Devils Slide Flower Fields

Sand verbena and desert evening primrose bloom near Devils Slide

1 mile round trip, 80 feet elevation gain (variable length)

Difficulty: Easy

Access: Sandy 4WD only road to trailhead, no entrance fee required

Every couple of years, winter rains will deliver desert wildflower superblooms in California's Anza Borrego Desert State Park. Many visitors to the park during such superblooms will head to easily accessible flower fields such as the ones at Coyote Canyon in Borrego Valley; visitors looking for more far-flung flower fields might try visiting the landscape of Devils Slide in nearby Ocotillo Wells State Vehicular Recreation Area instead. While the presence of off-road vehicles throughout this area may be jarring to some, the slightly secluded flower fields at Devils Slide are away from the more popular off-road vehicles in the park, making it an enjoyable spot to marvel at vast blooms of wildflowers in the desert. This area does require a 4WD vehicle to reach, as the access road crosses sandy terrain unsuitable for a sedan. As there's no defined trail here, you could easily spend hours to half a day exploring and enjoying the wildflowers.

Timing is critical for this hike, as these flower fields are simply a creosote-dotted patch of desert for most of the year and on dry years may not see much of a bloom at all, even during spring. But whenever there is plentiful rainfall in the autumn or winter over this corner of the Sonoran desert, you can expect an impressive wildflower show in Anza Borrego during February and March. Check wildflower updates from Desert USA or the Anza Borrego Desert Natural History Association to get an idea of wildflower conditions before visiting.

The Devils Slide flower fields are a short drive away from Borrego Springs, the town at the heart of Anza Borrego Desert State Park. I visited with my mother in February during a previous superbloom; from Christmas Circle in Borrego Springs, we followed Borrego Springs Road south to its junction with Highway 78. We then followed Highway 78 east to the Ocotillo Wells Ranger Station; we turned left here and drove most of the way up to the ranger station, then turned right onto the sandy, unimproved Quarry Road. We followed Quarry Road to the northeast through a wash for a mile and a half and then turned right onto the Shell Reef Expressway, which we then drove east for another mile and a half to a parking area on the left side of the road. Arriving during wildflower season, there was a temporary sign at the trailhead indicating that we were in the right place to see the wildflowers at Devils Slide; check the above resources or contact the park beforehand to check whether flowers are blooming before coming.

From the parking area, a short walk along a sand Jeep path took us over a saddle in a set of low sand hills and brought us down on the other side to a sweeping plain of wildflowers in the middle of the Sonoran Desert. Desert evening primrose and desert sunflower were the primary flowers here, with some sand verbena mixed in. 

Desert sunflower and desert evening primrose

Desert evening primrose

Desert sunflower

The blooms stretched out onto a wide plain to the north. The Borrego Badlands were visible in the distance at the foot of the Santa Rosa Mountains.

Flower fields in superbloom

We wandered around this flower field for almost two hours in the late afternoon, watching the lighting change on this landscape. We had very little company- we shared this vast expanse of desert wildflowers with just one other visitor. We returned to our car as the sun set.

Sunset at Devils Slide

The superblooms at Anza Borrego Desert State Park are legendary; as the park continues to become more popular during such blooms in the future, Devils Slide will be a good alternative to the increasingly crowded flower fields at Coyote Canyon. Just make sure you rent a 4WD vehicle to get here- which is something you should do anyway if you're visiting this park to be able to explore the many desert 4WD roads!

Coyote Canyon Flower Fields

Coyote Canyon flower fields

1.2 miles round trip, no elevation gain (variable distance)

Difficulty: Easy

Access: Paved road to trailhead, no entrance fee required

After rainy winters, California's Anza Borrego Desert State Park delivers one of the most spectacular desert wildflower shows in the United States. The flower fields at the mouth of Coyote Canyon, just miles from Borrego Springs, is one of the most easily accessed spots to appreciate spring blooms and rare superblooms. An easy, flat walk along an unpaved road accesses a stretch of desert exploding with desert sunflower, sand verbena, and desert evening primrose when the conditions are right. Off-trail wandering through the flower fields gives opportunities for a couple hours of exploration here during good flower conditions. Just two hours from San Diego, the spring flower blooms here are one of the more wonderous natural sights of North America, something everyone should add to their bucket list.

