Elephant Canyon 3 (EC3) — Canyonlands National Park

Growled at by mountain Lion 100meters from climb up to campsite. Amazing. So textured and layered. Loved just staring at everything. Fun climbs to top of canyon. Bring more water than you think.

This spot isn’t a difficult hike, so it’s great for inexperienced backpackers. To get there, you hike a dry river/creek bed. The site is higher up than the trail. The elevated location gives you a great view of the canyon.

There’s a rock in this site that offers privacy, so people have turned it into a bathroom. There wasn’t trash around, but there was definitely an odor over by that rock. It didn’t affect the part of the site where we had our tents.

We had a clear night, and the starriest sky I’ve ever seen!

I’d love to camp here again!

This is a great backpacking campsite. Permit is required as are wag bags and leave no trace. I tracked it at 3 miles from Elephant Canyon trailhead. It was a 2 mile hike to Druid Arch from this site. No service and no water so plan accordingly.

This is a backcountry campsite reachable by a 2.5 mile hike from the Elephant Hill Trailhead in The Needles District of Canyonlands National Park. This is dispersed camping so there are no services nor amenities once you leave the trailhead. Leave No Trace principles apply. WAG bags required. Carry in any water that you might need because water is scarce or non-existant.

The hike to the campsite is over hills, down canyons, across slick rock and traversing sand. The trail is marked by cairns for most of the way, but it is highly recommended that you use a topo/trail map and compass or GPS to navigate. Along the way you will see a variety of rock formations such as joints, fins and spires.

You will cross a canyon and creek where EC1 and EC2 are located. Continue past EC2 for another .25 miles. You might walk right past the campsite, but look for the EC3 wooden sign post. The campsite is nestled amongst some rock formations. The creek is below in the canyon. Don't count on any water being in the creek, it will most likely be dry. There is plenty of open space to set up 3-4 tents.

This is one of the first three campsites when entering The Needles District from the Elephant Hill Trailhead. There are two additional site located within half a mile. This site has views of a plateau and some needles. A quarter mile away the trail splits between the trail to Chesler Park and Druid Arch.