Jun 01, 2018 — The Valley of Gobins at Goblin Valley State Park features funky, unique, and almost goofy-looking rock features called hoodoos. Thousands of tiny rock nubs on a desert floor somehow seem much different from all the other rock formations I've seen throughout Southern Utah. The park allows you to walk around amongst the mini hoodoos, which are honestly extraordinarily cool.
On this hike we decided to rappel into the Chamber of the Basilisk. If you don;t have technical canyoneering knowledge, I recommend hiking through the hoodoos, then backtracking and following the Goblin's Lair (Chamber of the Basilisk) Trail so you can still see everything.
We navigated through the goblins to reach the top of the rappel. I can't say there's a correct route since part of the fun is exploring the hoodoos on the way to the start of the rappel. We basically stuck to social trails as we wound our way through the desert, gaining minimal elevation. Soon we reached a short and nontechnical canyon that drained into the Chamber of the Basilisk, an unexpected and nice little feature. We set up our gear and dropped into the hole in the ceiling, making our way down into the Goblin's Lair. The fun was short lived since this was only a one-rappel endeavor, but we enjoyed the spectacular cathedral-like cave that offers solitude and relaxation. Fortunately we were the only ones there.
Getting out of the Goblin's Lair requires a short Class 2, and we emerged into the sunlight, where some more Class 2 led down into the flat desert below. On the way back, the trail leads north, and it's easy to follow. The trail then wraps west and heads through the dirt hills to get back to the trailhead. However, I recommend heading through Carmel Canyon instead to get back, a fun little maze of a slot canyon in the crumbly dirt.
After the short hike we spent some quality time with some hoodoo goblins. I took probably too many photos and widdled them down a bit.
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