Timing is critical for this hike, as these flower fields are simply a creosote-dotted patch of desert for most of the year and on dry years may not see much of a bloom at all, even during spring. But whenever there is plentiful rainfall in the autumn or winter over this corner of the Sonoran desert, you can expect an impressive wildflower show in Anza Borrego during February and March. Check wildflower updates from Desert USA or the Anza Borrego Desert Natural History Association to get an idea of wildflower conditions before visiting.

The Coyote Canyon flower fields are easily accessed from Borrego Springs, the town at the heart of Anza Borrego Desert State Park. I visited with my mother in February during a previous superbloom; from Christmas Circle in Borrego Springs, we followed Palm Canyon Drive east briefly and then turned left onto DiGiorgio Road heading north. After passing through grove upon grove of citrus, we parked along DiGiorgio Road where the pavement ended at the boundary of Anza Borrego Desert State Park. 

After parking along the road where the pavement ended, we followed an unmarked dirt road due east into the middle of the desert landscape. During peak wildflower times, there will likely be volunteers or park employees nearby to point out where to go.

The dirt road led east towards the wash of Coyote Canyon. When we came, the expanse of desert to the north of this dirt road had turned into a colorful field of desert wildflowers. The contrast between the barren, brown surrounding mountains and the intensely colorful blooms of the desert floor were striking.

Desert sunflower and sand verbena flooming in Coyote Canyon

There's not much a defined hike here. The dirt road leads east until eventually reaching a wash; the road marks the boundary of the state park, so at points we were hiking with flower fields to our left and neatly maintained citrus groves to our right. After reaching this point, we decided to wander out into the flower fields, making a random walk through the superbloom before returning to the trailhead.

Snowy San Ysidro Mountain rises above desert sunflower, evening primrose, and sand verbena

In late February, the blooms in the Coyote Canyon flower fields were dominated by the yellow desert sunflower, purple sand verbena, and white-pink desert evening primrose, which I thought was a particularly beautiful flower. More common flowers like lupine also dotted the fields in the places. The blooms change with season, so if you come earlier or later during a superbloom you may find different sets of wildflowers blooming.

The flower fields were made especially scenic by the backdrop of desert mountains that in February were capped with snow. Coyote Peak bound the canyon to the east, while Indianhead and snowy San Ysidro Mountain rose across the canyon. Whale Peak, far to the south of Borrego Valley, also sported some summit snow.

Lupine and desert evening primrose

While the flowers were the main draw, the superblooms also drew wildlife: hummingbirds flitted around the flower fields, feasting on this cornucopia of nectar during the short duration of this superbloom.

Hummingbird amidst the desert evening primrose

We enjoyed the flowers immensely: my mom had especially hoped to see a superbloom in the California desert and was happy to finally catch it. Of course, such blooms don't occur annually, so you'll need some luck and flexibility to be able to arrive at the right time to catch it. If you do come during a good bloom period, you'll probably find blooms of many other wildflowers and desert plants as well: cactus and ocotillo blooms are especially attractive and can be seen from the road as you drive throughout the park. Additionally, we found many more good roadside blooms, including huge patches of sand verbena, blooming along the Borrego-Salton Seaway. Blooms shift seasonally; check out the resources at the top of the post to figure out the best places to visit to see these remarkable flowers.

Razor and Yucca Points

Badlands near Razor Point

2 miles loop, 400 feet elevation gain
Difficulty: Easy
Access: Paved road to trailhead, Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve parking fee required

The loop hike taking in Razor and Yucca Points in San Diego's Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve is short but extremely scenic, delivering views of yuccas and endangered pines clinging to dramatically eroded hills rising directly from the Pacific Ocean. In addition to the myriad of plant life on land, this is also an excellent place to see sea life: seabirds glide below the cliffs of the two points while these bluffs are the perfect place to spot migrating whales offshore. The wealth of interesting and beautiful things to see along this coastal hike makes it a must-do for visitors in the San Diego area.

