We were finally in Coyote Gulch Canyon and it was an awesome achievement for the day! This trip was done in two days with an overnight at Bowen Lake, but it was a long, grueling hike from the trailhead . Designation: Grand Gulch Wilderness Area Fees: $2 per person per day, or $5 for 7 days (self-service day use permits) Nearest town/gas: Mexican Hat or Blanding, UT Date hiked: 12 May 2019 Audio accompaniment: Preet Bharara's Doing Justice Notes: The ~7 miles of dirt road connecting the trailheads were mind-numbingly dull. The second part was that it's not the most busy time of year and I hate crowds. These Photos Prove It. Few people or things get to say that the world revolves around them, but Mt. The pictographs, petroglyphs, and structures (kivas!!) It was smooth sailing for us through the desert and we were walking at a good pace. Sign up for Outside+ today. I am not a huge fan of heights so I was hoping I wouldn't have to explore the cliff too much in order to find the way down. This scene about halfway through my journey in Grand Gulch is typical of the terrain and scenery during the trip: steep canyon walls and interesting rock formations, with cottonwoods, sage, and other brambly bushes in the flat canyon floor in between. For more information, see our "About Us" page. Some of these are publicized and their locations are well documented. Head east .6 mile over slickrock to the Todie Canyon trailhead. The pit toilet was very clean and seemed well taken care of. However, it's fairly well-used access into Grand Gulch. There were numerous dry potholes in the slickrock so after a decent rain, water should be plentiful in the area. We modified our route plan and decided to exit via the old CCC constructed Government Trail and then return to the car via a simple overland hike on the mesa top. We made it back to where we parked before the sun went down. Be careful on these crossings if you are hiking in the early seasonits hard to get your balance with a forty-pound backpack once you have lost it. There are no footprints to follow on the hard stone sections, and when the stone breaks into a sandy area there are lots of footprints leading the wrong direction. I assumed the second crack in the wall was the one we would not be able to fit through and was about to get the rope out when my wife said she thinks the packs would fit through the crack in the wall. It is VERY, VERY, VERY dry there, the driest Ive ever seen (by far).. At the end of our conversation I jokingly said, "Let me try starting the car just in case I need a jump before he leaves.". Gain 300 feet to reach the mesas 6,400-foot-elevation rim and a view of Navajo Mountain. At this point we had a few minutes to hold tight while the group ahead of us finished up. We just had to get a little bit more dirty before heading home! Thats nothingright? Explore cliff dwellers, artifacts, and pictographs. When we popped the hood we instantly saw the issue. Create a personalized feed and bookmark your favorites. Visiting Mancos Mesa, our original plan, has been on my to-do list for a very long time and it is quite disappointing that we needed to make the proper decision not to go. This site is best viewed in a modern browser with JavaScript enabled. Just as we were getting ready to leave, one of the guys we saw solo hiking (He was a much better climber than us) arrived at the parking lot as well. Once they were fully off the rope and had moved on, it was our turn. Pottery fragments, knapped stone flakes, corncobs, and other objects were also seen scattered around many sites. The White Mountains are the home of this New England beauty. We walked around the rincon formed by the Narrows cutoff and circumnavigated the Pollys Island rincon as well. In order to backpack this route, you must have a permit to camp at Bright Angel Campground. I will describe the climb out in three distinct sections. Here is a long and detailed trip report for a long backpack in Grand Gulch, including adventures associated with a flash flood. The biggest glaciers, Eliot and Coe, are on the north side of the mountain, and their water is responsible for keeping the Hood River Valley irrigated. At this point, I grabbed a hold of the rope tight, looked up and took slow deliberate steps, while slowly and carefully moving my hands up the rope as I progressed. For every 12,000 foot pass you go up, you must, as Newton says, come down. Coyote Natural Bridge perfectly arches over the creek and is just spectacular to see the water flowing underneath it. The traverse above the San Juan was both interesting visually and as a walk. About 10-15 minutes into our 50+ mile off road drive back to civilization, every alarm in the Jeep started to go off! There are multiple options for accessing Coyote Gulch, for our trip we decided to enter via Crack in the Wall and exit Via the sketchy climb next to Jacob Hamblin Arch (More on that later). As you hike down towards the canyon, make sure you look up and out towards the horizon so you do not miss Stevens Arch out in the distance! While walking around Jacob Hamblin Arch I took a few pictures and mostly just took it all in. In a minute or two I had my car jumped and the Weego worked like a champ! The Orange County (OC) Loop is a vision for 66 miles of seamless connections and an opportunity for people to bike, walk, and connect to some of California's most scenic beaches and inland reaches. Before moving onto section three of the climb out of Coyote Gulch, it was my wife's turn to get on the rope and make the climb. The creek that cut