Colorado National Monument | Wednesday, November 26, 2025
Last week when I was hiking up the Fruita Dugway in the Colorado National Monument, I noticed a bench just above Kodels Canyon and below Kodels Point that looked like it might be an interesting place to hike, and since I’m always looking for new places to explore close to home I decided to check it out after work today. I started out by hiking up the Fruita Dugway from the Historic Trails Viewpoint along Rim Rock Drive and then left the trail to make my way around the head of Kodels Canyon and across the bench to the rim of Devils Canyon where there was a pretty nice view. All in all, this turned out to be a fun off-trail hike through new terrain and was a good way to spend a few hours after work today.
The edge of Kodels Canyon.
I closely followed the rim of Kodels Canyon as I made my way over to the west side.
After following the rim around the head of Kodels Canyon my next objective was to see if I could get to the top of PT 5805, which is that sandstone knoll straight ahead in this photo.
Kodels Canyon Rim
I had no issues reaching the summit of PT 5805 from the northeast, although there really wasn’t a good view from on top.
After hiking down from the summit I continued west into the Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness to the edge of Devils Canyon.
There was a nice view over Devils Canyon from here.
A followed the rim above Devils Canyon for a little bit before turning around and starting my way back.
I passed just below PT 5781 but didn’t see a way I’d easily be able to get to the top.
PT 5781
Following the rim back around Kodels Canyon during my return hike.
Almost back to my vehicle at Rim Rock Drive which is parked just around the bend.
Beautiful. Those are some great shots along the rim and of Devil’s Canyon.