I hiked Razor and Yucca Points with my mom during a February trip to southern California to catch the superbloom at Anza Borrego Desert State Park. To reach Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve from downtown San Diego, we drove north from the city on I-5 to exit 33B for Carmel Valley Road; we turned left on Carmel Valley Road and followed it to its junction with Camino del Mar. We turned left here again and followed the ocean past Torrey Pines State Beach to the turnoff on the right for Torrey Pines State Reserve. We followed this road up a bluff to the parking lot at the visitor center; this lot fills up on weekends, so come early.

Many trails head out from the visitor center. We took the one heading southwest from the visitor center (on the ocean side of the road) heading towards Razor Point, Yucca Point, and the Beach Trail. This trail dove into the chaparral and came to a junction where the Razor Point and Beach Trails split off; as this was a loop, we started down the Razor Point Trail but returned via the Beach Trail.

Torrey Pines

The Razor Point Trail passed just to the north of Red Butte, a small and bare hill next to the trail. The trail then began a switchbacking descent down the slopes leading to the seaside bluffs. Many of these switchbacks provided sweeping views down a ravine to the eroded badlands of Razor Point. Torrey Pines- the signature tree of this state park- grew along the slopes of the hill. Found only on this coastal bluff and on remote Santa Rosa Island in the Channel Islands, this rare pine relies largely on moisture from coastal fog to survive in this arid environment.

Torrey Pines seascape near Razor Point

In February, the plentiful yucca near the trail was blooming with white flowers, an odd juxtaposition of desert plants and coastal plants in this spot where a dry landscape meets the sea.

Yucca

At the bottom of the switchbacks, we took a spur trail off to the right that led downhill for a hundred meters down to Razor Point. At Razor Point, we were surrounded by a landscape of rugged, heavily eroded badlands. To the south were some of the most intricately eroded badlands that we saw in the park, with a multitude of small gullies cut into a cliff in an almost fractal-like manner. Yucca Point lay to the south, rising above another bluff along the badlands coast. The town of La Jolla lay further to the south.

La Jolla and the coastal badlands from Razor Point

The views along the coast to the north were remarkable as well: we could see along the coast past Carlsbad and Oceanside into Orange County. A cold and wet winter had applied a coat of snow on Santiago Peak, the tallest point in Orange County's Santa Ana Mountains.

Santiago Peak rises above the Southern California coast

Behind us were the rocky, chaparral-covered hills that we had descended from. Torrey pines grew atop these colorful hills.

Hills of Torrey Pines above Razor Point

Razor Point provided a high viewpoint above the Pacific Ocean and was an excellent place to spot wildlife. We saw brown pelicans and other seabirds glide over the water below. We also saw the fins of a humpback whale mother and calf poke above the water offshore; although we watched them for a while, we never observed them breaching. The coastline around San Diego is well known for its whale watching, hosting humpback, blue, and gray whales throughout the year.

Brown pelicans 

Humpback whale mother and calf off of Razor Point

We retraced our steps uphill back to the junction with the main trail. We took the right fork at the junction to continue along the hike to Yucca Point. The trail headed south, descending a bit as it circled around an intensely eroded badlands wall; there were constant views of the oceans and the badlands through the open landscape of chaparral. 

Arriving soon at the junction with the Yucca Point Trail, I turned right and followed this spur trail downhill about 200 meters to the end of Yucca Point, a high bluff directly over the ocean with views of Blacks Beach and La Jolla to the south and the Torrey Pines badlands to the north.

Blacks Beach from Yucca Point

Torrey Pines badlands from Yucca Point

Retracing my steps from Yucca Point, I returned to the main trail and continued onward, immediately coming to another junction with the Beach Trail. Here, I took the right fork to go towards the beach. The Beach Trail quickly dropped downhill into the canyon below Yucca Point, with nice views of the eroded cliffs of Yucca Point rising above. After a fifth of a mile, the trail began descending more steeply, dropping down staircases; soon I came to a junction with the Broken Hill Trail, which was closed at the time of my visit. At this junction, I took the right fork, which descended down to the beach via a staircase.

At the rocky beach below, the waves of the Pacific pounded on nearby Flat Rock and the other bluffs rising from the sea side. It was possible to walk north along the beach for some distance but I stuck around the spot where the trail came down and enjoyed the view of Flat Rock and La Jolla before returning uphill.