this beautiful canyon has so many twists and turns, and you never know what the view is going to be around the next bend. Here we accessed a broad shelf in the middle of the river canyon wall about 400 feet above the water. We quickly saw a hotel on the side of the road and pulled over into their parking lot to troubleshoot. Luckily on this one we didn't have to do anymore scrambling or taking off our packs to rope them up. One of the many wonderful hidden gems in Utah (so just tell you close friends about it). The last bit of scrambling wasn't too bad, but my arms were definitely a little tired at this point. Rain and snowfall patterns in the region have changed negatively in timing, duration, and intensity. I did notice there was a little bit more scrambling past the rope, and although it wasn't that bad of a section, I would have loved the security of the rope there as well. Join Outside+ to get access to exclusive content, 1,000s of training plans, and more. Most of the photos have captions. Coyote Natural Bridge is absolutely stunning! Im glad you had a good time! We actually ended up not going to it, so we may have missed out. On this particular trip the road was fine, just bumpy and nothing too technical. Our back up plan was to hike back down Coyote Gulch and exit back through Crack in the Wall if we had too. My wife climbed down first without her pack, so that I could lower the packs down on the rope to her one at a time. Very cool landscape Mike & Mighty! Continue south. Coyote Gulch Trail starts off pretty well defined from the parking lot and is nice and sandy. Coyote Gulch Backpacking Overview. Previous: Lightning Disco at Blue Lakes. Amy so glad your ankle recovery went well. However, there is an advantage to a higher-than average visitation: cool huts along the way. Grand Gulch Wilderness Study Area was revisited in May 2019 after an unusually wet spring. And happily it is healing well and allowed us to recently (April 1 -19 ) spend time dayhiking (and two one night backpacks) out of the Escalante area. They suggested we at least walk around to the other end of Jacob Hamblin to get the full experience. Many of the peaks can be heavily populated. We de-packed and drank some water before packing the car up. Changing road conditions are why I always suggest stopping at the visitors center because they may have important updates on road conditions. The long-term drought in the American Southwest had made the water sources in the region both extremely scarce and unpredictable. See oblong windows chiseled into the canyon wall, and tour a kiva (a sunken, circular space). Of course our plans changed but that's what's fun about exploring canyons. Follow the trail beneath the embankment and down along the streambed to 20-foot-wide Stimper Arch. I didn't spend too much time taking pictures here, due to my mind being a little distracted by the climb we were about to take out of the canyon. Each step forward seemed to get deeper and I couldn't tell how deep it would get. The next step is to decide where you want to go. While working as a Park Ranger outside of Moab, Utah, Abbey fell deeply in love with the emptiness of the desert. If youre reading this article, then you already are gifted in the area of curiosity. Inevitably on guides that I write with dirt roads, I often get questions of, "I drive x vehicle will I be able to make it?" Ideally I should have still climbed up before using the rope to check its tie in, but I did not. I took a handful of different bearings toward rock features and slowly worked our way back to the car. As the group ahead of us was finishing up, we stayed off the rope and easily walked up. At about 1.5 miles the canyon narrows, forcing you to walk in the clear water that's ankle to . The best times to visit this trail are March through November. A large pour-off in upper Slickhorn must be bypassed on the left looking-down-canyon. I would never count on the pit toilet always being there, so do not take this as an excuse to not be prepared with your own wag bag. Great Gulch is a remote area with minimal hiking/camping traffic and is on BLM Land (Bureau of Land Management) i.e. This was a miserable drive out We eventually made it off the bumpy Hole in the Rock Road onto pavement, and I hoped everything would just return to normal. . Many of our water sources on this trip looked like they could easily dry out completely in a few weeks. Scramble up flat rocks to a steep pourover with a climbable overhang. Is there a downside to "Style Three" and just wearing a water shoe? We visited several Grand Gulch side canyons, including Shangri-La Canyon, a short unnamed canyon on the west side down-canyon from Redman, Redman Canyon itself, Deer Canyon, Pollys Canyon, and Cow Tank Canyon. Each step forward I was worried I would just fall into a deep spot, but luckily the water never quite got up to my knees! The rest was through boulder fields and rockfalls and took much time and care. In the late 1970s I had gotten extensive notes about hiking in Grand Gulch from a college professor who had done field work there in the 1950s. The picture above is on top of the smooth bowl after we got past it. We could not locate much definitive information on water conditions at Mancos, but knew that the route we had planned had potentially very long carries between the few likely remaining sources. In many places, there are use trails of varying quality. The first crack in the wall was the widest, and took an easy climb down into it. Early in the season, the glacier run-off does