Great day for a hike and a great trail. Hiked to the top and then turned left and basically followed the edge of the canyon past Sorenson point. Highly recommend this trail.
The Rock Garden trail takes you up from the Palo Duro Canyon valley floor up to the top of the rim and out to various scenic overlooks. It provides a good cardio workout. The views from the top are beautiful. The trail is fairly well-defined up to the rim, but not so on top of the rim. The trail map provided by the park is not very helpful and it is easy to lose the trail.
I hiked up to the top of the rim with a friend and we decided to go cross country "off trail" and climb down the cliffs rather than hike back the same way we came. Having done this, I would not recommend anyone else do the same. Going down is steep in some places and the ground does not provide good footing. It was a foolish decision on our part so I hope others won't make the same mistake.
(3.50)2
(3.25)
(2.75)