Waves crash on Flat Rock at the beach below Yucca Point

Returning via the Beach Trail, I headed uphill past the Yucca Point junction and then climbed through the chaparral slopes of the park via switchbacks past Red Butte back to the junction with the Razor Point Trail; from there, I continued straight and returned to the visitor center.

Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve protects one of the most beautiful stretches of the southern California coast and there is no better way to experience the park than through this excellent hike. 

Broken Hill (San Diego)

Broken Hill

2.5 miles round trip, 120 feet elevation gain
Difficulty: Easy
Access: Paved road to trailhead, Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve parking fee required

The badlands at Broken Hill are one of the most spectacular seaside settings at California's Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve outside San Diego. A set of heavily eroded cliffs rise above the California chaparral here, providing pretty views down to La Jolla and sweeping views north along the Southern California coast. This is an easy hike that just about anyone can do- in fact, the first mile of the hike up to the first viewpoint of Broken Hill are ADA accessible. Just be sure to come early in the day, as both this hike and Torrey Pines as a park are very popular with San Diego residents.

I hiked Broken Hill with my mom during a February trip to San Diego to see the super bloom at Anza Borrego State Park. We hiked Broken Hill the morning after arriving in San Diego, driving north from the city on I-5 to exit 33B for Carmel Valley Road; we turned left on Carmel Valley Road and followed it to its junction with Camino del Mar. We turned left here again and followed the ocean past Torrey Pines State Beach to the turnoff on the right for Torrey Pines State Reserve. We followed this road up a bluff to the parking lot at the visitor center; this lot fills up on weekends to come early.

The trail to Broken Hill continues on the paved road, which is closed to vehicle traffic beyond the visitor center. We followed the road south for just over half a mile. The road was out in the open, and gave good views to the east of Black Mountain rising near Rancho Penasquitos and the Peninsular Ranges beyond. Recent snowstorms had dumped a few feet of snow on the mountains near Julian, creating a unique scene of snowy peaks rising above Southern California's chaparral and suburbia.

This road was the former route of the highway connecting San Diego to Los Angeles; the highway was eventually rerouted as the curves on the stretch between the visitor center and the beach caused frequent accidents.

There was minimal elevation along this road as we headed south: in fact, this hike is ADA accessible up to the first view of Broken Hill on the South Fork Trail. The road passed the North Fork Trail, which was closed at the time of my visit for trail work but will provide an alternative route to Broken Hill when it reopens. About a half mile from the visitor center, we came to the South Fork Trail on the right side of the road. We took this wide, flat trail, which started out yards away from the Torrey Pines Golf Course, a public golf course that hosted the 2008 US Open. The trail headed west through the chaparral with occasional glimpses south to the golf course until it arrived at a viewpoint of Broken Hill about a half mile from the South Fork Trailhead and a mile from the visitor center. Here, the badlands of Broken Hill punctuated the chaparral slopes with two Torrey Pines, the park's signature tree, growing on the side of the hill. Behind were the blue waters of the Pacific.

Broken Hill from the South Fork Trail

Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve was established on this bluff above the Pacific not only to protect this spectacular coastline, but more importantly to preserve one of the two remaining habitats of the Torrey Pine, a tree which only grows here and on Santa Rosa Island in the California Channel Islands. The Torrey Pine relies on coastal fog to survive in this otherwise arid environment.

The Pacific Ocean at Torrey Pines

A little bit past the first overlook, I came to a trail junction: the right fork led towards the North Fork Trail and the Broken Hill Trail (which leads not to Broken Hill, but down to the beach), while the left fork led to the Broken Hill overlook. I followed the left fork, which continued just a tenth of a mile to reach the cliffs at Broken Hill. While the early parts of the trail were perfectly maintained, this last stretch of trail to the cliffs was eroded in places. As I arrived at the first cliffs, views opened up to the golf course across a small ravine and the town of La Jolla along the coast to the south.

La Jolla from the cliffs at Broken Hill

The trail ended at an eroded point of land overlooking Broken Hill and the surrounding eroded ridges. A number of Torrey Pines grew on the hill itself and on the ocean-facing side of the badlands. The deeply-cut ridges were especially pretty in early morning lighting that accentuated the shadows in every little gully.

