What is a Slot Canyon?

                                                                                              

The allure of a slot canyons is in the fact that they are sinuous clefts in the stone that are thinner than they are deep. This gives the sense, when within a slot canyon, that one is being enveloped by the surrounding stone. They inspire awe in the realization that the earth is swaddling you, cuddling you.

The drama of a slot canyon has various natures. The path of the water flow and resultant eddies cause spectacular curvatures and edges in the rock wall. The cut in the sandstone allows you to track events through the sandstone in geologic time. The depth of some slot canyons boggles the mind as you look up a hundred or so feet of binary sheer rock walls with only a foot or so of air space between them.

The slot canyons in southern Utah have been formed by the slow erosion caused by wind, water and ice, over tens of thousands of years. Imagine the first rivulet channel in the sandstone that allowed for the eons of erosion to happen along the same pathway, which etched the slot canyon in the stone.

Slot canyons are always in a state of flux. The power of the water and the sediment that rush through a narrow canyon during each storm leaves its mark on the canyon, etching away minuscule amounts of the walls and depositing sediment or scouring sediment from the canyon floor. The stronger the stream power the more the flood will scour the floor and deepen the canyon. The weaker the stream power, the more sediment will be left on the canyon floor and the floor will rise in the canyon. Everytime one walks a slot canyon, the experience is different due to this continued fluctuation of material on the floor of the canyon.

                                                                                              

Best Times

                                                                                              

Slot canyons are ideally hiked in the cooler months. Since most slot canyons have an approach to the canyon that is over a mile in distance and is often quite exposed to the sun, hiking to the canyon may not be too challenging, however returning from the canyon can be brutally hot. If you do plan to hike a slot canyon in the summer months, set your sights on starting the hike as early as possible, day break is best.

Slot canyon hikes are are well suited for spring and fall hikes when the daytime high temperatures are moderate. When the daytime temperatures start creeping over 85ºF, we start early so that we are able to finish the hike before midday and avoid hiking in the heat of the day, then we go to the Kiva Koffeehouse to relax for lunch and a cool drink.   

Whichever slot canyon we explore, the colors, textures and height of the walls will leave you with a sense of wonderment.

                                                                                              

Day Hike Reservations

                                                                                              

To start the conversation regarding hikes that interest you and reserve dates …

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Need Help Planning

Your Adventure to

the Escalante Canyons?

                                                                                              

Planning of an adventure is all part of the fun of the adventure. I enjoy helping folks put together the pieces of their journey to the Escalante Canyons, whether planning a hike with me, deciding on hikes that may be self-guided, determining drive times between points of interest or trying to determine good restaurants and lodging in the area.

I’ve put together some pages on this website to help in your planning …

… and if you want to talk with me directly, I am happy to help.

                                                                                              

This Year,

Let’s Get Some

Southern Utah

Canyon Country Time!