The Hayduke Trail
A Guide to the Backcountry Hiking Trail on the Colorado Plateau

Joe Mitchell and Mike Coronella

6 x 9, 230 pp.
65 photographs, 119 maps
Paper $19.95
978-0-87480-813-1
Guidebooks and the Outdoors

Featured in the March 2005 issue of National Geographic Adventure Magazine

Traversing six national parks (Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Bryce, Grand Canyon, Zion), a national recreation area, a national monument, and various wilderness, primitive, and wilderness study areas, the Hayduke Trail is a challenging, 800-mile backcountry route on the Colorado Plateau. Whimsically named for a character in Edward Abbey’s The Monkey Wrench Gang, the trail begins in Arches National Park and ends in Zion National Park, stays entirely on public land, and traverses the complete variety of terrain available to hikers on the Plateau short of technical climbing.

Joe Mitchell and Mike Coronella pioneered Hayduke after concluding that a long trail—such as the Appalachian or Pacific Crest— was possible on the Plateau, thus introducing more people to these unique and threatened public lands. The Hayduke Trail includes detailed maps of the entire route, suggested cache points, and a wealth of description and tips for tackling this intense undertaking.

Hiking the entire route requires at least three months, though like other long trails it can be broken into smaller segments. The guide is designed for experienced desert trekkers seeking a thorough-hiking experience on a well-tested route.

Joe Mitchell moved to Utah in the late 1980s. He lives with his wife in Heber City, Utah, where he is a fly-fishing guide with Four Season Outfitters.

Mike Coronella moved to Utah in 1990 for the skiing and hasn’t looked back. He lives with his family in Moab, Utah, where he works for Red Rock Forests, a nonprofit wilderness advocacy group.

Praises and Reviews
“This is really quite a trip that takes one through extraordinary country.”
— Steve Allen, author of Canyoneering

“A challenge and goal worthy of serious consideration by any desert rat.”
— Dan Miller, author of High in Utah: A Hiking Guide to the Tallest Peak in Each of the State’s Twenty-Nine Counties

'The Duke' Completed!
Read a thru-hiker's detailed 2005 account.
"The basic corridor of the Hayduke Trail is exceptional. I think the founders of the route did a great job with its layout. While the route appears quite circuitous on a map, and knowing that the Colorado Plateau is an incredibly convoluted region, I had anticipated a 'choppy' and disconnected feel to the hike, but was surprised at the routes sense of continuity while hiking."
- Brian Frankle