Across Utah!Jamal David Green’s excellent and extensive website describing his crossings of Utah with lots of Hayduke overlap. Also includes a superb Hayduke section. A treasure trove of information- nice videos too!
Grand Enchantment Trail Brett Tucker has created many other backpacking adventures in the south west including the G.E.T, the Northern New Mexico Loop and the Sky Islands Traverse. Each has a mapset and planning pack-superb!
Andrew Skurka Hayduke map bundle and resources pack.
Nicolas C Barth Sublime Hayduke photos and well described alternates with maps.
Michael Kelsey’s guidebooks These are wonderful guidebooks covering a lifetime of adventure on the Colorado plateau. ‘Canyon Hiking Guide to the Colorado Plateau’ is a must for inspiration and researching alternates but the others are great too!
Edward Abbey Writer, environmental campaigner and inspiration behind the Hayduke Trail.
Grand Canyon permits You will need a permit for your Hayduke hike through Grand Canyon National Park…..
Arizona TrailThe Hayduke makes use of this trail for around 60 miles in Northern Arizona. The AZT continues all the way south through the state of Arizona for 800 miles.
Arlette LaanSpring 2017 Westbound Lovely photos and descriptions. Hiking with Prana and Haiku. Makes you want to get out there and hike!
Treehugger and BlisterfreeSpring 2016 Westbound Two experienced desert hikers set out westbound March 31st from Arches NP and another excellent journal. Interesting comparison of Grand Enchantment Trail with Hayduke from the GET’s creator.
Carrot QuinnSpring 2016 Westbound From the author of ‘Thru Hiking will break your heart’ – Carrot and Dan’s 2016 hike.
Drop-n-rollSpring 2016 Westbound The two Kate’s hike in 2016 – including packrafts and a return to Moab by bike!
Katherine CookSpring 2015 Westbound Superb account of a daring hike taking in many variations into wild terrain.
Erin Saver ‘Wired’ Spring 2015 Westbound Wired’s blog partly with Katherine and partly with Gavin. Another great trip account. Wired’s web site has lots of hiker info plus a link to a Hayduke introductory article written for Trail Magazine.
Niki and TennyAutumn 2014 Westbound Nice blog and photos.
Lisa Curry and ‘KCop’ Autumn 2014Westbound An enjoyable read of a recent hike on the trail in autumn 2014 with dog Shilo!
Spiderwoman and The BrawnAutumn 2014 Westbound Lots of detailed Hayduke tips in word document format.
Brian and MartinaSpring 2014 Westbound This site! Our blog, photos and hiker tips including alternatives such as yellow rock and kayaking the Colorado from Moab to the Green River confluence.
Brian Tanzman ‘Buck30’Spring 2013 Westbound Excellent account of his successful Hayduke hike with Skittles including detailed hiker advice.
Rich Larson ‘Skittles’Spring 2013 Westbound Another excellent trail journal with Brian Tanzman.
DirtmongerSpring 2013Eastbound Part of a massive ‘Vagabond Trail’ hike including the Arizona, Hayduke and Grand Enchantment Trails.
Nicolas C BarthAutumn 2013 Westbound Sublime photos and alternates. Unlucky to be halted by a Grand Canyon park closure.
Pace and WhitefishSpring 2012 Westbound Nice trail journal from experienced hikers.
Cam HonanSpring 2012 Westbound Cam hiked westward on the Hayduke to the Grand Canyon south rim before continuing on the Arizona Trail and then the Grand Enchantment Trail to complete a ‘Southwestern Horseshoe’ route- sounds fun!
Ben MayberrySpring 2011Eastbound Part of a mega hike on the Arizona Trail, Hayduke, connection to the Continental Divide up to Canada to finish on the Great Divide Trail.
Sandra and Larry Taylor Spring 2011Eastbound Great blog of a Arizona and Hayduke Trail journey plus more!
Pony ExpressAutumn 2009Eastbound Enjoyable trail journal of Pony Express, Lindy and Sharon’s charity eastbound hike.
Andrew SkurkaSpring 2009 Westbound Early February start. Andrew created a Hayduke map bundle and resource as a result.
Whiptail and CaronSpring 2009 Westbound Nice blog and paddled the Colorado for a few days from Moab.
Dave and MichelleSpring 2009 Westbound Their first long backpack and another great journal.
Ryan Choi Spring 2008 Westbound A classic! Ryan’s descriptive account with Ben Deumling and heap’s of detours.
Justin LichterSpring 2008 Westbound ‘Trauma’ completed the first ever Pacific Crest Trail hike in winter 2014-15 with ‘Pepper’.
Mike CoronellaSpring 2005 Westbound Co-originator of the trail and co-author of the guidebook with fantastic exploration. Lots of trail updates on the website.
Brian Frankle Autumn 2005Eastbound The first continuous Hayduke hike- and a great account too!
We started by crossing of the Grand Canyon from the South Rim to the North Rim via the Bright Angel and North Kaibab trails. Then we succumbed to the heat of the canyon bottom at the end of May and missed out the western part of the Hayduke’s Grand Canyon traverse and instead skipped forward to finish with a sweltering hot hike through Zion National Park.