more than just irrigate the Hood River Valley, it also feeds into the streams and rivers that you may encounter on the hike. Planned 9-day trip to river & back to repeat first visit April 1981. The beautiful BLM orientation video provides guidance on avoiding impact on the fragile desert ecosystem and archaeological sites. Northern California Backpacking. If there was not a rope already set we would have to spend an extra night and hike back out Crack in the Wall. Ice and rock have a sort of bare beauty that the lushness of a forest can lack. We didn't have any more car issues and ended up stopping outside Bryce Canyon in a hotel where we grabbed dinner and a couple strong beers! If you would like expert gear recommendations for your next adventure check out the Ten Digit Grid Gear Locker. In 2017, The Former Guy shrank the size of Bears Ears National Monument by 85%, an act that was both highly offensive and very likely unconstitutional. We filtered water the previous night with our LifeStraw Flex Gravity Filter (Amazon Affiliate) while we ate dinner and just spent the morning drinking some nice hot tea as we broke down camp. Pick up your shuttle here, or continue 1.2 miles to the end of Jeep Road #236A, then turn left and road-walk 3.6 miles back to the Kane Gulch Ranger Station. Potholes containing potable water were much less frequently found. Studying both maps and satellite imagery of the Cedar Mesa region prior to our trip left me concerned that travel there would be less interesting than our previous Utah trips. After all the driving the previous two days from San Diego, the climb down into the canyon and the excitement of finally making it to Coyote Gulch it could not have been a more perfect place to close my eyes and fall asleep. Learn how your comment data is processed. The group was super nice though as we walked by and we even paused for them halfway crossing the creek so they could have some backpackers in their picture for some scale. Overnight backpacking permits, Moon House permits, and day hiking passes are required year-round for exploring the canyons of Cedar Mesa and BENM. We descended Slickhorn until reaching Hanging Canyon, about 1.25 miles above the San Juan River. Generally considered a challenging route, it takes an average of 5 h 36 min to complete. Super jealous! October 2009 . The Bullet Canyon Trailhead is a few miles south, and then off on a short dirt side-road to a small parking lot. Just hike up Coyote Gulch and probably camp near Jacob Hamblin Arch before hiking out the next morning and driving back. Cairns can be super useful, but again be competent in your map and compass skills because Cairns can fall down and people not knowing any better sometimes stack their own rocks which can accidently push you off course if you are blindly following them. At mile .8, pass between large black boulders before entering the rock fortress of Kane Gulch. The sand dune wasn't too bad hiking down, but I could imagine on a hot day hiking up and out through Crack in the Wall, this could be a miserable hike. Grand Gulch, the largest canyon in the Cedar Mesa area of southeastern Utah, provides breathtaking views, stunning rock formations, and historical ruins that allow you to imagine what life must have been like hundreds and hundreds of years ago. A switch went off in my head the minute I picked my pack up after exploring Jacob Hamblin Arch. As the sun rose we had a beautiful morning. I have a decent amount of experience off-road driving, and I keep the right recovery gear in my 4-wheel drive Jeep. Free permits are required for all overnight . The first was I had a long weekend and wanted to plan something fun. To smell it and touch it in a way that motor vehicles simply cannot allow you to do? I could go back to Coyote Gulch and just spend a week down here photographing each section. A screw must have come loose somehow on the cable that attaches to the positive terminal on my battery. But we avoided Grand Gulch because of James concern that it had become too popular and could be crowded. Heres a link to our photos https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B0tJPrgBGJOkRXe, Nice did that hike solo back in 1990 its a great hike!! We really enjoyed our time in that country, and look forward to spending more time in Utah. We quickly mapped a route that explored parts of the canyon Amy had not previously seen and avoided the more popular areas. Cross it and take the use trail to Junction Ruin, a thousand-year-old Puebloan dwelling nestled in an alcove. We left San Diego on 11 November, spent the night at Smithsonian Butte Road and on 12 November woke up and drove to the Escalante Interagency Visitor Center in Escalante Utah to pick up our permits. I hiked down Todie Canyon, to Grand Gulch, then out Bullet Canyon. I have heard good things! For the most part, hiking up through Coyote Gulch the water was only an inch or two deep. Caution: the incline is steep remove packs and use your hands for balance to help with scrambling. Perhaps most thrilling of all are the unique characteristics of the island itself. I was pumped because I have had this thing in. We had a pretty loose plan for the day. Entrance to Todie Canyon. One of the most popular routes is the Kaibob to Bright Angel loop. Traveling with Eric, Alan and Alison was very fun. However, the lower Grand Gulch was quite beautiful and satisfying and was well worth the time spent there. As you hike down stay to the left of the massive rock structure in the middle of the sandy bowl. They normally have a