Badlands at Broken Hill

Standing at the end of the trail, we had fabulous views up and down the Southern California coast. While the southerly view ended at nearby La Jolla, the view to the north encompassed the coastline stretching towards Orange County, with Santiago Peak in the Santa Ana Mountains rising high above the sea with its winter snow cap. The high smoke stack of a power plant in Carlsbad was visible along the coast. I could also see down to nearby Yucca Point, which is visited by another hike in this park.

Southern California coastline with snowcapped Santiago Peak

Turning around and heading back, we found some impressive views to the north of high, far off ridges coated in snow: I'm pretty sure we could see all the way to Mount San Jacinto, the highest peak of the Peninsular Ranges and one of the most prominent peaks in the country.

View to San Jacinto Peak, far away and crowned with snow

This was an easy hike to a particularly lovely view of the Torrey Pines coast. It's an excellent way to experience some beautiful and comparatively wild coastal scenery within the San Diego metropolitan area.

Winchester Mountain Lookout

Twin Lakes and the North Cascades from Winchester Mountain Lookout

9 miles round trip, 2850 feet elevation gain; or 4 miles round trip, 1350 feet elevation gain
Difficulty: Moderate
Access: Rough dirt road to Yellow Aster Butte Trailhead; 4WD high clearance only road to Twin Lakes Trailhead, Northwest Forest Pass required

The fire lookout atop Winchester Mountain in Washington State's North Cascades delivers views so extraordinary that your heart will melt. Great peaks- glaciated and rocky- rise in all directions and two perfect subalpine lakes are nestled in the meadows of the high pass below. The hike up to the lookout stays in the open almost the entire time, delivering jawdropping view after jawdropping view all the way to the summit, where after seeing grand Mount Larrabee and Mount Shuksan dominate this mountain kingdom you'll need binoculars to search for your lost mandibles. This is an extraordinary hike and it's just a short 4 mile hike if you drive to the trailhead at Twin Lakes. The catch? The road up is terrible and not suitable for standard passenger cars: sedan drivers will have to hike the road for 2.5 miles after enduring the chassis-rattling drive up to the Yellow Aster Butte trailhead.

I hiked up to Winchester Mountain Lookout on a beautiful August day, soon after finishing my Ph.D. From Seattle, I took I-5 north to Bellingham and then followed Highway 542 east past Glacier to the turnoff on the left for the Twin Lakes Road. Twin Lakes Road is a very rough dirt road, full of potholes and heavily eroded, so I took it slow on the four miles up to reach the Yellow Aster Butte Trailhead, where I parked. The actual trailhead for this hike is two and a half miles further up the road at Twin Lakes, but the Yellow Aster Butte was as far as I could make it in a sedan. A 4WD high clearance vehicle is absolutely necessary if you plan to park at Twin Lakes: the road is very rough and drivers have died tackling this road in recent years.

I walked uphill along the Twin Lakes Road to reach Twin Lakes from the Yellow Aster Butte Trailhead, covering 2.5 miles and 1500 feet of elevation gain on the steep, rough dirt road. Views of Mount Baker just past the Yellow Aster Butte Trailhead made the ascent a little easier. A few pickup trucks and SUVs passed me on the way up and I saw one sedan driver limping back down in his car, turned back by the road.

Mount Baker from the Yellow Aster Butte trailhead

After 2.5 miles of a switchbacking ascent on a dirt road, I arrived at Twin Lakes, which sit in a high saddle below Winchester Mountain. There were campsites near the lakes, most of which were unoccupied on a weekday morning. I followed the road down the isthumus between the two lakes to reach the actual trailhead for Winchester Mountain. The lakes were both stunningly beautiful, with jewel-like waters that reflected the blue sky, green meadows, and subalpine forests of the pass.

Twin Lakes

Leaving the trailhead, the trail began an ascent into the forest above the northern of the Twin Lakes. After making a switchback, the trail reached a junction after a fifth of a mile: the High Pass Trail headed off to the right, while the Winchester Mountain Trail continued straight. The trail wandered out into open, meadowy slopes on the lower part of the mountain, with beautiful views of Goat Mountain across the pass and Mount Baker in the distance. Plentiful huckleberries along the trail here kept me busy eating while I enjoyed this spectacular scenery.

