This corner of Utah looks like Mars and you can touch every rock in it

Where you can wander among thousands of stone goblins

Goblin Valley sits in a corner of Utah where the desert turns weird.

Thousands of squat sandstone shapes fill the floor, and you can walk right up to them, climb on them, weave between them, even play hide-and-seek among them.

Most parks rope off the rocks. This one hands them over. And once the sun drops, the place pulls a second trick that only a handful of parks in the country can match.

A landscape Mars rovers would recognize

You’re standing at about 5,000 feet, on the edge of the San Rafael Swell in Emery County, roughly 50 miles southwest of Green River.

The valley floor spreads out below you for nearly 10,000 acres, packed with mushroom-shaped sandstone hoodoos called goblins. People compare the view to the surface of Mars, and once you see it, the comparison sticks.

The whole park belongs to a much bigger geologic dome that cuts across central Utah, with slot canyons, rock art, and rough desert in every direction.

Cowboys found it before anyone else did

Long before anyone called it a park, cowboys chasing stray cattle wandered into the valley by accident.

In the late 1920s, a ferry operator named Arthur Chaffin and two friends came across it while hunting for a route between Green River and Caineville.

Chaffin came back in 1949, spent days photographing the rocks, and named the place Mushroom Valley.

Utah took ownership and made it a state park on Aug. 24, 1964. Later, the Bureau of Land Management handed over thousands more acres to round it out.

170 million years of patient carving

The goblins started as Entrada sandstone, laid down about 170 million years ago when an inland sea covered this whole region.

Layers of sand, silt, and shale piled up on ancient tidal flats. Tectonic forces eventually shoved all of it to the surface.

From there, wind, water, and freeze-thaw cycles went to work, eating the soft layers faster than the hard ones.

What you see now is the result: hard caps perched on thinner pedestals, with cracks in the sandstone rounding every edge.

Three valleys, no fences, no rules

The main park splits into three sections, called Valley 1, Valley 2, and Valley 3.

Valley 1 sits closest to the parking lot and observation point, with goblin clusters scattered across a flat stretch you can take in at a glance.

Cross a low ridge and you reach Valley 2, where the goblins grow taller along the walls of branching canyons.

Valley 3 lies more than a mile out, the biggest and the least crowded. You can leave the trail anywhere, climb anything, and let your kids loose.

Crawl into the Goblin’s Lair

Out near the eastern boundary, the rock hides a chamber called the Goblin’s Lair. It started as a slot canyon, then rockfall sealed the entrance and trapped a room inside.

Vents in the ceiling sit more than 100 feet above the floor, and at the right time of day, sunlight pours through them in shafts that light up the chamber.

A marked trail takes you to the entrance, with some boulder scrambling along the way. If you have canyoneering skills, the visitor center hands out permits to rappel in from the top.

Five trails that show off the rocks

The Carmel Canyon Loop runs 1.5 miles and hits the views you came for, including Molly’s Castle and the Three Sisters, with a short stretch of colorful narrows that gives you a taste of slot canyon hiking.

The Curtis Bench Trail covers another 1.5 miles along a ridge with the Henry Mountains rising to the south. The Entrada Canyon Trail links the campground to the main observation point through a natural drainage.

For something easy, the 1-mile Three Sisters Trail leads straight to the park’s most photographed formation.

The Milky Way sits right above the goblins

Dark Sky International certified Goblin Valley as a Dark Sky Park back in 2016, and on a clear, moonless night, you’ll understand why.

With no city lights for many miles, the Milky Way shows up to the naked eye, along with thousands of stars you don’t normally get to see.

Every light fixture in the park aims downward to keep the dark intact.

Rangers run stargazing programs in the warmer months, with moonlit hikes and telescope viewings. Photographers love using the goblin silhouettes as foreground for the night sky.

Bike the singletrack and chuck a disc

The Wild Horse Mountain Biking Trail System opened in 2015 and gives you about 7 miles of singletrack split into five loops.

The trails wind through parts of the park you can’t see from anywhere else, with views of the surrounding desert and distant mountains.

Skill level runs beginner to intermediate, so families and casual riders fit right in. An 18-hole disc golf course wraps around the campground and costs nothing to play.

You can rent a disc at the visitor center for one dollar.

Watch where you put your hands

The desert here looks empty, but plenty of animals call it home.

You’ll likely see jackrabbits, and at dusk you might catch a kit fox or coyote moving through the brush. Kangaroo rats come out at night.

Pronghorn antelope sometimes show up in the surrounding desert. Rattlesnakes and scorpions live here too, so watch your step and look before reaching into shaded cracks.

Most desert animals stay hidden during the heat of the day. Plant life includes Mormon tea, Indian ricegrass, cacti, and juniper and pinyon pines higher up.

Squeeze through Little Wild Horse Canyon

About a five-minute drive from the park entrance, on BLM land, you’ll find one of the most family-friendly slot canyons in Utah.

Little Wild Horse Canyon narrows to shoulder width in spots, with sculpted, colorful sandstone walls climbing high above your head.

You can walk in as far as you want and turn around, or commit to the full 8-mile loop with Bell Canyon. No technical gear needed, just some basic scrambling.

Never go in if rain is in the forecast. The trailhead has parking, a vault toilet, and an information kiosk.

8-foot painted figures from a thousand years ago

A short drive past the Goblin Valley turnoff, along Temple Mountain Road on BLM land, the Temple Mountain Wash Pictograph Panel sits right next to the pavement. You barely have to walk to see it.

The panel holds some of the biggest prehistoric painted figures in Utah, with the tallest originally standing more than 8 feet.

Two styles share the wall: Barrier Canyon Style images possibly thousands of years old, and Fremont culture paintings from roughly 300 to 1300 AD.

Erosion and modern vandalism have damaged parts of it.

Sleep on the desert floor in a yurt

The campground has 25 sites: 10 walk-in tent spots, 14 RV-accessible spaces, and one group site that fits up to 40 people. Every site comes with a shade shelter, picnic table, and fire ring.

None have electrical hookups, which keeps the night sky as dark as possible. Two yurts give you a softer option, with climate control, bunk beds, and a futon.

Reservations open on a four-month rolling basis and book up fast, especially the yurts. Showers, flush toilets, and a dump station round out the facilities.

Visiting Goblin Valley State Park in Utah

You’ll find Goblin Valley about 50 miles southwest of Green River, off State Highway 24. The park stays open year-round, from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., and entry runs $20 per private vehicle.

The closest towns are Hanksville, about 20 miles south, and Green River, about 50 miles northeast, both small with limited services.

Bring more water than you think you need, plus sun protection and a full tank of gas. From March through June, weekend lines can drag, so come early or on a weekday.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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