team of volunteers that occasionally visit the back-country springs allowing the rangers to provide recent information about water sources; the pandemic put those efforts on hold. This hike is a good spring or fall adventure, as the canyon can get viciously hot in summer. my car for over a year or two and always wondered if it would actually jump start my car! The name of this loop is a mouthful and is often shortened to the Pemi Loop. The walking was varied with easy sections of cruising along the dry stream-beds, fun boulder fields to maneuver through, and side canyons to poke around in. In the Grand Gulch Primitive Area, you can literally find pieces of pottery and gnawed corn cobs left by the Anasazi tribe of Native Americans. The ruins and rock art add an additional layer of interest and intrigue to an already spectacular landscape. Even though we ultimately found enough usable water to resupply on a daily basis, the issue that backpackers have to manage in these conditions is source uncertainty. Its particularly awful for a hiker to injure a leg. We stopped here to take a break to sip some water and have a snack. Our thought process was that it was late fall and cold at night so why not try and keep our socks and shoes somewhat dry. At 7.8 miles, cairns on trail-right mark a path along a sandstone cliff. Grab your shuttle here, or hike 1.2 miles to the end of jeep road #236A, then turn left and road-walk 3.6 miles to Kane Gulch Ranger Station. We got a pretty cool treat at this waterfall. The Government Trail leads to fine slickrock campsites on the rim that provide great views of the surrounding area, including the Bears Ears, Navajo Mountain, and ironically, the cliff walls of Mancos Mesa. Although we saw some other hikers, there were far fewer than I anticipated. Even if you think you know canyons, the Grand Canyon lives up to its name by exploding perceptions of the boundaries of sheer size. By just spending one night in the canyon that would allow us to break up the drive home which also contributed to the decision to skip the Black Lagoon. We used several of the resource books you had recommended. We eventually found a fantastic spot under a nice tree, where we could hear the sound of the running creek all night long and it was far enough away from the trail for some privacy. Equally important is to carry enough containers to transport larger than normal quantities of water, as well as a willingness to do so. The other problem with "style one" was even when we didn't have to cross the creek, staying dry meant squeezing through tight brush forests, when we could have just walked up the creek. Intersection of Kane Gulch and Grand Gulch. We decided to not do it all in one go and broke up our drive by backcountry camping just outside Zion National Park at Smithsonian Butte Road. Like many canyons in this region, Grand Gulch is full of hidden Anasazi ruins and petroglyphs. Grand Gulch and its tributaries feature miles of winding canyons lined with cliffs that provided sheltered overhangs to people in the past. There was almost no thrashing through tamarisk or other vegetation. All Rights Reserved. We here at BackpackingNut would greatly appreciate if you could share his story -- Click here. This hike is one of extremesit takes you from high to low, from wet to dry, from forest to rock face, from isolation to cozy civilization. The sun was pretty low and we didn't want to start some scrambling down an unfamiliar route in the dark. This was the third time I've backpacked in Grand Gulch, but the first since the area was designated as part of Bears Ears National Monument by President Obama in 2016. . As a result, hiking in the area has become more complicated due to a significant reduction in traditionally reliable water sources. Vaccination celebration! We contacted the rangers at Kane Gulch Ranger Station prior to arriving and spoke with them again personally at the station the day before the start of our trip. This was going to be the most dangerous part of the hike that could potentially result in serious injury or even death. I bet their pictures came out amazing, and maybe I will stumble on them on the internet at some point! There is no easy path to follow once you get down from the parking lot. Pitch camp here on the canyons north side before entering Todie. 2019 DoingMiles.com | all rights reserved, Cedar Mesa: Slickhorn Canyon and Grand Gulch, Exploring Utahs Bears Ears and Cedar Mesa: A Guide to Hiking, Backpacking, Scenic Drives, and Landmarks, Behind the Bears Ears: Exploring the Cultural and Natural Histories of a Sacred Landscape, House of Rain, Tracking a Vanished Civilization Across the American Southwest, In Search of the Old Ones: Exploring the Anasazi World of the Southwest, The Bears Ears: A Human History of Americas Most Endangered Wilderness, Voices from Bears Ears: Seeking Common Ground on Sacred Land, https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B0tJPrgBGJOkRXe. After hiking through the flat desert with not a whole lot to look at you get to the edge of the desert and there is this entirely beautiful fertile land hidden down below you. It is in the biggest freshwater lake in the world. The temperatures are just right, with . The next day we made it back home to San Diego and luckily had no more car issues. I am not a huge fan of heights and was unsure how the scramble up and out would be for us. However greatly altered stream channel, running water and dense vegetation slowed pace. You will have to run shuttle, but this hike is so cool that