Goat Mountain and Mount Baker from the trail

The trail then began to switchback constantly as it ascended Winchester Mountain. I stayed out on open slopes, so the views improved with every additional foot of elevation gain. Soon, the lakes appeared below and the sharp summit pyramid of Mount Shuksan joined the party to the south as Mount Redoubt emerged in the east.

At one point, a switchback brought me to the edge of Winchester Mountain's east ridge, delivering a stunning view of the Silesia Creek drainage nearby. Mount Larrabee and the Pleiades towered over the deep valley of the creek while Sleese Mountain across the Canadian border guarded the other side of the valley.

The Pleiades and the deep valley of Silesia Creek

At 1.2 miles past the trailhead, the switchbacks paused and the trail cut across the meadow-carpeted upper slopes of Winchester Mountain. The trail aimed for a rocky saddle, with a section crossing rock that from afar looked precarious but up close was quite easy to hike. The views while crossing the slope were already stunning but upon reaching the saddle I found even more views opening to the west. 

Twin Lakes below Winchester Mountain

Passing through the saddle, the trail rounded a corner and began a switchback ascent up the meadow-covered west slopes of the mountain. Late-blooming wildflowers still dotted the meadows, although in late August the wildflower show was mostly done for the year. The trail aimed for a saddle between Winchester Mountain and its west peak but switchbacked before reaching it, providing ever greater views of Mount Baker and Mount Shuksan.

Mounts Shuksan and Baker

These switchbacks soon brought the trail up onto the west ridge overlooking the north face of the peak. Snowfields still filled the cirque below and Tomyhoi Peak dominated this view to the north. The faraway peaks of British Columbia north of Vancouver were also visible, not a surprise as Winchester Mountain's summit is just miles from the Canadian border.

Tomyhoi from the high slopes of Winchester Mountain

The switchbacks and the ascent ended at the lookout cabin atop Winchester Mountain. From here, the views were enormous. To the west, I had a view of the high summit pinnacle of Church Mountain rising in the distance between the closer ridges of the High Divide and Yellow Aster Butte. On the horizon, I could see the silhouette of the forested mountains of Vancouver Island. The view to the south was impressive but rehashed much of what I had seen on the hike up: Mounts Baker and Shuksan and the Twin Lakes.

Church Mountain and the High Divide

The most majestic part of the view here was mighty Mount Larrabee to the north, its multi-hued massif rising above High Pass. The rugged Pleiades connected with Larrabee on one side, while the high pinnacles of American and Canadian Border Peaks on either side of the border connected with Larrabee to the north. Below the Border peaks was Tomyhoi Lake, nestled in the forest below grand Tomyhoi Peak. This angle allowed me to more fully appreciate the absolutely massive cliffs on the east face of Tomyhoi for the first time.

Mount Larrabee and the Border peaks

Tomyhoi Peak rises over Tomyhoi Lake

To the east were views just as impressive of the heart of the North Cascades. Sleese Mountain, a notable Canadian peak, peeked out from behind the Pleiades, while Mount Redoubt could be seen a few watersheds back. Whatcom Peak jutted out prominently and although the Challenger Glacier was largely blocked from view, the fierce wall of the Pickets to the south of it was in my line of sight. Farther to the south, the glaciers and high peaks near Eldorado were visible, too, as were closer glacier-covered summits like Ruth Mountain. 

The Pickets

Upon returning to the trailhead, I was lucky and ran into a group of three hikers from Whidbey Island who I had chatted with and taken photos for at the summit. They had driven up in a pickup truck and agreed me to give me a ride back down to the Yellow Aster Butte Trailhead, saving me a long road walk back to the car.

This hike epitomizes everything that is great about the North Cascades: sparkling lakes, endless peaks in all directions, wildflower meadows, steep glaciers, fierce mountain walls rising above forested wilderness valleys. This is a hard trail to get to and it's not necessary to go out of your way to do this particular hike; but the beauty of this hike and of the North Cascades in general will remind you of how wonderous this world is and draw you back repeatedly to this enchanted mountain realm.

