A slot canyon is a tiny canyon formed when water flows through rock and erodes it.
Compared to its depth, a slot canyon is much smaller. Some slot canyons plunge more than one hundred feet to the canyon bottom, despite only being one to three feet across at the top.
As the one who organizes our trips, I look for new places to visit. While doing research, I came across a number of amazing pictures of slot canyons.
After much deliberation, I chose Little Wild Horse Canyon, which is situated north of Hanksville, Utah.
- Why is this necessary?
- relatively easy hike
- new experience
- Awe-inspiring patterns produced by water’s force
- several opportunities for photographs
- being able to boast, “Check out what I did!”
- not crowded
The Advantages of Healing in Nature
Even if you’re not a frequent hiker, you should be able to appreciate this gorgeous piece of God’s handiwork because Little Wild Horse Canyon has a relatively slight elevation difference.
Only if you have claustrophobia may you run into trouble. At its narrowest, Little Wild Horse is around 18 inches tall. The width of some of its lengths is only two to three feet.
The hike starts out harmlessly enough with typical high desert vegetation and vistas. The first part of the route is exciting since it is outside and away from the hectic routines that rule most people’s lives today. And you anticipate the joy you’ll experience shortly.
You shouldn’t speed through the first part even if you aren’t yet in the slot canyon. There are probably ground squirrels scurrying about. Even though they are cute little beggars, refrain from giving them food. While temporarily enjoyable, feeding animals can lead them to quit foraging on their own and grow dependent on people if it happens frequently enough. Animals fed by people often live half as long as those that are not fed.
Early in the Day or Late at Night, You Might Even Glimpse a Deer
After around ten minutes, you’ll round a corner and find a particularly alluring slot. If you’re anything like us, you’ll immediately enter thinking it’s a slot canyon. It’s not. Although it is a slot, it is only a few yards long. To get to the Little Wild Horse’s tight portion, you must use the track that hugs the left side of the initial, deceptively small gap.
You will come out on a ledge that is between 15 and 20 feet above the canyon floor after making a turn to the left. There are other routes to depart the ledge; just go down the most alluring one.
Little Wild Horse Canyon (LWHC) starts in the northeast. If you go northwest, you’ll enter Bell Canyon, which isn’t as impressive as Little Wild Horse. If you decide to go that way, you can backtrack eight miles later and enter LWHC to get there. It is rather easy to miss the bridge that joins Bell and Little Wild Horse canyons, so if you decide to do this, I strongly suggest utilizing a topographical map of the area.
For the purposes of this description, we’ll assume that you’re making your way to the end of LWHC before turning around and heading back the same way. Just over four miles will make up the entire journey.
LWHC is not claustrophobic despite its initial narrowness. Some of the fierce water designs in the rock are already visible.
You’ll reach an open area after making a turn about a mile later. Just ahead, you can see out the thin section stretching. When we were there, there was around two feet of water in this next, narrow section of LWHC.
However, we weren’t going to let a little moisture stop us. We dove right in. The water wasn’t ice-cold to the bone, but it was cool nonetheless. It didn’t take us long to get used to it.
Wear waterproof boots or grippy, muddy- or water-resistant shoes that you don’t mind getting dirty. Due to the extremely muddy bottom of these water-filled areas, move slowly and plan your moves carefully.
After washing our soiled boots, it took them two days to completely dry out. If you plan to go trekking again the next day, bring a spare pair of boots or shoes.
The first stretch of water was about 60 feet long. After that, you climb over a boulder to get to a dry spot. Resist the need to move fast even when you are on dry ground. Take your time admiring the artwork of nature.
You had to cross a dryfall that, in my opinion, was six to seven feet high. I’m hoping you have a hiking partner to help!
We negotiated three more wet/muddy spots and soon came to a place where the canyon widens. It is about 75 and 100 feet wide and somewhat pronounced.
Due to time constraints, we took a brief trip around this open area before turning back. If we had started earlier, we would have gone around and through Bell Canyon.
Even if you are retracing your steps, kindly take your time coming back. We discovered structures and patterns that we had missed on the way in when traveling back.
We don’t go as swiftly as some people, but it took us roughly four hours to complete this hike. We like to take our time, observe the surroundings, and take numerous photos.
Little Wild Horse Canyon is located five miles along a gravel road that you may access from the Goblin Valley State Park entrance.
If you go to Little Wild Horse, give yourself at least two hours to explore Goblin Valley. It seems to be another world. Actually, a portion of the Tim Allen film Galaxy Quest was filmed there. If you’re bringing kids, Goblin Valley also includes a sizable playground for them.
It’s the high desert, so bring plenty of water and food to keep yourself energized. In slot canyons, flash floods are very deadly. If it’s raining, postpone your hike until another time.
If it’s not raining, go to Little Wild Horse Canyon and temporarily put your problems aside.