Canyonlands National Park Needles District by 4x4

This tour of Canyonlands National Park begins in the middle of Moab, where you’ll meet your guides and hop in the comfortable 4x4 off-road vehicle. The drive to the Chesler Park area is approximately two hours, as it’s located out in the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park.

The reward for the lengthy drive, however, is sweeping vistas of desert landscapes you’d expect to see in brochures, where multicolored rock formations emerge from the sun-scorched earth. You’ll explore the ancient rock formations and weave through the cactus, looking for wildlife like mule deer, lizards, or herds of bighorn sheep.

At Elephant Hill, watch as your guide skillfully maneuvers what's known as one of Utah’s most challenging 4x4 trails. You’ll pass Devil’s Kitchen and Devil’s Lane before emerging at SOB Hill.

Towards the middle of the day, you’ll enjoy a tasty, buffet-style lunch at a panoramic viewpoint, and then be given the option of hiking along the dusty Joint Trail. The 3-mile (4.8km) loop leads towards the Chesler Park meadows, which are often considered as one of the park’s most spectacularly scenic spots.

The trail itself weaves through towering boulders and an intriguing network of canyons, and even though the path is well groomed and the trail is well defined, it’s still a hike that’s sufficiently challenging for even the most experienced of hikers. If you’d prefer to skip the Joint Trail hike, you’re allowed more time to photograph the views surrounding your scenic lunch spot, before continuing on in the 4x4 vehicle to remote sections of the park.

At the end of the day, having scoured the furthest and most isolated corners of Canyonlands National Park, your guide drops you off in the middle of Moab from where the tour began.