we couldnt resist putting it in our compilation of the best backpacking loops in America. Layne I am taking my first backpacking trip in the Southwest in a week (Arizona's Superstition Mountains) and am really looking forward to exploring a desert/canyon area. The water here wasn't very clear either, so I ended up taking it super slow. Stars above a high canyon wall over my campsite. Get access to more than 30 brands, premium video, exclusive content, events, mapping, and more. Returning, nearly 40 years after my first backpacking trip there, was deeply gratifying. Heres the silver lining: you probably wont get too thirsty with all this water available. Mammals were also scarce; we saw a few mule deer, quite a few squirrels, and some cougar tracks. It may be possible to do a safer but longer and more convoluted traverse across a steep boulder field on the right side looking-up-canyon, but we did not explore this option. Weego 70 12-Volt Portable Lithium Jump Starter. These overnight Grand Staircase-Escalante hiking permits are free of charge and may be obtained at visitor centers or at developed trailheads. Top 3 Backpacking Loops in Olympic National Park, How to Power a CPAP Machine While Camping. This loop was done counter-clockwise. Astonishingly, according the Grand Canyon rangers themselves, only 1% of the population that visits the park hikes into the Canyon. This was the culmination of decades of effort, and was a very major accomplishment. I even had my Garmin inReach (Amazon Affiliate) so I had communication options as well if we got stuck and could call for help. Observing this group on the rope we decided to use the one already there and not tie in our own. How often if at all, did you have to dry camp? The two things I can think of are extra gear (weight) that you need to carry into the canyon and most water shoes/socks don't have a lot of support. Join a park biologist to learn about the ways Saguaro National Park is monitoring the park's namesake while . Hood of Oregon can truthfully say that it is the center of the Timberline Trail universe. My first trip out to the Grand Staircase National Monument I drove down Hole in the Rock Road to visit Reflection Canyon.It was an amazing hike and I couldn't wait to come back and explore more of the amazing hikes that begin driving down Hole in the Rock Road. The soothing sound of the leaves rustling above our heads and the running creek were absolutely perfect. Scan trail-right for a cairn that leads up a cliff to the canyon rim. In 1980 I spent a week backpacking there with two friends. We began our hike at the Slickhorn Canyon trailhead; this is located at the end of a reasonably well-graded dirt road easily negotiated by our two-wheel drive Toyota Matrix carrying five people and our gear. I pushed the cable back and jumped the car one more time with the portable jump pack and we were back on the road! You can save even more time by reading this article to learn about some of the best backpacking loops in the US. This part was so much fun and was one of my favorite parts of the entire Coyote Gulch Hike! The fame and beauty of this hike is not unknown. If this description sounds like you, then youve got the most important ingredient to backpacking in the bag: curiosity. Grand Gulch. But I have always had a very warm spot in my heart for the area and have always wanted to go back. If you enter in through Crack in the Wall you start at the eastern end of Coyote Gulch. We brought our own rope and the plan was to climb up without my pack in, tie it in and then come back down for the packs. We really wanted to spend another night but thought the safe decision would not be to do the 10 hour drive back to San Diego in one day. With Coyote Gulch there are a couple of different styles for how you can hike it. Garfield. What: off-trail loop hike in Slickhorn Canyon and Grand Gulch. As the shadows grew longer and longer we got closer and closer to our car. Grand Gulch Hiking Sheiks Canyon on Cedar Mesa Sheiks Canyon is a short, steep side canyon that enters Grand Gulch between Todie and Bullet Canyons. Just prior to our trip, he e-mailed us this message: I just returned from 4 weeks in Utah. When we got there, a rope was already tied in and a group was three quarters of the way up. The entirety of Coyote Gulch is amazing, but the first really cool iconic waterfall is the waterfall I labeled "small waterfall" on my Caltop Map. In between Crack two and Crack three is where there is a slight opening and is the spot where you have to lower your packs with rope because they will not fit through crack three. Since we live in San Diego, getting to the Coyote Gulch Trailhead was a 10+ hour drive! A variety of trails lead in and out of the canyon, so you can plan your own loop, according to which sites you wish to visit. If you have researched Coyote Gulch before you are probably laughing at us right now. As the sun was getting lower, I was nervous there would be a bit of scrambling down into the canyon but luckily there were just a few short switchbacks and it was easy to reach the water. Over three days and two nights this October I went on a ~25 mile loop hike from Cedar Mesa in southeastern Utah. Feb 23, 2022 - Photos of canyons, ancient ruins and pictographs taken during a loop hike through Grand Gulch, Cedar Mesa, Utah. At this point there is a pretty well defined trail, and it was pretty easy navigating. They would have been happy birds if they had found food in the pockets . For many years we continued to explore the Escalante drainage