Canyon Slots Utah

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Check out Utah's slot canyons at Canyon Craze. This is a collection of wanderings in the southern Utah's incredible canyons and other fun stuff. Slot Canyons Slot canyons are narrow gorges in soft rocks like Utah’s layered sedimentary deposits. They are named for their narrow width, often squeezing down to a sliver. It is said that Utah has the largest concentration of slot canyons in the world, and many of them are easily accessible.

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Explore the depths of Southern Utah.

There is something magical and sobering about exploring slot canyons in Southern Utah. Hiking, swimming and sometimes squeezing through high sandstone walls carved by the elements over thousands of hundreds of thousands of years (you read that right) makes you keenly aware of how powerful the natural world around us is. Don't worry though, if the thought of squeezing through a 10-inch crevice 100 miles from civilization inspires panic like that time your brother zipped you into your sleeping bag while he watched Saturday morning cartoons (not cool, bro), there are plenty of incredible slot canyons like the Zion Narrows that don't require any squeezing. For the thrill seekers out there, there are several options to bring your rope and harness for some canyoneering. Whatever your speed is, a day spent exploring the cool, winding depths of any of these Utah slot canyons is one you won't regret. (Unless you’re Aron Ralston. But he got to meet James Franco, so he probably came out ahead, too.)

1. Explore the Subway Top-Down

• Utah’s slot canyons are stunningsheer red-rock cliffs towering above you, while just a slice of blue sky creates a heavenly ceiling. Hiking through a slot canyon is like being in another world, where you’re cut off from civilization and completely immersed in nature.
• Overview A few miles north of Kanab, there's a magnificent slot canyon colloquially called 'Peekaboo Canyon' but named 'Red Canyon Slot' on maps. In a region with world-renowned and overcrowded slot canyons like the Narrows in nearby Zion National Park and Antelope Canyon in Navajo Nation, people seem to forget that there are plenty of spectacular areas to explore that are still primitive.

Photo: Scott Kranz

2. Explore Arches’ Fiery Furnace

Photo: Devin K

3. Hike Kanarraville Slot Canyon

Photo: Karyna Wilkerson

4. Canyoneering Keyhole Canyon

Photo: Kathie Green

5. Hike Buckskin Gulch Vermillion Cliffs Wilderness

Slot Canyon Utah Weather

Photo: Tobin Akehurst

6. Canyoneering the San Rafael Swell

Photo: George Bruce Wilson

7. Hike Little Wild Horse Canyon & Bell Canyon Loop

Photo: Aaron Roth

8. Explore Paria Canyon

Photo: Brandon Silver

9. Explore the Zion Narrows

Photo: Stephen Marshall

10. Hike Peek-a-Boo and Spooky Canyons

Photo: Rebecca Jones

11. Hike through the Red Caves Sand Wash

Photo: Thomas Burton

Photo: Nick Oman

13. Hike the Red Cliffs Recreation Nature Trail

Photo: Thomas Burton

14. Explore Lebrechaun Canyon’s Middle Fork

Photo: Michael Whitman

15. Explore Kanab’s Peek-a-Boo Canyon

Photo: Prajit Ravindran

16. Hike Willis Creek Slot Canyon

Photo: Prajit Ravindran

Find more information on Utah's slot canyons and more at Utah.com.

Cover photo: Scott Kranz

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×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.
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). 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.

Topographic Map of Red Canyon

Photographs

9 views of Red Canyon.

Location

A 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 secondary road is partly paved, and it provides many good places to camp, close to the main road though mostly out of sight. 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 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. ATVs can drive along the streambed right up to the start of the narrows.

Slot Canyon Utah Tours

Route Description

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. 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 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. 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 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. The nearest exit route to bypass this drop is quite far back. Above the dryfall, the canyon is not narrow for much further, soon becoming wider and less sheer-sided.

Slot Canyon Utah Deaths

Slot Canyon Utah Map

Similar Canyons

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