# Stillwater Canyon Camp and Hike Beta?



## mattman (Jan 30, 2015)

All the ones that I missed last fall cause I was busy trying to fix my effing motor. 

The people that hiked to the Turks head grainery's said they were awesome, I did get to do the Fort bottom hike, which was well worth it. There is supposed to be a ton of cool stuff down there, and just floating down the river made me want to spend a bunch of time exploring that canyon. Don't short yourself on time for hiking if you can help it, sounds like you are probably taking canoe's, which is a good option.
The doll house at Spanish bottom is another cool hike if you haven't been up there before, there is a 4by4 road to it also, so will probably see other people. The fossils along the that trail are quite plentiful.

Have fun down there! Definitely on my list of places to go back to.


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## rsmiller (Jun 28, 2004)

Thanks... yep canoes. Did you motor back up the Colorado to Moab? I'd really like to do Labyrinth and Stillwater then motor up the Colorado....

Thanks again!

Ryan


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## DoStep (Jun 26, 2012)

The up and over hike at the start of bowknot bend is a unique experience. 1/4 mile walk while boats go 7 miles. Hike is < 1hr, raft ride is 2 hrs and canoes prob a little faster, hikers will be waiting for a little while for the boats, so be prepared for that.

I found camps on the labyrinth/stillwater stretch to show more signs of high impact than the rest of the CO plateau camps. It may be that motors are more common on this stretch than any other in the region, I wonder if there is a correlation there...


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## mattman (Jan 30, 2015)

rsmiller said:


> Thanks... yep canoes. Did you motor back up the Colorado to Moab? I'd really like to do Labyrinth and Stillwater then motor up the Colorado....
> 
> Thanks again!
> 
> Ryan


Nope. Put in at Sand Wash, took out at Lake Powell! 
That could be a cool trip some time to float to the confluence and motor up to Moab. 
Watch out for running Labyrinth or Stillwater over memorial day weekend, because a bunch of folks will be doing just that with power boats, the annual friendship cruise takes place then. I've heard it gets a little crazy on the river then, and can be quite the party seen, may not be what you are looking for!

Do Step, my guess on the high impact camping along that section is the number of people in rented canoes, not an issue of canoeists in general, but often the people that rent there gear on that section don't understand the whole low impact camping concept. 
Power boats are aloud down stream travel only, past Mineral bottom, and outside of the occasional raft trip on it's way to Cataract, and the Friendship Cruise once a year, I don't believe Stillwater gets all that much motorized traffic, though I may be wrong.


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## B4otter (Apr 20, 2009)

If you put in at Mineral and want to hike Bowknot Bend you're going to have to walk a LONG way (it's upstream). Friendship Cruise hasn't operated for many years, due to low water and organizational issues, and may be defunct. If it does go, needs at least 12k and 20k is the target - that's @ Green River, so you can check the flow towards end of May... and if it does go, first night's camp is Anderson Bottom.
Motoring up the Colorado some folks have problems at the Slide but it's pretty easy to portage/line depending on water levels. 
From Mineral, check out Fort Bottom, watch for Wheeler inscription on left below, hike to 'glyphs at Anderson, there is a pretty easy up and over at Turk's Head or just camp there and get up on the neck for sunset/sunrise, check out granaries, or hike up Dead Horse to see the basketball players, then you're into Stillwater and it's all good. If you camp at Water and have fit/experienced hiker(s) can go up and over to the Dolls House. 
Likely you won't have sand bars for camps so take a decent guide, stay oriented, and look for sites before you need one. I've probably spent 150 nights on this stretch and every one is still special. You may have weather and it can be windy, especially in afternoons - get up and get going, have a plan but be ready to go 'xplore when you see something interesting (spent better part of a day once trying to get to dinosaur tracks you can spot from the river). Once you get below Turks' you have Island in the Sky on your left and the Maze district on the right... enough said.


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## Denny Mo (Jun 13, 2011)

*Stillwater/Lower Green*

Tex's Riverways in Moab is a good reliable outfitter.

A hike up to the Doll's house while waiting for the shuttle at Spanish Bottom is a treat.

Does anyone know of availability of campsites along the lower Green/Stillwater at higher water levels in May? We plan on a party of up to 14 people in mid May. Concerned of lack of campsites for that large of a party.


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