and took other trips to the Dirty Devil and Dark Canyon as well. The route that goes through Bullet Canyon and Kane Gulch covers many of the quintessential sites. In Redman Canyon we were able to scramble up to the rim on a route that included climbing an obvious fun and easy fifth class slot up the middle of a steep pour-off. Many small ruins including walls, granaries, dwellings, and perfectly intact kivas can be found. The next one was the first of the larger waterfalls. Kane Gulch Ranger Station is along highway 261 not far from Natural Bridges National Monument, which is a wonderful place to visit as well. We saw no rarities, but a few Pinyon Jays were a treat. Carrying a 50-foot rope would allow hikers to haul their packs up the unclimbable pour-off, an option that would make the exposed traverse easier. Hiking this loop is a privilege and a responsibility: none of the sites are roped off, so you can go into the buildings and touch everything. Dont quote me on the specifics, but the various pictographs in this long inhabited location near a reliable spring range in age from 2000-600 years old. I will be patiently waiting to watch your video on that! While significantly wetter compared to the dust of the Grand Canyon, the Pemi Loop can be stingy with its water. We met another super nice hiker here and he got up on the first attempt no problem. Whether youre on the east coast, the west coast, in the middle, or almost in Canada, the best backpacking loops in the world are right here, in our countrys beautiful wilderness. As we approached Jacob Hamblin Arch we passed by the climb we would take out of the canyon. It was an amazing hike and I couldn't wait to come back and explore more of the amazing hikes that begin driving down Hole in the Rock Road. This was one of my favorite spots in Coyote Gulch and I think the magnificence of it was enhanced by starting in the narrow eastern end of Coyote Gulch. Grand Gulch is a popular area for hiking and backpacking to see Ancestral Puebloan cliff ruins and rock art in a natural setting. Once you pass this small obstacle, you are quickly rewarded with another great waterfall! My answer is I don't honestly know, but I always recommend 4-wheel drive and high clearance vehicles along with being prepared with the right recovery gear. Built by one of the canyon's earliest pioneer prospectors, the Grandview Trail was established to provide access to a productive copper mine in the 1890s. After following the trail along the streambed, youll get to the 20-foot-wide Stimper Arch. But the highlights were without doubt the numerous ancient ruins and pictographs along the way. Dont be intimidated: this hike only takes you right above 12,000 over the course of the 27-mile loop. The description lean-to is deceiving, because the Garfield Shelter is anything but fragile. The climb out was a little more sketchy then I would have wanted and we both agreed that the next time we came to Coyote Gulch we probably wouldn't climb out that route again unless we had climbing harnesses on. However, in four cases, we had to walk up side canyons for some distance to find water, as there was none in Grand Gulch around the time we wanted to stop for the day. Ancestral Puebloan (Anasazi) ruins abandoned about 13th century are best-known feature of this 52-mile canyon from Kane Gulch to San Juan River. Check out this 20.0-mile point-to-point trail near Mexican Hat, Utah. From Crack in the Wall to the start of Coyote Gulch Canyon is about .75 miles, with a drop of just under 700 feet in elevation as you descend to the canyon floor. Water is available, but scarce, so plan accordingly. The others had useable water sources within 500 feet or so. If you are not used to hiking with a pack on with flat shoes or socks on for miles at a time, it can do a real strain to your lower muscles, like your calves and ankles. Before exiting, we walked further up Grand Gulch to Cow Tank Canyon to explore more ruins and ancient art and then returned to the Government Trail to climb up to the rim. At the base of the climb out of Coyote Gulch, my mind was focused. Not sure if its because we had the adrenaline running after the climb out or more likely it wasn't a clearly defined trail like the trail through the desert on the first day. To say the least, the smile I had on my face while off roading on the way in was gone. Monet would have used all of his paint just trying to capture one of the colorful vistas available on this loop! Where: Bears Ears NM and Glen Canyon NRA, Utah. From the dirt parking lot it's about a 1.78 mile hike through the desert to Crack in the wall which is where we decided to make our entry into Coyote Gulch. The first part had a good crack with some great places for hand holds and places to shove your boot into. In 1.9 miles, reach Todie Canyon, an overgrown gully on the left. Way north. This was my favorite ruin site I saw during my trip in Grand Gulch - a perfectly preserved kiva set in an overhanging cliff amphitheater. Since we launched our DoingMiles website we have raised $1720 through our affiliate links, and have donated all of that money to Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance and Grand Canyon Trust. Grand Gulch Loop Hike. Not too far after the Black Lagoon you come to Coyote Natural Bridge! Grand Gulch was bit closer to our friends arrival airport than Mancos Mesa, so switching locations worked for them as well. Unfortunately a warm front arrived when we started and our daytime temperatures were about 20 degrees warmer. I placed my keys into