Section 12|Bright Angel Trail We enjoyed the mix of hiking up to South Rim on the South Kaibab Trail and then descending back to the Colorado River via the Bright Angel Trail. We dropped from the rim at about 4.45am to get some early hiking in before the heat of the day hit us and that worked out well. I think we made it to Phantom Ranch in the canyon bottom by 8am or so. It was already blisteringly hot in the sun by then though (26th May).
Section 12|28.1 Ribbon Falls are an oasis in the heat of the North Kaibab Trail. Our afternoon was spent in the shade and dipping in the falls before we felt it was safe to head on to Cottonwood Campground.
Zion
Below the East Fork drop off (chimney on the right of the picture)
Section 14|54.2 East Fork Virgin River. There is a drop off here and we followed the climb up a gulley on the left bank about 50 feet before the drop off. Then turn right (downstream) before dropping down a chimney between huge boulders back down to river level. We had to hand packs down this stretch to get through but it was ok (see pic on right). More details from’Across Utah’ website
Section 14|54.9 Once you negotiate the drop off, you have about 0.7 miles to go before the exit out of the East Fork. There is a canyon coming in from the right as a marker at this point and the exit route is straight ahead- a vegetated steep corner. It is a bit of a scrabble up the corner with the easier line heading out right away from the corner- but if you have got this far it will be fine! There are some rock slabs at the top of the vegetation and then the odd cairn and trail heading north. ‘Across Utah’ website describes a better sounding alternate
Section 14|57.4 There was a good trail heading up the draw to the narrow saddle. This has now more use than described in the Hayduke guidebook from hikers returning back north to the road from canyon trips.
Section 14|58.7 Confirming Li’s map statement that there are many deep stagnant pools in the slickrock as you approach the road.
Section 14|65.6 Stave Spring. This was as good as dry when we passed by (2nd June) and it looked like it dries up in the heat of summer – but you only have another 4 miles to Weeping Wall and Zion Canyon!
Arizona State Line to South Rim Grand Canyon A hike through the high level forested Kaibab plateau then a drop down into the Grand Canyon and a superb journey along the Colorado River to our resupply by climbing to the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park.
Kaibab Plateau- This is quite forested with limited views but does allow quick miles. We enjoyed Jacob’s Lake with its bakery though and met some other hikers on the Arizona Trail heading northward which was nice as you are out on your own for much of the Hayduke!
Section 10|57.7 You can reach the North Rim lookout tower that Edward Abbey worked at for four seasons by following the AZT south from here just before the park boundary at mile 57.9. Its probably about half an hour hike one way to the tower. You can climb up but we couldn’t see a way into the lookout hut at the top.
Section 11|1.0 We camped here on the small plateau between the two Nankoweap Trailheads. It is dry but with great views and makes for a quick start down to the Colorado River in the morning.
Section 11|2.0 The Nankoweap Trail was easier than we had read about (at least when descending early in the morning as we did). I wonder whether the trail has been improved recently as it was pretty straightforward rough narrow trail all the way down- and of course very spectacular! The increase in temperature for us on the last of the descent to Nankoweap Canyon was formidable! We arrived at the canyon and its stream around mid-day on 20th May and measured a temperature in the high 30’s Celcius.
Section 11|7.8 Nankoweap Canyon had good flowing water and shady cottonwoods- lovely!
Section 11|10.6 Nankoweap Graneries are wonderful- it takes about half an hour to hike from the river. There are probably a few more use trails around here now than mapped as the rafting companies seem to stop here and climb up.
Section 11|19.2 Colorado River crossing. We waited a couple of hours before spotting a rafting company and they kindly gave us a lift across. There is a perfect little shady cave under the tapeats rock layers here to wait out for rafts just back from the beach and you can dip in the river here too. To be honest we could happily have sat in the shade all afternoon chilling out!
Section 11|21.0 As reported by Dave and Michelle in 2009 , there is a camp spot by the river about a mile on from the Little Colorado crossing. It is just at the ‘Y’ of Grand Canyon on the Skurka and Li maps and there is a small use trail down from the Beamer Trail to the river. We too found the going tough in the Grand Canyon compared with the mapped mileages!
Section 11|37.5 The Escalante Trail is one wild trip and a highlight of the Grand Canyon for us! There is a good campsite at the mouth of Escalante Canyon with easy access to the Colorado and water.
The water sources are rather critical between Section 11|39.7, Red Canyon, and climbing up to the South Rim (or crossing the Colorado at Ghost Ranch). The trail heads up away from the river onto the Tonto benches which are arid, dry and super exposed to the sun.
Section 11|45.4 Hance Creek was flowing well (23rd May).
Section 12|1.0 Cottonwood Creek south was flowing – at least with a trickle. But enough for us to stop, camp nearby and fill up on water. Cottonwoods around here for shade too (as per the name!). We didn’t check the northern source as we passed by in the dark.
Section 12|6.6 Grapevine Creek. There was no water at the trail crossing but we split and searched for a while. Martina found a spring upstream and I found some dirty water in potholes in slickrock downstream.
Section 12|12.0 Boulder Creek. Dry, but we didn’t search upstream from the trail.
Section 12|14.9 Lonetree Creek. Yes- water in a ‘strong trickle’ and small pools. This was an important one for us (24th May)!
Section 12|17.7 Cremation Creek. No water here, not even close, it looked bone dry.
