Parking
No dedicated trailhead lot was verified at either boundary crossing. Start where Utah 211 enters the park and finish on Butler Flat Road at the west boundary; arrange transport between the ends.
Overview
About American Discovery Trail (Canyonlands Passage)
Why go
- A rare way to walk through The Needles as part of the American Discovery Trail
Heads up
- Nearly 20 miles one way, with rough four-wheel-drive stretches
- Requires transport between boundary crossings
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Canyonlands map
Full mapElevation4,892–5,853 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
2 active Canyonlands alerts
- ClosureRain-damaged Needles backcountry roads impassableRecent rains have made several Needles backcountry roads impassable; do not drive these routes.Official details
- CautionMaze access roads require high-clearance 4WDOnly use high-clearance 4WD to reach Hans Flat or Horseshoe Canyon in The Maze; low-clearance vehicles are not recommended on these damaged, rutted, muddy routes.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Canyonlands Tour Guide
Your drive to American Discovery Trail (Canyonlands Passage), narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Canyonlands National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Canyonlands audio tourRecorded for this area
Why the Needles Stand Apart0:00 / 0:32
“The Needles began as a connected mass of sandstone, split by two crossing sets of cracks. One set formed as the rock bent upward.”
Plays near this trailhead in the Parkwolf Canyonlands Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- A Packrat's Climate Record
- Needles Outpost
- Cave Spring and Cowboy Camp
- The Needles Visitor Center
- 43 audio storiesacross Canyonlands’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Bighorn Sheep, Mule Deer, Coyote, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 63 trails, 65 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking American Discovery Trail (Canyonlands Passage)
A one-way passage, not a day hikeThis is the 19.
This is the 19.8-mile Needles passage of the American Discovery Trail, from where Utah 211 crosses the east boundary of Canyonlands to the park boundary on Butler Flat Road toward Beef Basin. It makes sense as part of the long-distance ADT, not as a separate park day hike. Plan a vehicle transfer at both ends and allow a full day on foot.
What the road walk is likeThe route mixes paved park road with rough dirt and four-wheel-drive roads.
The route mixes paved park road with rough dirt and four-wheel-drive roads. It passes near the Needles Visitor Center, then turns onto the Elephant Hill access road and follows the Elephant Hill route west through Devils Lane to Butler Flat. The Elephant Hill section is the demanding part: steep grades, loose rock, stair-step drops and tight turns make this much rougher than a normal road walk.
Water and accessThe Needles Visitor Center is a short detour near the middle and has year-round water.
The Needles Visitor Center is a short detour near the middle and has year-round water. No other reliable water source was confirmed on this park section, so plan the full crossing before you leave the visitor center area. A park entrance fee applies; overnight backcountry travel requires a permit. The vehicle day-use permit for Elephant Hill applies to motor vehicles. Rain can make the unpaved roads slick or impassable, so check current road conditions before setting out.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Canyonlands
48 sightingsBighorn SheepMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
47 sightingsMule DeerMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
12 sightingsCoyoteMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
30 sightingsWestern RattlesnakeMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
18 sightingsTurkey VultureMost seen around 11 AMSighting map
18 sightingsWild TurkeyMost seen around 7 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Canyonlands. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