the ignition of my 2013 Jeep Wrangler and immediately heard click click click and the car didn't start. On his first day in office, President Biden issued an executive order beginning a 60-day review to determine whether restoration of the monument boundaries and conditions that existed as of January 20, 2017, would be appropriate. The fight to protect Bears Ears is currently one of the preeminent conservation and indigenous rights initiatives in the country. Get full access to Outside Learn, our online education hub featuring in-depth fitness, nutrition, and adventure courses and more than 2,000 instructional videos when you sign up for Outside+ Since the car was still moving and steering fine I didn't want to stop moving towards civilization. Moonlight illuminates this ancient kiva near Grand Gulch. We had biting gnats one evening. There is an impassible pour-off about a mile up Grand Gulch from the San Juan. Cross UT 261 from the trailhead 10 miles south of Natural Bridge National Monuments visitor center (where you should get a days worth of water), and head southwest. It may be difficult to obtain a permit for starting a trip from either of those trailheads. "Style Three" is probably the best idea for hiking Coyote Gulch and that is bringing some sort of water shoe or water sock. Happy traveling! It contains an astonishing number of cliff dwellings, granaries and rock art left behind by the ancient ancestral puebloans. You might also mention Friends of Cedar Mesa as they are the organization most focused on the area and do volunteer work to stabilize and protect ruins. Here are 5 great spring backpacking trips for you to choose from, with one from each region of the US! A bit of easy scrambling is required, and the route was marked with intermittent cairns. Once the trail turns back to the north, you'll have an easy two-mile hike back to the trailhead. This picture is a picture looking back over the more sandy section towards the parking area: The closer you get to the Crack in the Wall the sand disappears and its mostly hard stone that you are hiking across. At nightare those waves you hear?the lakes tide will break on the cliffs, lulling you to sleep. Pitch camp along Grand Gulchs northern wall before entering Todie. This page may contain affiliate links. Alongside that love was a fear of it being destroyed and used up. Most of the way the hike passes through dramatic canyon scenery with vertical cliffs and dramatic rock formations. Its strange enough just being in the desert canyon wilderness to begin with, but when I was at these kiva ruins this evening I could feel the mysterious caveman essence of it all. To get to Crack in the Wall, Crack number three there is a short amount of bouldering after the opening where you lower the packs. It is due to this rule that the sites are still open for exploration. As a result, backpackers planning on a trip in the area should expect to have to carry more water for longer distances. We decided that changing to a different location with better water data would be a wise thing to do. I had my Weego 70 12-Volt Portable Lithium Jump Starter (Amazon Affiliate) in the car which I had never had the opportunity to test out. Fuel All Your Adventures With This Holiday Sale. After I made it up this short steep section, my wife elegantly followed right after. It was time to take slow deliberate steps each foot up the rock face. I enjoyed this trip as much as any of our Southern Utah hikes for several very personal reasons. One accidental trip to the right or left would send you tumbling down to your death. If you did not stop at the visitors center on the way in, there is a post at the trailhead where you have to fill out a self permit before starting your hike into Coyote Gulch. Follow cairns up a steep drainage (flows during rain) and continue scrambling south, gaining 300 feet to the 6,400-foot mesa rim at mile 7.9 and a view of square-top Navajo Mountain. Pretty much as north as you can get without needing your passport. Permits and advice are found at this station. I got the foreground glow by shining my headlamp on the cliff wall behind me during the 60 second exposure the indirect light provided nice bounce light to softly illuminate the scene. When: May 1-8, 2021 (7.5 days). were amazing. Bill. I was excited to be in the canyon finally and was fascinated by the beautiful flowing creek. climbers would easily scurry right up with no rope. On Saturday, August 27th, join us for Saguaro Studies and Sketches. We told ourselves if it got too dark and we didn't find anything we could turn around and take one of those spots. They had already booked flights based on a trip to Mancos Mesa, so moving our venue on very short notice risked complicating their travel plans. Bike shuttle recommended. What a way to get down into the canyon! It is deeper, redder, and more rugged than the imagination even dares to venture dont forget about the little guys though! The archaeological sites were far more numerous, varied, and truly interesting than in the other wild canyons we previously visited. The next highest ascent for backpacking trails is Baker Gulch to Bowen Gulch Lake with 4,757 ft of elevation gain. Grand Gulch REQUEST INFORMATION TRAVEL BUREAU INFORMATION UTAH'S CANYON COUNTRY 117 S Main St. Monticello, UT 84535 435-241-6306 REQUEST INFO & BROCHURE Request Information & Brochures City: State: Check "Yes' to receive travel tips, gear giveaways, insider info and awesome vacation ideas from Utah.com and other travel bureaus. For this one there was a