Canyonlands National Park - Flint Trail & Golden Staircase

For those of us not willing to risk our vehicles, hiking down the Flint Trail switchbacks and the Golden Staircase trail is one of the best ways of accessing the Maze District. For hikers, this adds 6.5 miles to access the area but if you hike 3 miles an hour, what's the big deal adding a few extra hours of hiking to a trip that is multiple days already? This commonly used access has marked parking at the top of the rim. Ironically, this point on the rim where a truck trail was able to penetrate down through the Orange Cliffs happens to be next to the highest part of the rim at near 7,000 feet.

Just past the parking area, you hit a sign saying "High Clearance 4WD Required Beyond This Point", then the view at the top of the switchbacks. Walking down the switchbacks, you can enjoy all the obstacles encountered by drivers negotiating the challenges. Overall, there really are only a few tough spots. When the route levels out at the bottom, it continues in a NE direction. You can save some distance if you leave the road when it turns south toward a road intersection with the route from Hite. (showed on map below) Easy hiking on the road brings you to another intersection. The right is signed to the Golden Stairs Camp and Trailhead. Follow this road to the camp (4.5 miles from the car) and find the cairned trail between some campsites. Quickly you find yourself crossing the China Neck, a narrow but easy to cross rock path that drops on both sides. Once across, some more distance takes you across a bench to the drop. Although steep for some, the trail isn't too difficult. The part that tricks most is all the ups and downs in the mid-section that traverses a long way to find the remaining spot for the final drop between cliffs. (Nobody likes going uphill when you are trying to drop down to the bench below). The trail near the bottom follows a sandy wash out to the Dollhouse Road. Now just follow the road around "The Mother And Child" a distance of under a mile to the Ernies Country Trail, or continue on the road several miles to The Maze trailheads.

The Flint Trail & Golden Staircase Trail