Slickrock Trail

Slickrock Trail is a 2.4-mile lollipop loop, measured round trip from the Slickrock Foot Trailhead in Canyonlands’ Needles District. The route crosses open slickrock to four signed viewpoints over Little Spring and Big Spring Canyons, then returns along its shared approach. It’s a good way to see a lot of the Needles without a long hike. There’s only about 73 feet of overall elevation change, but the bare, uneven rock and cairn navigation make it more than a stroll. Allow about 1½ hours at a steady pace, or two to three if you stop at all four views.

From the signed parking area, the trail angles up onto the mesa. Much of the route is bare sandstone with no continuous dirt tread; small cairns show the line. Look ahead for the next marker, then check the small signs at each viewpoint spur. Hikers sometimes lose the line when cairns are faint or point toward side routes. At the northern end, look for the signed fourth viewpoint and return to the marked loop afterward; extra cairns continue beyond the standard four-viewpoint route.

The loop follows the ridge between the two canyons. After the fourth overlook, it bends back along the eastern side of Big Spring Canyon to close at the junction, then you retrace the short approach to the parking area. The signed direction is counterclockwise.

The first viewpoint opens into a wide panorama: the Needles, North Six-shooter Peak, Elaterite and Cathedral Buttes, Ekker Butte, and the La Sal Mountains are among the landmarks spread across the horizon. Viewpoints two and three look into Little Spring Canyon. The gray and purple limestone at the lower canyon stands apart from the red-and-white bands that dominate the Needles.

The fourth viewpoint faces Big Spring Canyon. Look north for Grand View Point and Junction Butte, rising roughly 1,000 feet above the canyon. In spring, a thin stream may be visible far below. For a photo, keep part of the near canyon rim in the frame with those distant high points; it makes the depth easier to read.

At Lower Little Spring Canyon, the gray-purple limestone formed from calcium carbonate in the hard parts of tiny marine animals. Fossilized crinoids and brachiopods are evidence that this area was once a shallow sea. The red-and-white Cedar Mesa sandstone around the Needles came from ancient beaches and dunes, repeatedly layered with red sediment washed down from the Uncompahgre Uplift. Water and wind later cut those layers into the canyons, cliffs, and spires you’re looking across.

There’s little or no shade and no water along the route, so bring enough for the whole walk before heading out the Needles road. The rock can be slippery under winter snow or ice; traction devices are recommended then. Dogs aren’t allowed on the trail, though service animals are permitted. Start at the signed Slickrock Foot Trail parking area on the right, north side of the paved Needles road just before it ends, about 6.4 miles past the entrance station.