One of the best slot canyon hikes in Utah and one that not too many people know about.

1. Utah's Best Slot Canyon Hikes Near Zion
2. Best Slot Canyon Hikes Moab Utah
3. Utah's Best Slot Canyon Hikes In Capitol Reef
4. Utah's Best Slot Canyon Hikes In Utah
5. Utah's Best Slot Canyon Hikes

I usually start with saying I am addicted to the outdoors. Yes, you heard me right. Some days I wish I could go out and live in the wilderness and just explore it for the rest of my life, but then reality sets in and I realize that I also love being around people and going to work. So I will have to settle for just going out and hiking on the weekends and sharing with you my most recent adventure.

Behold the picture below and let your mind be blown away

Utah's Best Slot Canyon Hikes Near Zion

This is by far one of my favorite hikes. The hike is even family friendly. You could easily hike it with your children. The Hike is either an up and down or a loop. For the more adventurous you can do the loop and it will take a good half day. The loop is around 8 miles. If you have little ones I would recommend going up and back down the same way. The best part of the hike is not too far up and it is pretty easy for all ages.
I highly recommend this hike to everyone. My wife has a lot of friends from all over the world and whenever they visit us in Utah and want to see the sites. We usually take them to Little Wild House.
The Slot is long and fun and the colors that you are going to see are going to be fantastic!

While being the shortest of the hikes through Utah slot canyons on this list, Yankee Doodle Hollow packs a big punch with Navajo sandstone, deep and vibrant colors, and photogenic vistas. This slot is popular with beginner canyoneers and guided groups for its single and easy drop into the canyon—so don’t expect a whole lot of solitude. Little Wild Horse This hike is probably the most famous slot canyon for families in Utah. It can be very busy in the Spring and Fall, so arrive at the trailhead early. This hike has some beautiful winding slots that are very picturesque, and other than getting to the entrance, it is easy. Buckskin Gulch is one of the longest and deepest slot canyons on the planet—and it’s found just a ways outside Kanab, Utah. Over the course of 13 miles, it rarely gets wider than 20 feet, and in many sections it’s just wide enough to walk through with your pack. Zion National Park UTV & Hiking Tour The back country of Zion National Park is home to Slot Canyons unlike any other in the world. This non-technical hiking tour takes you on an off-road UTV adventure to the mouth of Crimson Canyon to hike through and explore with your guide. Jan 3, 2020 - Explore Karen Wedeven's board 'SLOT CANYONS/ FAVORITE/ UTAH must do-over and over!' See more ideas about canyon, slot canyon, utah.

I would take some snacks and lots of water. (I would take a liter per adult) The best places to eat lunch is by sitting about 10 feet up in the narrow parts of the slot and wedging your bum and feet and shimmy your way up in the narrow part of the slot. That way if thee is a lot of people you can let them pass by below you.

TRAIL HEAD DIRECTIONS:

To get to the trail head it will take 4 hours from Salt Lake City so you will want to make a day or weekend out of this trip. From Salt Lake the best way is to put in your GPS or Google Goblin Valley State Park.

Little Wild Horse is located off Highway 24 between I-70 and Hanksville. As you head south from I-70 on 24 you will go around 24 miles to a sign on your right (west) pointing to Goblin Valley State Park. The road is called Temple Mt Road. Stay on Temple Mt Road for 5.2 miles until you come to Goblin Valley Rd on the left. Turn left onto Goblin Valley Rd and stay on the road for 6.1 miles. You will come to a right hand turn (last time I was there they had a sign saying Little Wild Horse to the right) This road is dirt and is pretty easy to drive on. You can drive it in a car without any problems. You will stay on this road for 5.4 miles. The trial head is on the right and you can’t miss the parking lot.

Enjoy and hike onward!

Mary Jane Slot Canyon is one of Moab’s hidden gems – the “trail” is a creek the entire way, which leads to a 30 ft waterfall. This is a great trail to do when Moab is too hot, and you, the dogs, or kids need to cool off. The canyon walls get higher as you hike further into the canyon, and eventually will reach upwards of 100 ft! There are several side canyons that allow for exploring tighter slot canyons. I first hiked this trail in March 2015, and really loved it. I just had to get back to show my friends what it was like! You can check out my original article on KSL here.

One warning for Mary Jane Slot Canyon is that, like with any other slot canyon, you do NOT want to hike here during or right after a rainstorm due to the possibility of a flash flood.

You’ll want to wear water shoes for this hike – 90% of the “trail” is hiking through the creek.

Use this map if you are driving from Moab.

Use this map if you are driving from Fruita, CO.

Distance: 9 miles RT

Elevation gain: 540 ft

Time: 4-6 hours

Dog friendly? Yes, off leash

Kid friendly? Yes, but it may be too long for younger kids

Fees/Permits? None

The drive in. As soon as you turn onto the dirt road you should see a sign “Ranch Road – Dead End” but keep driving and follow the directions. You can see the LaSals peaking out from behind the mesas, and you should be able to see the famous “Priest & Nuns” rock formation to the SW.

We had a Tacoma, but small cars can make it. Our friend was in a Camry and made it just fine, but slowly.

The trail starts in the SE corner of the parking lot – do NOT follow the trail head sign for Professor/Sylvester Creek. That is another nice trail, but has no shade nor water. It leads to a pass along a mesa. I hiked that one about 3 years ago, so I don’t have a blog post for that trail.

Make sure you drop down the little gully (by the no camping sign), then up and over to the other side, following the dirt path. You should see the creek within 5 minutes, and be hiking in a generally SE direction.

Best Slot Canyon Hikes Moab Utah

The entire time the trail will go in and out of the creek. So you could start hiking right away in the creek, or just follow the dry trail for another few hundred feet, and eventually it will force you to hike in the creek. Both ways work and meet up.

We followed the dry trail for about 10 minutes.

Here is where you are forced to start hiking in the creek, but hey I’m not complaining, that’s what we were here for!

It was only 70F in Moab, but the dogs were already hot. This is a great trail to do year-round since the creek always flows and cools you off.

The first mile of the trail is very open, and you can see all of the surrounding mesas and buttes. About 1/2 mile in, make sure you turn left, following the creek.

You’ll definitely want to wear water/hiking shoes. A few people wore Chacos, Keens, and I wore my Merrell’s. There are a lot of pebbles and rocks in the creek, so it’s better if you have fully closed water shoes, like the Merrell’s, so you don’t have to stop to get the rocks out of your shoes.

As you continue further up the canyon the walls will get higher and higher.

Super happy to be in the creek on a warm day!

Boulders in the creek.

The creek was never more than calf deep.

Utah's Best Slot Canyon Hikes In Capitol Reef

Puppy kisses!

We decided to explore a little side canyon, and it was so cool! The colors were amazing.

Finally, we reached the Mary Jane slot canyon waterfall! It takes most hikers about 2.5 hours to reach the waterfall. This waterfall is a double-tongued waterfall halted by a chockstone, about 30 feet high.

This photo was from the first time I hiked here, back in March 2015. The water level was much lower since we had a dry winter.

Jax was afraid of the waterfall – he didn’t even want to get close to his mom!

Girls Gone Hiking!

King of the canyon!

Utah's Best Slot Canyon Hikes In Utah

Utah's Best Slot Canyon Hikes

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