Slot Canyons Near Escalante Utah

Red Hollow Red Hollow is located in Orderville near Zion National Park. This slot canyon begins at the end of a dirt road. The hike is only 1.0 mile round trip and is a great place to start slot canyon adventures. The Escalante slot canyons are for the most part smaller drainages, tributaries of the main gorges, and there are many dozen if not several hundred of them - ranging from the quite long but not especially enclosed (eg Little Death Hollow, Llewellyn Gulch, Red Breaks) to extreme slots so narrow that traversing requires stemming sometimes as much as 50 feet above the floor, in conjunction with the usual downclimbing, rappelling, wading and swimming. Peek-a-boo Gulch is located in the scenic Grand Staircase National Monument near Escalante, Utah and adjacent to Spooky Gulch. It is not to be confused with Red Slot Canyon AKA Peekaboo. These two slot canyon hikes are usually hiked together as a loop that totals in about 3.5 miles. The trail is not really long but it is a fun area to explore. Under no circumstances should you hike a slot canyon if there is the chance of rain. Bring What You Need. Thanks to the national monument, there are no long lines or tourist traps near these slot canyons. The small towns of Tropic and Escalante provide necessary services, but when you head into the monument itself, bring everything you.

1. Slot Canyons Near Escalante Utah
2. Slot Canyons Near Escalante Utah
3. Slot Canyons Near Escalante Ut
4. Slot Canyon Near Escalante Utah

Escalante is central to several of the National Parks, such as Bryce (and further to Zion), and Capitol Reef plus all of the humungous land enveloped in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. We found some beautiful boon docking just east of town a couple of miles, within the first mile of turning onto Hole-in-the-Rock Rd. You can’t miss all the campers out there, many of us nabbing beautiful vistas along the cliffs. And then just 22 miles further down the road you’ll come to several slot canyons. We quickly learned how not to do the slot canyons near Escalante. Learn from us!

Things to Be Aware Of

We’d never been in real slot canyons before so we were pretty excited to check them out. Thinking that they were primarily just claustrophobically narrow canyons we weren’t fully prepared for what we got ourselves into.

First off, some of the kids didn’t have good treads on their shoes. There was much more climbing required than we expected. So wear skookum shoes with good treads.

While a majority of hikers flood to other places like the slot canyons and rivers, you may find that you are the sole visitor at this peaceful location. The hiking is easy and flat. There is no specific trail to follow-just a pathway winding around the various formations. Take your time and enjoy. To get to Devil’s Garden from Escalante: 1.

Secondly, we weren’t prepared for wet…or rather, mud. Even though its desert and everything around you might be dry, be aware that these canyons funnel run-off from rain showers from all around. So there might be moisture, which in this case produces a thick mud.

Thirdly, be mindful of the dangers of flash floods. If there’s been any rain in the mountains around the area take extra precaution. Even ask at the visitor centre in town before you plan to head out there, just to be sure.

Fourthly, pay attention to the maps you’re given…they are there to be used! Usually we’re pretty good with this…but. Not paying close attention to the maps we had, we blindly followed our teens who were probably following other people into the first slot canyons we came to. When we thought we were in either Peekaboo or Spooky (the two we actually came to do) we discovered later on that we were actually in Dry Fork Narrows. Which was okay, but not ideal.

And if you’re a larger group like we are…have multiple backpacks (which we do) each with a supply of water (which we did) and make sure when you split up that each party has water (which we didn’t). Otherwise don’t split up!!

Splitting Up

The teen girls soon realized that their lack of treads was going to hinder the group, or result in them having to walk thru the snotty mud. We made sure they had keys to the van and water in a backpack as they turned back.

The boys and I continued on, until the canyon walls widened but the mud holes remained. Laars, our youngest, could no longer stretch across the canyon with his feet on one wall and his hands on the other, walking his way along. That’s when Everette and him turned back.

Anders and I continued on, coaxing each other along…and forgetting to take photos!!

Meeting Up

Everette and Laars didn’t take long to meet up with the girls, and they headed into Spooky slot canyon. Surprisingly even those who would consider themselves somewhat claustrophobic didn’t find the narrowness of the canyon too much…even when they had to remove backpacks and slip sideways thru the cracks.

It was the walls they had to climb that made them turn around.

Anders and I continued all the way up Dry River Narrows then went cross-country towards the main trail. We came out part ways up the mountain…and had to decide between heading back up and out to the van…potentially waiting for everybody at the van. Or heading back down into the canyon to do another slot canyon…and hopefully meet up with the family. Because when we were separated from all four members of the family, we were inadvertently separated from our drinking water. Not good.

We weren’t done with the fun, so we opted for heading down and into Peekaboo. We started with the big climb into the canyon, which was amazing that we managed to overcome it by ourselves…well, Anders sort of pulled me up over the top!!

Getting Help

Slot Canyons Near Escalante Utah

Anders and I were quickly followed by two hikers who helped us thru a couple of difficult spots…we couldn’t have done it without them. And that’s something to consider when doing these slots. Its beneficial to have several people to help one another, and definitely helpful to have encouragers to keep your spirits high.