For once we left Highway 95 for the Henry Mountains following the actual Hayduke Trail! However we deviated round the mountain summits due to blizzard conditions unfortunately. Entering Escalante from Lower Muley Twist canyon we took another major alternate as mapped by Li Brannfors via Stevens Canyon. Highly recommended and see below for details…
Section 5|10.0 Crescent Creek had flowing water but it was quite silty due to what seems to be recent mining and heavy vehicle activity in this area. It was still drinkable once treated however.
Henry Mountains lower alternate Why Do it? To avoid bad weather on the summit ridge. It was blowing hard and snowing for us here and after an attempt at climbing onto the summit ridge we retreated back to skirt the tops from the south on jeep tracks on this lower route. This is still a scenic trip but it would be better to follow the Hayduke over the tops if you can.
How? We just followed Li’s maps on good jeep trails although they became a bit sticky with mud from the melting snow!
Airplane Spring at alternate mile 8.9 has some broken faucets in a grassy clearing on the right when arriving from the north. The water is in a tank a short distance further down (300m?), visible from, and just to the right of the jeep track.
Back on the Hayduke… Section 5|31.3 Tarantula Mesa#2 had goodish water (see picture).
Tarantula Mesa had some of the trickiest navigation of the trail- for us at least…..
Section 5|33.9 There is a cairn marking the descent from the rim and once you find the cairn the scramble down is fine (see banner picture).
Section 5|35.8 The stock trail is a bit vague to locate so keep your eye’s peeled around here.
Section 5|37.1 Canyon Junction springs were flowing but a little mucked up by cattle. We didn’t take from here, but we would have drunk the water if necessary.
‘Below Tarantula 2’ alternate Why Do it? A shorcut saving 2 miles and interesting cross country travel.
How? Section 5|37.1 Follow Nicolas Barth’s Below Tarantula 2 directions. From the spring though, you need to hike up the wash on the Hayduke for maybe 200m before turning west-left up the side draw.
The terrain is a little hard to navigate and I turned the GPS on for an hour or so through here. There is a scramble up a cliff band at the end but if you have made it this far on the Hayduke it will be a ‘breeze’! This is a small alternate but thanks to Nicolas for posting it (and many more) and we rather enjoyed it!
Back on the Hayduke…… Section 5|40.4 the approach and descent into Swap Canyon is another tricky navigation area through rugged rocky territory. The scramble down is short and has cairns though.
Section 5|42.0 There are 2 sources marked on the Skurka/Li maps here. We found the 2nd to be better and pretty good quality water in a big pothole with flow beyond that. There were some historic signs of cattle around but we didn’t see any – all in all this was a good source for us.
Section 6|1.0 Lower Muley Twist There was water in slickrock pockets in the first half mile of Lower Muley Twist. We didn’t see any other water until Muley Tanks at Section 6|12.5
Lower Muley Twist is a wonderful hike with some of the best alcoves ever!
Section 6|12.5 Muley Tanks A classic water source! Just to clarify the location. It is across from the large brick-coloured dome as has been described, but it is across the wide valley to the west at least 300m away from the wash and at the foot of the slickrock rising to the west. We missed the old wagon track to the pools and had to backtrack to find it.
Halls Creek-Stevens Canyon alternate Why Do it? This is a major alternate which has been mapped by Li Brannfors and for us was a candidate for the best hiking of our entire Hayduke trip. Stevens Canyon in the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument area is a wonderful, scenic wild place with only faint signs of others and pretty good water. It rejoins the Hayduke at the Escalante River near Stevens Arch (Section 6|58.5), leaving only 1.5 miles following the Escalante River before exiting for Coyote Gulch.
The main Hayduke would be great too but we didn’t fancy the full 25.6 miles of Escalante wading and bushwacking! The short section of 1.5 miles of the Escalante we did, admittedly at 6-7am, had knee deep, fast flowing, frigid water.
Jamal’s Across Utah! website has an excellent description of the Steven’s Canyon section (in both directions) along with a treasure trove of other information including blogs of his trip through here. Nicolas Barth’s route via the normal Hayduke through Moody Canyon, around 5 miles of the Escalante and then exiting the Hayduke via Scorpion Gulch also looks superb. If you are interested in exploring the almost unlimited possibilities of the Escalante area then I recommend Steve Allen’s Loop Hike book. Having visited the canyons here in 2004, this is an area we would love to return to again!
How? Section 6|17.9 Leave the Hayduke at the foot of the Red Slide and keep hiking down Halls Creek.
Halls Creek has plenty of flowing water after the first few miles of dry wash all the way down to the route exit before Lake Powell.
The route crosses from Halls Creek into Stevens Canyon before Lake Powell by climbing south west over the slickrock ridge of the waterpocket fold. This is the old Baker Trail which is cairned on the way up but we lost the cairns after about 20 minutes and then cross countried up and down the undulating slickrock to the summit of the ridge at 5,658 feet. We couldn’t locate any signs of the descent into Stevens so pretty much just dropped into the first gully to the south of the summit. After some down climbing we eventually made it into the upper Stevens Canyon wash.
Upper Stevens Canyon had many good pools of water in the slick rock.
In general the route either follows the wash bottom or traverses benches on either side to avoid unclimbable drop offs. You have to be alert for cairns and faint trails which mark the entry and exits from the wash but Li Brannfor’s maps show the line of the route well.
After about 2 miles from the summit you need to leave the wash on the north side on a faint trail (cairns) which winds north then descends steeply back south with some scrambling back into the wash.
