When visiting the Island in the Sky District of Canyonlands National Park, the main attractions are views, views, and more views. Most visitors take short walks to amazing vistas, including the popular Mesa Arch, and never really explore what lies beneath the “Island in the Sky”. As first time visitors to Canyonlands, we were looking for a moderate hiking adventure that would allow us to descend the “island” mesa top and follow a portion of the White Rim Trail. We found the 10-mile Murphy Hogback Loop Trail fit our needs. With a total elevation gain/loss of 1600′, the trail was not too strenuous and very scenic. As a bonus, we had almost complete solitude during the March hike.

Like all trails in Island in the Sky, the Murphy Trail begins as a flat walk in the sand along the mostly barren mesa top. After about a half-mile, the trail approaches the edge of the canyon and more rocks appear. At cliff’s edge, we saw a few teenage hikers ahead of us scrambling down a very steep and narrow rockfall that was full of boulders. We wondered “why in the world are they going down that way?” To our amazement, we later discovered that they were in fact following the trail! It baffled us as to how a trail could be constructed down such a narrow and impossibly steep rockfall wash. Kudos to the NPS for their ingenuity at navigating such a trail. No bouldering was required, as the trail mainly switchbacked over rocks that formed natural steps, and in a few places stairs were placed for easy transport.

At the bottom of the descent, we went right at the trail junction and walked along the “hogback” trail for 2.6 miles towards the campground. The views here were expansive and spectacular. Candlestick Tower rose to the north, and portions of the Maze District were visible to the southwest. We saw what looked like millions of pieces of petrified wood scattered along the mesa.

At the Murphy Campground junction, we watched several dirt bikes having fun along the White Rim Road. This was a great spot for scenic views and a snack. There is a pit toilet here as well.

After leaving the campground, we followed the meandering White Rim Road as it descended south towards Murphy Wash. Turning left up the wash we climbed slightly uphill for several miles in sand, which was a little tedious. We spotted many colorful and unusual rocks, as well as dried mudflat layers that resembled tiramisu.

Once past the slow climb up the sandy wash, we eyed our ascent back up the narrow rockfall. It looked daunting at first, but ended up being much easier than we expected. We stopped several times to take photos, not wanting to return to the mesa top and leave the amazing views behind.

At the end of the 10-mile hike, we were still full of energy, so we decided to drive out to Grand View Point and hike out to the overlook. We were rewarded with a break in the clouds and impossibly expansive views.