North Caineville Mesa, Southern Approach; and Blue Valley Spires

Essence, North Caineville Mesa: The standard route mounting the southern end of the mesa is so improbable it is startling at every turn and passageway. It feels magical. Our gratitude to those who pioneered and hardened the route. Follow the trail carefully; there are no alternate paths. The steep pitch abounds in eccentric and peculiar landforms. We extended our hike from the usual turnaround to a rise on the west rim. We thoroughly enjoyed walking along the precipitous caprock back to the point of emergence. Once beyond UN 5,760' there was no evidence of footprints or even animal tracks on the miles-long isolated mesa. Emptiness is a good deal of its charm. The trail and mesa top is on public land administered by the Bureau of Land Management. The hike to the Blue Valley Spires begins from a different trailhead. It is described at the end of this post. 
Travel: The trailhead is on the north side of UT 24 at mile marker 100.2, 16 miles west of Hanksville and 21 miles east of the visitor center at Capitol Reef National Park. You can't miss the pullout on the south side of the road. It is across the highway from an abandoned cement mixer truck. The relic has so much notoriety this hike is occasionally called the "Cement Mixer Route."

Distance and Elevation Gain: Roundtrip to the mesa top, 2.4 miles, 1,200 feet. The hike as described, 7.2 miles, 1,700 feet. 
Total Time: 5:00 to 6:00 for the longer hike.
Difficulty: Trail, off-trail; navigation moderate; steep pitch; stiff Class 2+ with moderate exposure.
Maps: Town Point; Caineville, UT 7.5' USGS Quads 

Date Hiked: October 9, 2026
Quote: Over every mountain, there is a path, although it may not be seen from the valley.

Theodore Roethke

 

A flare of horizontal awakening sun momentarily saturates North Caineville Mesa and Factory Butte in dawnlight.

Route: Hike north on a circuitous thin ridge composed of Mancos Shale for half a mile. Mount the high-angled south slope of the mesa to a bench at the contact with Emery Sandstone. Follow the trail carefully as the scramble winds east and back west. Upon reaching UN (unnumbered) 5,760' either return as you came, follow our off-trail route to UN 5,960', proceed to Highpoint, 6,122', or wander at will. Descend from the mesa top as you came.

 

It had been an unusually wet autumn in southern Utah. We were scrambling to do this hike between storms. We woke at predawn to lightning. Virga over Factory Butte was raining pink. We were hoping to hike to the North Caineville Mesa Highpoint. Given the ominous weather forecast, we'd settle for the standard turnaround on the mesa top.

  

From parking, pause and consider the geology of North Caineville Mesa, an eyepiece essential to the enjoyment of this hike. There are two rock formations. The lower mountain is composed of Mancos Shale Badlands. Specifically, the Blue Gate Member is a thick, marine mudrock and shale unit of the Late Cretaceous Mancos Shale. It forms soft, easily eroded, convoluted gray-blue terrain. The top 200 to 300 feet of the mesa and overlying the Blue Gate Member is resistant Emery Sandstone. It is found only in the Henry basin east of Waterpocket Fold. (Thomas Holt Ward, photo) 

  

Cross the highway and climb over the gate being careful to cause no damage. The unmarked trail up the mesa begins just beyond the cement mixer at elevation 4,580 feet. 

  

The initial pitch onto the micro ridge is steep but soon moderates.  

For the first 0.5 mile the path follows the two-foot wide ridgetop. It falls off steeply on both sides. Self arrest would be difficult if you started sliding into an erosion channel. Keep your eyes glued to the ground when you are moving and pay strict attention to foot placement. For those with a fear of exposure please see our return route for a workaround.

 

The ridge swirls and squirrels all over the place while still managing to bear northward. I have never been on a trail this weird. Such a curious landform, void of all plant life. (THW, photo, 2025) 

The ridge trail smacks into the south slope of the mesa at 0.5 mile, 4,700 feet. (Note, this is where the workaround meets the standard route.) Climb ultra steeply straight up the eroded rut. The trench has deepened in the past year from ferocious rain. I braced off either side of the mudstone walls. Some rocks are unsecured so don't pull on any holds. Go west of the gigantic boulder seen below at the top of the trench. 

The playful pathway goes straight up a ridgelet for the next 600 feet to a bench. This is clearly not an engineered trail. Most likely, it is a footpath scratched out by Indigenous people long ago. The route is easy to follow and occasional cairns offer reassurance. Below, Emery Sandstone boulders exfoliated from the cliffs above are drifting downhill. 

This image looks back on the valley floor and afar to globular Navajo Sandstone forms on the Waterpocket Fold. The continuously changing interplay of light and shadow on Mancos Shale is captivating. (THW, photo) 

 

The easiest hiking is in the rubble-free Mancos Shale zone. The formation was first described in 1899 and named for exposures near the town of Mancos, Colorado. 

Below, I am communing with massive blocks cleaved from the Emery cliffs above. (THW, photo)  

 

There was considerable sandstone rubble in the track as we neared the cliffband. Take care for your hiking partners.

