Beehive Arch, which indeed looks like it has a massive up-do.

We entered the Dolls House area on the last sandy creek bottom of the journey and shortly met the trail we came in on. The morning had been cool and shady among the mini-fins, but that trail down to Spanish Bottom was hot and had no hope of shade at all.

A cottonwood tree awaited us as we finally arrived, ahead of time, at the jet-boat pickup spot. We rested in the shade of the large tree until the boat arrived. The Maze had been great, and now it was time for showers, beer, and food not in a bag.

STATS
distance: 5.1 miles
elevation: +500′ -1,500′
2.5 hours moving time

Total distance: 62 miles