There is some fantastic slickrock hiking on the benches but be careful on the boulders. Brian had a freezer sized rock roll-over onto him after hopping over boulders and narrowly escaped from it!
Lower Stevens Canyon has a flowing river with good water which you will have to wade on occasion.
We saw a fair amount of what we thought was poison ivy in the area around the grotto.
In the last mile or so before the junction with the Escalante River there are some great riverside canyon camping spots.
Back on the Hayduke…. Coyote Gulch had great flowing water -as well as being very beautiful! – and other hikers!!
A short section but including two great highlights; Bryce Canyon National Park itself and ‘The Wave’, both via Hayduke alternates.
Bryce Canyon- In 2014 the park authority required a bear cannister to be taken for overnights in the park. If you are following the guidebook Hayduke then this might not pose a problem as you could probably just camp outside the park. But for us, hiking the extension via Cannonville, Tropic and the Bryce Canyon amphitheatre, this seemed a bit awkward, as not only would we have to carry the cannister but we would have to return it back to wherever we got it from.
We decided to hike the Bryce Canyon ‘Under the rim trail’ by dayhikes and used a connecting trail (Whiteman) to hike onto the park road and hitched back to Bryce campsite. It worked for us but might not suit everyone.
The ‘Under the rim trail’ provided some great hiking, like the Chinese Wall on the Continental Divide but much more scenic! The amphitheatre area of Bryce Canyon is drop dead beautiful, but is pretty crowded whereas no-one seems to go on the ‘Under the rim trail’.
Section 9|21.6 Riggs Spring had water (12th May).
Section 9|31.2 Adams Spring had good water 20m right/west of the trail piped into an old bathtub (see pic).
We hiked from Adams Spring to Highway 89 and then hitched into Kanab so didn’t check any of the other water sources.
Section 9|50.9-58.5 Upper Buckskin Gulch There was no water in the bed of Buckskin Gulch, just some quicksand.
It is dry until Larkum Tank at Section 10|3.0 and even further if you visit ‘The Wave’. Although someone kindly stopped their jeep to offer us water near the Arizona stateline campsite but we didn’t need it!
Section 9|63.2 At the junction with Coyote Wash to Wire Pass (nice petroglyphs at ground level) we left our packs and sidetracked down Buckskin Gulch for an hour or so and it was well worth it to see a little of this acclaimed slot canyon. Maybe we will return…..
Nicolas Barth did a great looking complete alternate down Buckskin and the Paria and back to the Hayduke on the Kaibab plateau in a loop and has guidance on his site.
The Wave – Coyote Buttes alternate Why Do it? The Hayduke passes so close to this iconic landmark set in an amazing landscape it would be a shame to miss it. Defended by a rather impenetrable BLM permit system though!
How? Section 9|63.7 We visited ‘The Wave’ in Coyote Buttes from just before Wire Pass. It was pretty easy to find although I think the BLM staff remove any cairns.
After ‘The Wave’, we then hiked out south, cross countrying up Sand Cove over ‘The Notch’ and then onto the jeep road in Arizona which can be easily followed north to the stateline campsite. The campsite has no water but I guess there would be scope for ‘yogi-ing’ some if desperate. The route over ‘The Notch’ required some scrambling and on the descent westwards we picked up trail after a while. A point to note is that the descent trail crosses a wash and climbs its bank on the south side before heading back down westward. The wash itself terminates in a steep drop off so is best avoided.
The notes here are a bit sparse but include random info I wrote down on the way…
Section 8|2.9 Round Valley Draw narrows were great but had no water (5th May).
Section 8|11.2 Hackberry Canyon’s first water was here with small pools. Good flow down to Cottonwood Creek at Section 8|20.8.
Yellow Rock alternate Why Do it? This is a great little hike up above the canyons which we loved. It breaks up a long Hayduke hike following the bottom of Hackberry and Paria Canyons by climbing up onto the slickrock plateau above for extensive views and the best colourful rock this side of ‘The Wave’. About the same length as the Hayduke but maybe an hour or so longer. We got the idea from this Falcon guidebook.
How? Section 8|21.1 Starts 0.3 miles south of Cottonwood Trailhead. Section 8|24.8 Ends about 1 mile south of the Paria townsite.
(Westbound) Exit Hackberry Canyon to Cottonwood Creek where there is trailhead. Follow the creek down for about 0.3 miles to a box canyon on the right with a trail and cairns.
Follow the trail into the box and up the right (north) slope to the bottom of the very obvious yellow dome.
You can cross westward, south of the dome on slickrock but climbing to the top is a must (nice colours and views back up Hackberry).
Descend down south from the dome on swirly yellow slickrock to the large natural cairn.
From the cairn drop west then up slickrock to a north-south ridge. Follow a faint trail northward for 0.3 miles then it heads west, skirting round a small dome.
Keep on the trail westwards although it gets very faint for a while until it improves again to a junction with a north-south trail.
Turn left (south) and follow the good trail down through pinyon juniper. It eventually opens out to great views above the Paria. From there the trail drops down to the river level itself.
Back on the Hayduke…. Paria River Section 8|30.1 Kitchen Canyon The water quality in the main river is pretty grim- silty and cow trashed. We took water from small fresh spring seeps about 1/3 mile up Kitchen Canyon which were ok but I am sure some of the other springs would be better.