thicket to the right of it where you can push up. I could have stopped here and took pictures for ages, but the sun was low and we needed to find a place to set up camp for the night. If you use a rope that is already there just be aware of the added risk of trusting someone else's knot. You need to bring your own toilet paper, but it was an unexpected find. While there are many more, we consider these to be some of the best backpacking loops in the US. We thought we were done with obstacles at this point but we ran into one final obstacle.a fence popped up in our way. Fortunately, most of my concerns were not realized. We stashed our packs while we explored a side-canyon and a couple of Common Ravens took advantage of our absence to remove things from the exterior pack pockets; they tore into Alans map bag but did not snitch the maps. Use your hands for balance against the steep incline (tip: remove packs and pass them for easier scrambling). Grand Gulch Loop Hike October 2009 | Cedar Mesa, Utah Over three days and two nights this October I went on a ~25 mile loop hike from Cedar Mesa in southeastern Utah. It includes the locations of trailheads, major springs and archaeological sites. I hiked down Todie Canyon, to Grand Gulch, then out Bullet Canyon. Backpacking Has Changed a Lot Over the Past 50 Years. I see you filtered from all kinds of puddles! Hopefully we will have our Coyote Gulch video out after the holidays! Continue .7 mile through scrub brush and high grass to Turkey Pen Ruin , which opens onto views of slickrock pourovers that gush waterfalls after a rain. We saw a couple ok of spots, and made mental notes to ourselves as we continued down through the canyon. Hiking with "style one" and trying to stay dry adds a lot of time to your hike in Coyote Gulch. The spot we found was about .32 miles from where we entered Coyote Gulch at the creek. Climbing is not my most robust outdoor skill and having a backpacking backpack on my back with all my camping and camera gear added to the difficulty. The eastern end is a lot narrower than the western end, which means campsites are more sparse. I combined that exposure with another one where I climbed down the ladder and shined the lamp around the interior of the kiva to provide that glow, as if people were inside. I could have sat her all day enjoying the sounds of the water flowing under the arch and the changing colors of the leaves. Please do not disturb any sites by climbing onto their walls, dont touch the rock art, and dont move any objects you might find. So for over an hour of driving we had the entire car flashing on and off every light inside (headlights were fine thankfully), along with a loud audible beep going off every 8 seconds. MOUNTAIN. My suggestion to anyone looking to hike this hike is that if you are not regularly climbing then you should not take this route out of Coyote Gulch under any circumstances. Easy enough but since this waterfall was actually falling, we were not sure how to climb up and continue forward. Shades of grey can be just as beautiful as the rainbow, if you know how to look for it. It was a very WET year and it was difficult at times to make our way through the tall vegetation (maybe 4 years ago? Does this hike even need a preface? As we got closer and closer to the actual Coyote Gulch Canyon I could see the canyon walls approaching. Try hard-refreshing this page to fix the error. The red rock canyons of the Colorado Plateau are one of our favorite places in the world. I was ready to get off the rick. Grand Gulch, Cedar Mesa Plateau National Geographic Trails Illustrated Map covers the entire region. 1. What is a water sock? One rain storm can change that in an instant though. (435) 587-1500; blm.gov, Gear up: Camping and Cowboy Gear, 1420 North Main Street, Blanding, UT; (435) 678-2662; campingandcowboygear.com. With the weight of the pack I didn't feel comfortable just quickly going hand over hand. One of the most popular routes is down the south Kaibob trail (8.5 miles of steep, waterless downhill) to Bright Angel Campground (near Phantom Ranch, so it has toilets and water) and then up Bright Angel Trail to the rim (9.8 miles, featuring water halfway at the Indian Garden campground). We strongly urge anybody planning a trip in the region to try to obtain timely detailed information about actual water sources immediately prior to starting. Amy had taken two memorable backpacking trips in Grand Gulch in 1980 and 1983 and had long wanted to return. Now that youve hiked in the east and in the west, it is time to follow the compass north. Beautiful photos. Because of this situation, we are not including the water sources used on our trip map as we cannot predict whether or not they will have usable water in the near future. Outside Zion National Park the previous night it was below 32 degrees fahrenheit, inside Coyote Gulch was surprisingly warm. We had never previously visited Mancos Mesa but had long been interested in backpacking there. But what about archaeology? The Ultimate Roommate Compatibility Test: Backpacking the Oregon Coast Trail, 9 Hiking Adventures to Make Your Spring Pure Gold, 9 Spectacular Early Spring Backpacking Trips You Can Do Right Now, 11 Hikes to Stay Cool During the Dog Days of Summer, Grand Canyon Hikes: 11 Trails to Add to Your Bucket List, The Best San Diego Hikes for Your Next Coastal Adventure. After .7 mile, reach Turkey Pen Ruin, which opens onto views of slickrock pourovers (watch for waterfalls after a rain). 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