Road to Devil's Kitchen Campground in Moab

[ahansen60]

This weekend I'm planning to head down to Canyonlands to do some hiking. I plan to camp at the Devil's Kitchen Campground in the Needles District. From what i've read it sounds like the road to the campground is a bit of a 4WD trail. I will be driving my Tacoma 4WD. It is stock with the exception of a 3" lift. Is there anyone that has driven this trail that can tell me if I will have any trouble getting to the campground with my truck? Also I will be doing some mountain biking around Moab on this trip as well, so I will have my hitch mounted mountain bike rack on the back of my truck. Will this be a problem on those roads in Canyonlands? If I really had to, I think I could remove the bike and rack and put them in the bed.

[Scott P]

Yes, having a bike rack can be a problem when going over Elephant Hill. If you are a skilled driver, you shouldn't have much of a problem getting to Devils Kitchen in your Tacoma. The road is steep and rough over Elephant Hill and some parts beyond. A bike rack is going to get banged up and swing all over the place.

It's nice that you were able to get a spot at Devils Kitchen. Even with the $30 fee, it's usually full this time of year, so you got lucky with your reservation. Have fun!

PS, if you have just the two day weekend, you may want to consider sticking around Devils Kitchen and doing more hiking there. Did you get your reservation for one or two nights? Since Devils Kitchen is over 3 hours each way from Moab (or about two hours from the Needles Visitor Center) and is a nice place, there would be a more rewards to driving time ratio if you stuck around Devils Kitchen. There is lots of good mountain biking and hiking around the area.

Just a suggestion.

[zkeys]

Elephant Hill is not to be taken lightly. It is not an extremely hard trail, but it does have its challenges. I took my full size Titan over it with a 2" lift on 33's, so your Taco should be good to go. Might want somebody to help spot you in areas.

That is a very beautifull area. Have fun!!

Zack

[ahansen60]

Yeah i was happy to see there were still open camp spots on their website. There are still other openings last i looked. It will be a 3 night, 4 day weekend for me, so I will be staying the first 2 nights at Devil's Kitchen. I am doing about a 12 mile loop with an out and back section to Druid Arch. I would love to check out more of the sights in that area, but I am planning to hit the slickrock trail on my mountain bike before I head home. I have to keep that one on the itinerary since I've never done it before, and it's always been on my list of trails to ride. I know this isn't in the mountain biking forum, but does anyone know how the technical difficulty of the slickrock trail compares to gooseberry mesa? I've done gooseberry and had no problems, so I'm just wondering how I'll do on the slickrock trail.

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[moab mark]

Hey we pulled into the joint parking lot one day and there was an old half ton suburban and a very low to the ground four door pick up truck.



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[moab mark]

You should be fine on the slick rock trail. You can start with the practice loop for a warm up if you choose.

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[ahansen60]

Just got back yesterday. The slickrock trail was not overly technical, just exhausting. Lol. Oh and my Tacoma handled the road in and out of Devil's Kitchen just fine!

[REDFOX]

Sorry that I didn't see your post earlier. I would have told you that it is not anymore technical than gooseberry. There are a few wheel traps, but the slickrock trail is a lot more strenuous and tiring. The nice thing about gooseberry is that you can carry some momentum on the downhill sections and actually make it up some of the steeper sections.