neck spring

There are some nice views to be had on this trail and it is not overly difficult, but we saw it described in one trail book as "easy", which is absolutely not the case. A lot of the time, it isn't difficult, but there is a stretch where you are either climbing up or scrambling down some pretty steep slickrock (depends on which way you go on the trail). Just before this point, there is a spot where the trail is easily lost, because the cairns sit near a stream, which means they can easily be eroded away. They were absent entirely during our hike and we went the wrong way a few times before happening on the right trail. Take plenty of water on this one, just in case the same thing happens to you! We did notify the rangers about the situation, but it could easily happen again. It was still a good hike and not a problem for us, as we are pretty physically fit and avid hikers. I would not suggest this trail for people with mobility issues or small children.

This trail is close to the entrance of the Canyonlands NP Island in the Sky area. It is a loop which for me is always a plus, and category moderate, which is kind of an average of the very easy and the quite difficult stretches it consists of. At all times, it is easy to follow, being well defined and marked by cairns.Going it clockwise, it starts with an easy descent into the canyon, and then follows its course to a small spring. We saw some deer there, and lots of chipmunks.The trail then slowly ascends, which is still only moderately exhausting, even at 93 F. However, after about 6 km, the trail leads up to the rim via the slickrock, and partially is really difficult to negotiate. For older persons, it may be a problem to have hiked more than half of the way and then being faced with a part of the trail which they are not able to get through.If you are fit and not afraid of some scramling over rocks, this is a really excellent trail.