![]() There are hand and foot cut-outs in the rock to help you get up and into the canyon. Once you’re off the cliff and into the sand dunes, you’ll hike along the creek wash until you see the mouth of Peek-a-Boo. Once you’re in, all you have to do is walk through a scenic paradise of red and purple rock.įrom the trailhead, get into Dry Fork Wash via moderate scrambling down some short cliffs and following cairns as needed. These magnificent hikes, located in the Dry Fork area of the Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument area, can be done individually, but they make for a killer loop you can tackle in one afternoon of adventure. On most Southern Utah bucket lists, you’ll find the local favorite one-two punch of Peek-a-Boo and Spooky Slot Canyons. Above the dryfall, the canyon is not narrow for much further, soon becoming wider and less sheer-sided. The nearest exit route to bypass this drop is quite far back. The floor is sandy and has no potholes to hold any water so the passages are largely unobstructed, until a 20 foot pour-off topped by protruding chokestones, a blockage not easily climbable. Some parts are quite dark because of overhanging rocks above, and the smooth curving walls allow for pretty reflections and light effects, quite similar to canyons around Page in Arizona, such as Antelope. The first narrows are quite short, opening out to a sunlit section, but this doesn't last long as the drainage constricts again to a longer, deeper slot. The Navajo sandstone here is dark red in appearance, typical of this region, and is eroded into delicate curves bearing graceful surface patterns, from thin horizontal bands of lighter rock crossed by vertical strips of desert varnish. The wash is enclosed by low cliffs for a short distance below the slot, offering plenty of entry/exit routes before the walls become vertical and form the first section of narrows. ATVs can drive along the streambed right up to the start of the narrows. The remaining stretch is more level though still across deep sand, as the road curves east then back west just before the streamway, meeting it one mile downstream of the end of the slot. The track to the canyon starts at the east end of this old road, by the junction with US 89, and is very sandy from the start, as it skirts around a large area of dunes, rises slightly to cross a low ridge then descends towards a dry wash (a tributary of Kanab Creek) where the surface becomes even softer. The secondary road is partly paved, and it provides many good places to camp, close to the main road though mostly out of sight. Adventure tour companies from Kanab sometimes take visitors to the slot, which is known locally as Peek-a-Boo Canyon, though the place is in general little visited compared to the more famous narrows within the nearby national park.Ī secondary road leaves US 89 a mile east of the turn-off for Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park and runs eastwards alongside (to the north) for 4 miles, rejoining the highway shortly before it begins the descent into Three Lakes Canyon towards Kanab. The canyon has about half a mile of enclosed, curving passages up to 100 feet deep, mostly without any obstructions, and quite easily reached from a main road (US 89) the canyon runs parallel to the highway about 2 miles from it, and may be accessed either by driving along a very sandy 4WD track or walking cross-country, hiking over a rolling, open landscape of dunes and occasional trees (the Sand Hills). ![]() ![]() Like the similarly named Red Cave and Red Hollow, Red Canyon forms a colorful series of narrows through the deep red sandstone rock of the Glendale Bench, a few miles east of Zion National Park, although the drainage is a tributary of Kanab Creek rather than the Virgin River. 4WD vehicles can drive all (2.8 miles) or part of this track, which leads to the drainage below the narrows Trailhead:Start of a sandy track on the north side of US 89. Season: Spring and fall are best summers are hot One blocking chokestone near the upper end Less if walking cross-country over the Sand Hills, or driving along the trackĭifficulty: Easy. Length: 4.5 miles, to the dryfall, via the sandy track.
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