Bull Valley Gorge – Willis Creek alternate Why Do it? The approach to Bull Valley Gorge has a big mountain, wild, feel to it and then the slot itself is grand, long and with some good scrambling.
In short, an excellent little diversion. There is even a car jammed in the slot at the far west end.
Willis Creek is much more gentle and relaxed although again within some fine canyon scenery. The two are connected by a dirt road- ‘Skutumpah Road’. It’s a bit longer than the main Hayduke alternate following Sheep Creek towards Tropic though. You could also use Bull Valley Gorge as a way to connect with the standard Hayduke route into Bryce Canyon – lots of choices!
How? Section 8|42.9 Split from Sheep Creek and take the left fork of Bull Valley Gorge heading west.
After about 1.5 miles, just before the gorge trends north, on your left/south there is a deep pothole in the slickrock full of water (see pic).
At the west end of the gorge, climb out on the north side, then follow a trail back right -east to the dirt road. Follow this ‘Skutumpah Road’ generally north eastwards to the Willis Creek trailhead. Nice spacious views to Bryce and Powell Point to the north.
If heading back to the common (and recommended) alternate of Bryce Canyon amphitheatre via Tropic, then turn right and head down Willis Creek back to Sheep Creek.
We pretty much diverted from the guide book Hayduke all the way from before the town of Moab (Section 1|23.6) to Poison Spring (Section 4|27.1) just before the crossing of Highway 95 and the hitch into the town of Hanksville, Utah. Our route here was split into two sections; a kayak down the Colorado River, followed by a hike away north of the river following the Happy Canyons.
Colorado River kayak alternate Why Do it? A few weeks before we started we decided to incorporate some kayaking into our Hayduke trip by paddling down the Colorado River for some 66 miles or so. Overall this was a wonderful little adventure in itself. The kayaking down the Colorado was easily the most relaxing part of our journey as the water carries you downstream at maybe 1 mile an hour without any effort! By arranging to rent sea kayaks (from Tag-a-Long expeditions in Moab) and also coordinating with Tag-a-Long to collect the kayaks from us, it meant that we could continue hiking on without returning to town. However it did cost us money to rent kayaks and pay for their collection, so is definitely more expensive than the standard Hayduke route here.
The red canyon walls are an ever changing beautiful sight and the scenery gradually got more dramatic and wilder as we headed downriver away from Moab. Seeing only two other groups in open canoes in four days on the river made for a superbly quiet trip although there was also a daily tourist motor boat travelling the river. It was tranquil journey, contrasting with the hiking, and recommended if you fancy even more variety on the Hayduke!
The river is mainly flat but there is one short section of rapids (The Slide) before the Green River confluence. We heard a roar from the rapids from a fair distance upstream which caused a little shiver up our spines but they turned out to be short lived at about 30m and pretty easy to paddle through in sea kayaks. Our main excitement was the swirling eddies after the rapids.
Most days we got out the kayaks for a couple of hours and hiked away from the Colorado River just to explore. We saw a couple of natural arches at Corona Arch from Golden Bar, picked up some fresh drinking water and a dip at Lockhart Canyon near to the normal Hayduke route at mile 58.4 and hiked up to the top of a wonderful gooseneck on the Colorado above the Green River confluence. There are lots of Native American sites to discover and we saw some cool petroglyphs.
How? Our plan was to paddle for four days to a place called Spanish Bottom a few miles downstream from the confluence of the mighty Green and Colorado rivers. This is roughly the same distance as hiking the Hayduke to nearby Needles Outpost. Setting off paddling from Moab dock just north of the Highway 191 bridge over the Colorado (Section 1|23.6), meant that we had a continuous journey as we had already hiked to that point and then into the town of Moab.
The water in the Colorado is silty, murky and cappuccino in colour as it drains the sandy, desert plateau. We used this water for our drinking supply but by taking care to let the silt in the water to settle to the bottom of our containers overnight, then treating with aquamira chlorine dioxide tablets, we didn’t have any trouble.
Alum salts are worth considering also, they accelerate the coagulation of the silty water and mean that you can separate the water from the silt after a couple of hours rather than waiting til morning. On the downside we got stomach cramps which we thought was from the Alum though so didn’t make much use of them (cramps possibly caused by using too much Alum and I am sure others could make the salts work without stomach problems!).
You need a permit to paddle down the Colorado River in Canyonlands National Park but that is easy to obtain for a fee and I don’t think there is a limit to the numbers of permits. We also had an extra backcountry permit for Canyonlands NP to cover hiking away from the river and camping in the park for a night. A park warden came out before we launched to check that we had enough safety equipment and that we would abide by environmental rules- carry out waste, no naked fires (we had to take a barbecue foil in case we decided to have a fire – we didn’t).
Also you need to carry a portable toilet which the kayak rental company supplied and (thankfully!) carried away when they collected the kayaks. We were given throw bags to aid in the rescue of someone falling in the water- as a bonus these make the most luxurious camp sitting mats and were a real treat to us hikers!
Spanish Bottom was our stopping point on the north shore of the Colorado, but you could easily finish across the river on the south side at lower Red Lake Canyon. There is a trail for 3.3 miles up canyon from here connecting with the Hayduke at Section 3|6.7 in the Needles area of Canyonlands NP. The north side was our choice as we were attracted to the continuation hike from there.