Especially as it gets hot and you think you can’t go on!!

After Anders and I completed Peekaboo we headed up towards the rim of the canyon, taking plenty of stops. We were both feeling dehydrated, mine exasperated by the fact that exercise can intensify menopausal hot flashes. Yes, I’m that woman now!

At one point we chatted with a German couple whom we’d spoken with in the first slot canyon. They knew we’d been separated by the rest of our party. They were more fit than us and easily passed us. I asked them if they happened to come upon a man asking about his wife 🙂 to let him know we were on our way up and out of the canyon. The fellow asked what type of vehicle we were driving, and I told him hubby’s name.

Turns out Everette and the other kids had hiked back to the van, and although not recommended, he drove the van down the high-clearance only road (and snuck onto portions of the no-vehicles section) because he was worrying about us and wanted to save us the final last mile.

When the German couple reached the top they spotted the van and let Everette know we were okay and heading up the mountain.

Once we got climbing the upper canyon walls we were thrilled to look up and see the silhouette of Everette and Toveli. And within a minute or so Gaelyn and Laars were approaching us with bottles of water. Ahhhh. They refreshed us and made all the difference in our final ascent.

In Spite of Poor Planning

We made lots of little mistakes on this trip as a family. Hopefully, lesson learned. And all turned out just fine. But in spite of all that…we had a fantastic time. Some of us were more sore than the others the following day, but everybody was happy with how the day turned out for them. In that way, WE WON!!

P.S. We were told that if there was only one hike to do in the area, do the Lower Calf Creek Falls hike. And so we made sure to include it in our time spent around Escalante.

This is about 3 miles each way, but generally quite easy for the whole family to do. A fair amount of it is in shade so that helps one deal with the heat, but this is still desert and needs to be respected as such. Make sure to bring plenty of water, wear a hat, and if so inclined, start early before the crowds start. The parking lot gets full, and the trail does too! We met large groups of people when we were on our way out of the hike, glad we’d skipped the rush.

P.P.S. There’s more to see around Escalante. See the video 🙂

Right or Wrong?

We're the big family that can't decide between living on a sailboat or our tiny-home-on-wheels (aka skoolie).

There's no Right Way to do this long term travel thing. But this is where we figure it all out.

(Well, we attempt to figure it all out.)

I'm still confused! But join us anyways!

×Most Escalante area slots are far from paved highways and require some determination to reach; one of the few exceptions is found at the south side of the river about half way between Escalante town and the UT 12 road crossing, accessed by a 1.6 mile drive along a dirt track then a one mile hike. The drainage is unnamed on topographic maps but known as Micro Death Hollow on account of its proximity to Death Hollow, which joins the Escalante from the north, a mile upstream.
The slot occupies the lower end of a U-shaped slickrock bowl, and although short (1,000 feet), the canyon is very narrow, progressing from a sandy floored ravine with pools and nicely colored rock, to a dark, enclosed, twisting passageway just one foot across in places. Dryfalls at the lower end prevent walking all the way into the much larger canyon of the Escalante River, though this can be reached by scrambling down the slickrock slopes a little way west, hence the slot is often visited as part of longer trips, either up or down the river, or to Death Hollow.

Map

Topographic map of the canyon, and of lower Death Hollow.

Location

The dirt track used to reach the slot canyon leaves UT 12 between mileposts 67 and 66, crossing flat, sandy land for 1.6 miles to a parking/camping spot on a rocky area at the rim of the ravine, from where huge white sandstone cliffs and domes are visible ahead, enclosing the Escalante River. The track is liable to be rutted, and may be impassable after wet weather. The slot is then reached by a 20 minute walk along the west rim of the ravine, in and out of a minor side drainage then along benches to a promontory above the river and the lower part of the slot, followed by a relatively easy walk down steeply-sloping ground to a sandy part of the drainage, just below the narrows. Hands are required in a just few places, to aid the descent, which is completed via a short gully down the enclosing canyon walls, generally sheer and 10 to 20 feet high.

Photographs

Slot Canyons Near Escalante Utah

15 views of the canyon; gallery, slideshow.

Route Description

To the north, the canyon forms a shallow, curving slot of waterlogged, interconnected potholes, soon dropping off steeply to the river. In the other direction, a sandy channel a few feet wide extends a little way upstream, between cliffs of grey-white sandstone, as far as a pool beneath a chokestone. Above here the canyon narrows to around 2 feet across and has some pretty passages likely to contain more shallow, muddy pools, as the enclosing walls come steadily closer together. The sandstone is now darker, reddish-black in color; the passage narrows further and the curvy rocks overhang above, so the slot becomes rather gloomy, and very twisting - often it is possible to see just a few feet ahead. In many places the floor is bare rock, narrowing to a point, and easy progress is halted after a while by an upwards-slanting drop of a few feet, above which the canyon is shallower, and the slot ends not far beyond.

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Slot Canyons Near Escalante Ut

Slot Canyon Near Escalante Utah

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