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Devils Kitchen
Date: 5/31/2010Difficulty: Easy – Moderate
Miles: Approx. 1.5 Miles Round Trip
Rating:
Type: In-out
Trail head GPS Coordinates: 39° 1’54.43″N, 108°37’50.24″W
TrailSpecs
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Devils kitchen is located at the East entrance to the Colorado National Monument. There is a $15 entrance fee into the Monument that is good for one week. You can also purchase a yearly pass for $40 which is the best way to go if you plan on spending much time in the area.
The trail head is located across the road from the Devils Kitchen picnic area. There are picnic tables and bathrooms with running water located at the Devils Kitchen picnic area.
The trail head shares its starting part with four other quality trails. Serpents 
Trail, Echo Canyon, No Thoroughfare Canyon and the Old Gordon Trail. There is a parking on the East side of the road if you don’t plan on using the picnic grounds.
Before being named Devils Kitchen, the formation was originally called Castle Rock. If you research the Monument throughout the years you will see that quite a few formations and canyons as well have changed names since John Otto first began promoting the area. The beginning of the trail follows the No Thoroughfare Canyon trail for a short distance. Once you reach the bottom of the canyon, the Devils Kitchen trail breaks off to the left and the No Thoroughfare trail continues off to the right. Go left and continue following the Devils Kitchen trail into the little side canyon. The trail is very easy to follow the majority of the way. As the trail climbs the hillside it slowly becomes a little harder to follow. There is a bench of slickrock towards the top that makes the trail all but disappear. At the time we went there were numerous rock cairns scattered around the area that added to the confusion of where the trail is. If you continue to head towards the top of the hill towards the big rock towers and try to find the easiest route you will eventually make it to the top.
The trail is an easy trail, I added the moderate part of it due to the difficulty of following the trail once you get to the top. It is also somewhat uphill the whole way so the legs could get a little tired. All in all Devils Kitchen is on of the most enjoyable places I have been lately. The hike up is nice and the geology of the area is very interesting.