We got by with Canyonlands Trails Illustrated maps and our Hayduke maps but the best map for the river is this one from Belknap which we probably should have invested in….
You can get up to date information of the Colorado river flow levels from USGS river flow.
From Spanish Bottom we had arranged to have the kayaks picked up by the kayak rental company Tag-a-Long expeditions in Moab. That worked out well and I recommend Tag-a-Long – they were very helpful. Although renting kayaks and having them collected down river is more expensive than simply hiking! We carried a total of 9 days food with us in the kayaks to allow us to continue hiking for 4-5 days from Spanish Bottom on the north side of the Colorado River.
Maze – Happy Canyon alternate Why Do it? This route takes a much more direct line from Canyonlands National Park to the Hayduke at Poison Springs just west of the Dirty Devil river crossing (Section 4|27.1) and was convenient for us as we had a much later start to the Hayduke than is ideal (we started 13th April but a month earlier might have been better). It allowed us to catch up some time but is also a splendid expedition in its own right through some spectacular and varied country. Highlights included hiking round the edge of the Maze, the Golden Stairs, the wild subtle beauty of the Happy Canyons, the exceptional slot of Happy Canyon just before it reaches the Dirty Devil River, the petrified logs on the west cliff sides of the Dirty Devil and reasonable water sources….
How? From Spanish Bottom take water to cover about 5-6 hours to Lou’s Spring and climb west steeply away from the river on the well made Spanish Bottom trail.
This link ‘Utah Trails’ gives clear instructions through to Lou’s Spring and the Golden Stairs trailhead along with interesting background- it’s a great hike.
Hike through the Dollhouse on jeep tracks.
At the west end of the Dollhouse camping area, find unsignposted Ernie’s Country east trailhead and then follow the good hiking trail south west down to the meadow, Main Flat.
Clell’s Spring had water when we passed but we waited to camp and take water at Lou’s.
Lou’s Spring is reliable and by following the description in ‘Utah Trails’. It is easy to find but remember it is off the trail so stay alert!
From Lou’s climb north west on trail to the jeep track of the Flint Trail.
Head south west down the Flint Trail for a mile or so then take the ‘Golden Stairs’ trail to the right (north) to climb through the cliff band above you.
You cross a great narrow rock ridge to arrive at the Golden Stairs Trailhead. From there follow jeep tracks south west on the Flint Trail, firstly over flattish terrain then steeply up to the plateau between Flint Flat and Lands End- we saw plenty of people here- well it was Easter week.
Follow good jeep tracks south through pinyon juniper.
Turn right at the signpost to Happy Canyon and at the campsite sign further on pointing left, go straight on following the track which is blocked off by juniper wood.
Keep going a short distance down to the road end and the descent route is cairned going down left into Happy Canyon south fork. You will be entering some really remote country here…
This old mining track zig-zags down into the south fork until joining the wash itself. It provides a good descent with great views although it hasn’t been maintained and is a bit bouldery in places.
The track follows benches through colourful Chinle rock formations before descending steeply down to Happy Canyon south fork wash. We found good pools of water in the wash here.
Now follow the wash with easy navigation down for a long way (25 miles?) into Happy Canyon itself, past ‘The Pinnacle’, to the entrance of Happy Canyon slot. The going is pleasant but with deep sand in parts and is exposed to the sun so could prove very tough in the heat I would think. There were more pools of water intermittently along the wash but I reckon they would dry up later in the season.
The slot is wonderfully scenic and after a short, maybe 6 foot slickrock descent, had little technical difficulties. We found no water here.
Exit the slot and cross the Dirty Devil River. This was an easy ankle deep splash for us but the Devil can live up to it’s name and rise quickly so watch out! The Dirty Devil water gauge provides data on water levels. We camped and took water from the Devil with no ill effects after treating with aquamira. This is the last until Poison Spring probably 5-6 hours away.
You now have to climb the west slopes above the Dirty Devil. We hiked north a few hundred meters and then picked up a faint trail through the first steep band and followed the odd cairn and trail straight up to an excellent old mining track contouring on a bench southwards in general. There are great views from the mining track to the Dirty Devil and petrified logs abound.
The track eventually swings roughly westward above the Hayduke in Poison Spring canyon and joins it at Black Jump (Section 4|25.4).
Some water in the wash above Black Jump but there is better at Poison Spring.
Section 4|27.1 Poison Spring is about 20m to the right of the jeep track at the foot of the wingate canyon wall with cottonwoods nearby. You need to be careful to keep an eye out for it is hidden from the road by shrubbery- we were alerted to it by hearing a faint dripping.
From here we followed the Hayduke and Poison Spring canyon out to Highway 95. The road is quiet but we got a lift quickly into the small town of Hanksville to the north which provided a welcome stopover for us. See the hand drawn street map of the town in the pic. We stayed at the Whispering Sands and would stay there again. The Slick Rock Grill is pretty fine too.
The next day we woke up to sunny snow cover and frosty conditions. Fortifying ourselves with breakfast at Best Westerns (hash browns, eggs, toast and pancakes) we were ready to take on our hike again.
We negotiated a lift back to our trail and were soon hiking on trails in the crisp post storm air at 9000 feet. Dropping down from Rainbow Point to ‘Riggs Spring’ brought us below the snow line to warmer air and lush green scenery of Ponderosa, White Fir, Douglas Fir, Manzaneta, Juniper and Pinyon.