Valley of Goblins

San Rafael Swell and Goblin Valley

1 mile loop, 100 feet elevation gain (variable length and elevation gain)
Difficulty: Easy
Access: Paved road to trailhead, Goblin Valley State Park entrance fee required

Utah's remote San Rafael Swell hides a bizarre geological wonderland filled with colorful hoodoos of all shapes and sizes: Goblin Valley. Slightly off the main tourist circuit, Goblin Valley State Park still packs in red rock scenery nearly as impressive as its national park brethren. The heart of this park is the Valley of Goblins, a vast collection of the park's signature rock features that allows for almost limitless exploration. There are no formal trails in the Valley of Goblins: visitors are welcome to wander where they wish. While hikes of variable length and elevation gain can be put together to explore this area, with longer hikes giving access to the more interior parts of the valley where there are taller and more intricate goblins, I will describe here a short loop along the edge of the valley that visits the top of a small ridge amidst the goblins for views over the valley.

I visited Goblin Valley State Park with my mom during a November Utah road trip, checking out the park after visiting nearby Horseshoe Canyon, a unit of Canyonlands National Park. Goblin Valley is essentially in the middle of nowhere, hours from Salt Lake City or any other metropolitan area. The closest towns are Hanksville in the south and Green River in the north; to reach the park from Green River, follow I-70 west to exit 149, then turn left and follow Utah Highway 24 south 24 miles to Temple Mountain Road. We turned right onto Temple Mountain Road, which had a sign indicating access to Goblin Valley State Park, and followed it west to the foot of the San Rafael Swell; here we turned left onto the access road for Goblin Valley State Park and followed it south into the park. At the T-intersection after passing the entrance station, we turned left and drove to the parking lot at the end of the road, which was an overlook over the Valley of Goblins.

The trailhead already delivered an extraordinary view of the Valley of Goblins. Below us lay a field of hoodoos, some just single rocks balanced on a narrow stem, others tall, eroded rock towers. The San Rafael Swell lay to the north and the Henry Mountains rose above the goblins far to the south.

Hoodoos of Goblin Valley

We walked over to the north end of the parking lot, near the start of the Carmel Canyon Trail. There were views from here north to the San Rafael Swell and the Three Sisters, a set of three tall hoodoos. Here, instead of heading towards Carmel Canyon, we descended a path down to the floor of the valley.

Three Sisters and San Rafael Swell

We wandered through the field of hoodoos for the next hour, generally heading towards the interior of this red rock playground. The hoodoos were all capped with a chunk of harder Entrada Sandstone, while the bases of each hoodoo consist of less resistant rock that has been more severly weathered. The hoodoos came in all shapes and sizes, some looking like hammers, mushrooms, and wizard hats, others resembling statues or camels.

Goblins 

While it's okay to explore the valley to your heart's content, it is illegal to deface or damage the park's hoodoos. In 2013, one of the hoodoos here was destroyed by three Boy Scout leaders who intentionally knocked over one of the cap rocks and recorded themselves doing so; two of them were later convicted of felony vandalism.

Goblins

Looking to get a higher vantage point over the hoodoos, I made my way south to a low dirt ridge that rose in the center of the valley, following social paths to climb atop it. From here, there was a sweeping view of hoodoos all around me: small ones nearby and walls of taller hoodoos closer to the butte to the east. This was a nice spot to see the San Rafael Swell rising over the hoodoos to the north and the Henry Mountains to the south. The Henry Mountains are one of the most remote ranges in the 48 states: this was the last mountain range to receive an official name from European American settlers in the contiguous United States.

Goblin Valley

San Rafael Swell

Goblin Valley

Rock dome amidst the goblins

Henry Mountains rising over Goblin Valley

After enjoying the views, my mom and I wandered back towards the parking lot as the sun was about to set, keeping the gazebo next to the trailhead in our sights. A staircase made the ascent from the valley back up to the parking lot a little easier. We only walked for about a mile through the hoodoos, but you could easily spend a half or whole day wandering this fascinating landscape.

Dusk view from the parking area

Dusk on Goblin Valley and the Henry Mountains