We arrived on a beautiful flat, 5,420 feet, 0.8 mile, below the contact with the Emery Sandstone barrier wall. The rock is richly colored, fine-grained, and fractures vertically.

The trail makes a rising traverse to the northeast to exploit a weakness in the cliffline.

 

 Cairns guide to a crucial break in the wall.  

The first passageway through leaning boulders is generous. Beyond, scrambling ensues and the real play begins. 

The next crack is considerably tighter. Some will argue slithering through the squeeze is Class 3. Packs off, this move was easier for the 110 pounder than the 160 pounder. I didn't notice the arrow scratched into the sandstone until I got home and looked at this photo. As it implies, there's no getting around this. 

A few scoots and you are back on your feet. Turn left and proceed through a hallway 

The tafoni-adorned corridor makes two 90 degree turns. We are grateful for opportunistic weaknesses that allow passage through the imposing escarpment encircling the mesa. (THW, photo)  

Emerge on the mesa top, elevation 5,760 feet, at 1.2 miles after 1,200 feet of vertical gain. The sweeping view is remarkable. South are the Henry Mountains and South Caineville Mesa.  

 

Westward, the Fremont River drifts through the Blue Gate. Boulder Mountain keeps everything in its place, and Emery slabs speak of a bygone epoch under the sea. 

 

Note: In The Capitol Reef Reader (University of Utah Press, 2019), editor Stephen Trimble writes that there are two gates framing Capitol Reef country. The Blue Gate is east of the park and refers to the "...fluted skirts of blue-gray shale that drape the slopes of surrounding mesas. From the opposite side, on the west, it's the Red Gate between Bicknell and Torrey that serves as portal."  

 

The view to the east is consumed by rippling Emery-tans and Mancos Shale-blues. Shadow play and random quirky shapes makes orderly sense to mudstone, no doubt. To give you an idea of how gigantic this mesa is, the square-nosed south arm seen below is only two-thirds of the way to the mesa's end in the northeast

The ominous morning weather had blown east and looked favorable for more exploring. Our intention was to walk northwest to a roller on the west rim (image-center) and then follow the rim northeast to the North Caineville Mesa Highpoint, 6,122', a ranked summit with a rise of 982 feet. The point of emergence is actually at the very end of a thin peninsula. It necks down to a land bridge about 40 feet across. Walking was flat and uncluttered on a surface of thin sandstone chips so we made good time. 

 

A congregation of heavy, black iron concretions was gathered in a patch. They were small (0.5 inch) and irregular. Unlike the perfect spheres that emerge from Navajo Sandstone these presumably extruded from the Emery formation. (THW, photo)  

The mesa surface was supporting ephedra, a low-lying sage, snakeweed, pricklypear, Utah juniper, and yucca. The only blooming wildflower in October was valiant Tahoka daisy (or prairie aster). Narrow lavender rays surround a central yellow disc. (THW, photo)  

We saw frequent large ant hills but there was no evidence of game or human footsteps. Surely Indigenous people ferreted pathways to the top of the mesa. Tribal histories in the Capitol Reef region span at least 10,000 years. Archaic forager societies were followed by bands of hunter-gatherers. By AD 900, the agrarian Fremont people lived along Waterpocket Fold in villages. Mormon colonization reached Wayne County in the 1870s. They raised both cattle and sheep. The sheepherders were no doubt aware of the more serviceable pathways to the mesa top from the north. Livestock grazing has been a dominant resource issue throughout Capitol Reef National Park's history.

 

As we neared the west rim we walked on brilliant bedrock mimicking a color wheel composed of white, cream, gray, blue, yellow, rust, pink, and red.

At 3.0 miles we reached the rise we were aiming for on the west rim, elevation 5,960 feet. Low and in front is the Caineville Reef. It begins well south of UT 24 and extends to Muddy Creek where the San Rafael Reef takes over. Out front is the Cathedral Valley realm. (THW, photo)  

From this commanding perspective we could see Thousand Lake Mountain, 11,311', northwest of Capitol Reef (image-right). With a rise of 2,359 feet, it ranks #61 in topographic prominence in Utah. If you enjoy standing on precipices, you will love the endless west rim of the mesa. The billowing cloud over Boulder Mountain, seen below, is the spiral arm of a Pacific hurricane barreling down on us. 

We'd come 1.8 miles across the mesa and had another three miles to go to reach the highpoint, image-left. 

 

This map illustrates the vast acreage on this mesa. If we continued as planned, we'd be awash in rain. Mancos Shale on the lower mesa is slippery and slimy when wet.  

  

So, we headed back. Next time we'll try one of the two routes mounting the mesa on the north side. In this image you can make out the peninsula that houses the ingress and egress trail. 

 

Anxious for some slickrock walking, we followed the rim southwest. There were no obstacles on the sandstone sidewalk. However, be aware that some of the ledge is separating and is poised to drop with the slightest nudge.