Heading on south out of the national park we hiked on jeep tracks through more open but still pleasant country. We headed away from the jeep tracks into Bullrush Gorge which started as a dirt banked dry river but turned nicely into a steep sided gorge, but this time with broken sides and trees growing from the walls. Deciduous trees here included oak and mahogany. It’s amazing how every canyon has it’s own character.
It’s always cheering to find water and Adam’s Spring didn’t disappoint- water flowed clear and healthily into an old bathtub just off the trail.
Our campsite was a mile or so south from here amidst some great sandstone tepees and we scrambled up the rock to have a splendid dinner amidst rock and ponderosa. Excellent day.
Heading south from Rainbow Point
Park Wash camp
13th May Park Wash to Highway 89 and hitch to Kanab 19 miles
Another cold clear frosty morning and we headed off at 7.40 with the aim of reaching the highway early enough to hitch a ride into the town of Kanab.
Hiking here was down a sandy bottomed wash to No Man’s Mesa. The wash had maybe 10 feet high dirt banks topped with sagebrush and there were lots of cows around. The views to the surrounding white vertical cliffs were great though. After a couple of hours we hit a windmill (not working) and better jeep tracks following a terrace above a wash. The valley was filled with a carpet of green grass and sage. BLM have signs marking restoration work done here which looked like it is having a positive effect.
Making good time on the jeep tracks, we meet two guys looking at artifacts from Indian settlements for BLM. They agreed to give us a lift into Kanab which we welcomed as we thought it might be a difficult and lonely hitch out here!
Kanab is a cool town but with a slightly pre-season feel to it. We checked in at the small Travelers Motel on the east side of town and it was a great place for us -sitting outside the motel munching bagels happily into the evening!
Brian striding towards town…
14th May Buckskin Gulch 16 miles
We get a ride back out along Highway 89 in the morning and are soon hiking down Buckskin Gulch in much warmer temperatures now. The upper gulch is all beige limestone with marine fossils a-plenty.
We popped out to the dirt road of Buckskin Gulch trailhead. It was broad to start from there but with lovely red walls and swirly layers of sedimentary rock. We were back in the familiar (and favorite) red gold and orange sandstone layers of Navajo, Kayenta and Wingate. The heat was intense now in the afternoon and we lunch in the shade under a juniper. Soon we are hiking down the narrow canyon of Buckskin itself and reach a junction where the Hayduke heads off to ‘Wire Pass’.
There are interesting sheep petroglyphs here. We drop our backpacks and head further down Buckskin Gulch ( a canyon famous for its continuous 12 mile slot and it’s beauty) for an explore. Returning back after a couple of hours of amazing canyon shifting light and reflected light on steep red walls, we vowed to return someday to do the full Buckskin and lower Paria Canyon traverse down to the Colorado river or as a long alternate loop of the Hayduke.
We set up a camp nearby after carrying water from town for today and most of tomorrow.
Sheep petroglyphs
Buckskin Gulch
15th May Buckskin Gulch to Arizona Trail meadow 21 miles
An alarm at 5.30 am went off this morning ready for a visit to a beautiful sandstone area called ‘The Wave’ in the early morning. We walked amongst glorious sculpted sandstone slabs and spend a relaxing hour or so wandering around the scenery. Fantastic and it was nice to enjoy it with no-one else around.
Coyote Buttes near the Arizona / Utah border
Coyote Buttes
Near The Wave
From ‘The Wave’ we continued up valley on sand, slabs and rocks to reach a notch on a rocky ridge. The descent westwards down from there was a bit difficult and we had to retrace our steps on one occasion to get round a dry water pour off cliff. Lower down we find a trail and relaxed as we dropped down to a dirt road.
Descending back down from ‘The Wave’ -Coyote Buttes
A guy in a pickup stopped to ask us if we needed water, which was very kind of him, but as it happened, we were carrying about the right amount now to get us to our next mapped water source 2-3 miles away on good trail. We didn’t want to carry any extra weight so reluctantly said no to the water.
One mile of the dirt road in hot, dusty conditions and we reached the Arizona/Utah border at the end point of another more famous walking route- the Arizona Trail. There is a campsite here with shade, tables, benches and a privy(!) but no water and we had a late morning rest here in the shade.
Around 11.30 we set off south on the Arizona Trail and marvelled at the well constructed easy path we were now hiking on as a contrast to the rougher normal way on the Hayduke. An actual trail to hike on with sign posts and no bushwhacking -walking was easy now for a while. The trail climbed and the heat picked up even more though with little shelter from the low lying desert scrub.
It was a relief to locate our next water source – a big open tank in the pic below- the black dots are mosquito larvae – mostly – which Martina deftly filtered out through her neckerchief.
Taking water to do us the rest of today and tomorrow morning to get us to the small resort of Jacob’s Lake, we gradually climbed into high desert forest of the Kaibab plateau on this good trail but with limited views. We were both going well and are hiking fast into the evening although it hurt a bit in the hot conditions on hard packed trail. Interesting to see two raven nests with chicks fairly low down near to the ground in juniper trees and to meet two new types of lizard we hadn’t seen before.
16th May Arizona Trail meadow to Jacob Lake 14 miles
Brian’s legs were covered in big welts from insect bites in the morning which were super itchy- he must have got them from being bitten in the evening at Coyote Buttes. We were up early again though and hiking by 7.15 am to catch some cool morning air.
