Halfway down the hill to the south is a parking area on the left at the head of Liberty Cap Trail, which goes eastward about 6 miles to Liberty Cap—a prominent conical point atop the Wingate cliff just west of the mouth of Ute Canyon, which appears on the left skyline of [figure 38]. From there, the trail descends about 2 miles to a gate in the boundary fence at the mouth of Ute Canyon. The roads connecting the gate with South Camp Road ([fig. 3]) were reported (1979) to be closed to foot travel by private landowners, so hikers reaching this point must either retrace their steps to the parking area at the head of the Liberty Cap trail, or return by a primitive trail up main Ute Canyon, turn right up the west arm of the canyon, and regain Rim Rock Drive by a short switchback trail noted on [page 109]. However, the Park Service hopes that in the future some sort of corridor can be established to connect the trailhead with the nearby roads. Most of the “trail” up Ute Canyon is the normally dry channel of the creek, so hikers should watch out for flash floods. The round trip by Liberty Cap Trail alone is about 16 miles, and if the return trip is made by Ute Canyon the total distance is about 13 miles. Accordingly, hikers should allow a full day and carry food and water.
GLADE PARK ROAD
A quarter of a mile west of the Liberty Cap parking area in the west arm of Ute Canyon is a junction with a gravel road that leads 5 miles south to the Glade Park General Store and Post Office, where groceries, beer, gasoline, and fishing and camping supplies are available. Glade Park connects with scenic roads leading east, west, and south. Later, we will cover in more detail a round trip from the intersection in Ute Canyon to one near Cold Shivers Point, and another round trip from Glade Park around the head of No Thoroughfare Canyon and back to Grand Junction via the Little Park Road.
But to continue with the trip through the Monument—from the intersection with the gravel road to Glade Park, Rim Rock Drive turns abruptly to the southeast and follows the west arm of Ute Canyon for some 3 or 4 miles, past many interesting points. For the next 1⅓ miles to the first culvert, which crosses a large tributary, the roadcuts are in the Summerville Formation and Entrada Sandstone. The photographs in figures [16] and [17] were taken looking north from the culvert and from just northwest of the culvert, respectively.
FLOOD
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One day when my family and I were approaching the culvert from the west, we heard a roar like an express train. Looking to the south we saw that a severe thundershower was occurring on the headwaters in Glade Park, so we raced ahead and parked east of the culvert just in time to see and hear a 4-foot wall of red water come roaring down the tributary, rolling boulders along as if they were basketballs. Unfortunately, we had no time to ready or use a camera, so we simply raced down the road embankment and through the trees and brush to the north in time to see the flood plunge eastward over a 350-foot cliff of the Wingate Sandstone to the canyon below. This illustrates the need for caution when following or crossing “dry” washes in the desert in stormy weather or when there are storms in the distance.
UPPER UTE CANYON VIEW
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About two-tenths of a mile northeast of the culvert is Upper Ute Canyon View, which affords good views of the northeast cliff face of the west arm of Ute Canyon.