We began with a boot-testing friction pitch. (THW, photo)  

 We passed a baffling conglomeration of weathered rocks. 

These sandstone castles were particularly whimsical.

 

The escarpment is perpendicular, sheer and sharp. You are never forced to be any closer than you wish to the drop.

 

Almost everyone who gains the mesa top simply turns around and they miss all this wonder. If you can spare the time, walk the rim. 

We were forced to cut some corners because we were racing rain. We would have happily stayed out there all day.

We started our descent off the mesa as the storm moved in.

Note: For hikers who get sketched out with exposure, there is a workaround for the first half mile of the hike on the skinny ridge. We descended on this route to get a track. At the beginning of the hike, from the cement truck walk 0.3 mile southwest paralleling UT 24. Turn into the first drainage and walk north about 0.4 mile. The odd-shaped rock in the foreground of the image below is your signal to leave the drainage. You will pass a mushroom rock while climbing the gray hill. Contact the standard route at 0.8 mile at the bottom of the trench.

In the image below we are walking south toward the highway at the end of our hike. For the workaround, walk up this washout zone.

  

Essence, Blue Valley Spires: Reach out and touch two slender, visually dramatic spires composed of Mancos Shale. This short hike is ideal for those who need a break from the road. Spend an hour or wander at will. While officially named the Blue Valley Spires, the two needles have been dubbed several informal names. Parking is on Utah State Land, OHVs permitted. The hike is on land administered by the Bureau of Land Management, no motos. 
Travel: The spires are located north of UT 24 and east of the Skyline Rim. The turnoff is eight miles west of Hanksville and 0.1 mile east of the Abbott Home (stone structure, no roof or windows) at mile marker 108.5. Look for a subtle, unsigned dirt road on the north side of the highway. The road can be difficult to follow. Look for the firmest track to avoid sinking in deep sand or soft soil. The road is impassible when wet. Park at a log fenceline stretching across the valley floor at 1.0 mile. It is recommend that 2WD vehicles park at the highway and walk to the trailhead. This adds two miles roundtrip and 60 feet of gain. No water, no facilities, no cell coverage.

Distance and Elevation Gain: 2.5 miles; 340 feet
Total Time: 1:00 to 2:00
Difficulty: Off-trail; navigation easy; flat terrain with no exposure.
Map: Skyline Rim, UT 7.5' USGS Quad 

Date Hiked: October 8, 2026
Route: There is no established trail to the two primary spires. Follow the wash north. We passed to the east of the first spire and visited it on our return. The valley turns northeast and the Blue Spire comes into view. Both spires have social trails mounting their skirts. Free-range wandering is encouraged. 

The trailhead, elevation 4,480 feet, is marked but not labeled. A log fence spans between cliff bands on either side of the valley to keep out motos, rather unsuccessfully.

The terrain is so broad a distinct trail has not formed. Simply walk north on compacted dirt. The uniform color is typical of the Blue Gate Member of Mancos Shale. (THW, photo) 

At 0.5 mile we passed east of the first spire, a cylindrical earth pillar. The common name for the spire is Angel of Death. 

 

Round the bend to the northeast and the Blue Spire pierces one's consciousness and holds it fast. The planet's master sculpture has been shaving away at the stone, creating a thin blade with a deadly sharp tip. The free-standing needle is an Earth anomaly, and therein lies its attraction.   

 

The slender spire is all the more fantastical when seen in the context of its blocky neighbors. The color of the monument changes in relationship to the position of the sun and time of day. It is also referred to informally as the Dark Spire. (THW, photo)

  

Approximately 100 feet tall the spire dwarfs approaching hikers. Seen from this perspective the shape-shifting needle turns into an imposing blade. (THW, photo)

The Blue Spire is 1.0 mile from the trailhead. It is composed from the same formation as the surrounding terrain, Mancos Shale. And while soft and friable shale erodes relatively quickly it can be fortified with lenses of sandstone.  

  

We continued walking 0.2 mile until we were blocked by a wall. It was the best location for shooting back on the spire. (THW, photo) 

  

Hoodoos are preserved by caps made of resistant stone. Absent this, the Blue Valley Spires have no choice but to disintegrate. We are fortunate to be here now with them. Mudstone never looked so beautiful under a cloud-disheveled Utah-blue sky.

A secondary track below the spire reveals the breath of the blade. (THW, photo)

 

On our return, we diverted southwest and followed a social trail to the base of the Angel of Death. Did the nomenclator infer the pillar packed sinister power?

From a distance the slender spire glistened in the sun but touch the surface and it is covered in micro mud cracks. 

 

On my first trip to Capitol Reef National Park in the early 1990s, I was living in a small town in Colorado at 9,000 feet. Driving through the Mancos Shale Badlands on UT 24 was completely alien to my lived landscapes. I had no idea that just feet from the road were wondrous sky-piercing sentinels or a hidden pathway to the top of a mesa that beckoned for over 30 years, now satisfied.