A rare thing happened- we met another hiker at 7.30 am- he was doing the Arizona Trail but unfortunately wasn’t chatty so we pass on. Given that we have hardly met any other hikers on this trip it would have been great to exchange hiking experiences with someone else, but – oh well.
We soon enter into tall ponderosa pine forest at about 7,000 feet which provided some shade and morning air is cooler then yesterday’s hot miles so we made good time. Brian’s itching bites got worse and it seemed a bit of an allergic reaction so we resolved to put our head’s down to make it quickly to Jacob Lake. We can then tried and hitch back into Kanab to get to a pharmacy – we also hopefully have new shoes arriving at the post office there.
We hit Highway 89A at about 11.15 and hiked the road up to Jacob Lake. Picked up a lift from a Texan couple heading to a Mormon wedding in St George, Utah who drop us off in the small town of Fredonia where we got another lift the final 7 miles to Kanab by a Mormon WiFi engineer. Thanks everyone for the lifts and we enjoyed chatting and finding out about Arizona/Utah.
The temperature plummeted overnight and in the morning there was ice all over the tent. Temperature differences in the desert are mind boggling. We had a slow start before shuffling off in the cold sun on a dirt road through pinyon-juniper to Willis Creek trailhead. Although only a dirt road the panoramic views in the clear air to horizons lined with crisp new snow were superb.
At Willis Creek we headed down the mellow canyon eastward back to the main Hayduke route in Sheep Creek. The sun started warming us and we stopped to dry out the tent and sleeping gear soaking up the warm rays.
Hiking up Sheep Creek the canyon opened up but the clear post rainstorm air made everything look lovely this morning.
Willis Creek
Crisp air in Upper Sheep Creek
We soon hit jeep trails and roads and headed north to the town of Cannonville. We had left a food package for ourselves here a few days ago and were happy to collect that and book into the motel here for a night. There was a grocery at the motel and the nearby KOA campground had a great selection of Uinta brewery beers – enough for us to have a veggie Mexican meal outside the motel!
9th May Cannonville-Tropic-Bryce Canyon National Park campsite 18 miles
The official Hayduke route bypasses Bryce Canyon National Park (or at least the most famous part of it) so we decided to continue north and west into the park on a longer alternate.
A jeep track led from the town of Tropic to the National Park and then we were on trails from there. Bryce looked like NOTHING else on this planet. We followed the Queens Garden trail up through the magical ‘hoodoos’ (pinnacles of rock) onto the rim of the escarpment to where there is road access and lots and lots of people. After meandering around a national park campsite that is designed for cars and not hikers we eventually were able to book into the campsite and have some food outside the little grocery store cafe nearby.
Later on in the day we followed some more scenic park trails – the Navajo and Peek-a-boo. The crowds died down into the evening but the light was lower and the hoodoos looked even more vivid. Back to the tent and the luxury of a picnic table for a late dinner plus beers, biscuits, peanuts and crisps- great.
Bryce Canyon
Bryce Canyon
Ground squirrel in Bryce
Bryce Canyon
10th May Bryce Under the Rim Trail 21 miles
A mild complication of being in the national park was that there is a rule that we need to have bear canisters to protect our food when backcountry camping. Unfortunately we don’t have a means of getting a canister or if we did, returning it back, as we will be hiking south from here. We could have arranged to camp outside the park boundary – where the rules don’t apply – but we were not sure if the bears will conform to the rules though! But instead we decide to hike south from the park center where we are camped with daypacks and hitch back at the end of the day to the same campsite. Then hitch out the next day to carry on hiking where we will be able to camp the next night outside the park.
First though we had a luxury breakfast at our picnic table with real milk, yogurt and grapefruits. A nice couple from Michigan parked next to us gave us the grapefruits. They are ‘snow birds’ who have spent 6 winter months in Arizona’s ‘Sun City’ before travelling back to spend the summer in Michigan.
We set off with light backpacks along the Bryce canyon rim to Bryce point which has a wonderful panoramic view of the hoodoos. We then descended a wonderful trail through colorful clay and gravel beds onto the ‘Under the rim’ trail, soon reaching an area called the ‘Hat Shop’ -lots of pinnacles at the cliff edge with limestone boulders perched on top.
The trail was excellent, reminiscent of the Pacific Crest Trail in southern California. Lots of ups and downs, zig-zagging over ridges extending out from the pink cliffs of the rim edge. And then looking up to the escarpment it was like a better version of the Continental Divide Trail’s ‘Bob Marshall Wilderness’ section. Anyway – it was great.
Eventually we pulled off the trail to climb up the escarpment to the park road. We hoped to catch a shuttle bus here back to the campsite but none appeared so hitching was required. We lucked out and got a great ride back from another Michigan couple in the back of their pickup truck.
Around 10pm a storm came through. We were at 9,000 feet here and we got dumped on by a huge amount of snow through the night along with gale force winds. Our tent was sheltered to an extent in the tall ponderosa pines- but Martina spent most of the night shaking the tent to free it of snow- Brian slept through…
11th May Bryce 0 miles
We beat a retreat in the morning back to the park visitor centre then caught a bus 3 or 4 miles down to the town of Ruby’s Inn where we dried out in a motel.
A wee walk 