ZION & PARIA

BUCKSKIN GULCH

APRIL 2008, DECEMBER 2011 & NOVEMBER 2017

BUCKSKIN GULCH

WIRE PASS PETROGLYPHS

WIRE PASS

WIRE PASS ENTRANCE FROM ABOVE

BUCKSKIN GULCH

Buckskin Gulch is one of my favorite hikes in all of Southern Utah, and is claimed to be the world's longest slot canyon. Hiking the entire section requires a 21 mile walk with a car spot. I would love to do this sometime, however, as I have always been alone while visiting the area, I just walk up the canyon until I run out of time and turn back. To get to the Wire Pass Trailhead you will need to take a dirt road for several miles that comes south off State Road 89. The road is well maintained and I had no trouble making it in a Toyota Corolla.

From the Wire Pass Trailhead, you will follow a dry wash for about a mile through open desert before reaching Wire Pass. Wire Pass itself would be worth the hike. It is a very dark, narrow slot canyon connecting to Buckskin Gulch that contains several faint petroglyphs nears its confluence. They are so faint I actually missed them my on my first two visits. They are located to your right, fairly low on the wall just past the large alcove at the end of Wire Pass. Just past the petroglyphs, Buckskin Gulch begins. Turn to your right and follow it as long as you want.

Its a pretty amazing slot canyon. It stays pretty tight the whole way, and doesn't have any major obstacles. The ground has been mostly dry every time I've hiked it, though it can get muddy in sections. The first time I hiked Buckskin Gulch in April of 2008, I turned around after about three miles due to a large herd of cows that had wandered into the canyon and clogged it up. In December of 2011 I added it on to my hike to The Wave, as it only about a mile away.

I visited last in November of 2017 and was able to make it about seven miles in before turning around. There were a lot of people at the trailhead, but after about three miles I didn't see anybody else and got to have the Gulch to myself for a few hours. I'm embarrassed to say that I actually remember getting a little creeped out in some of the long, dark cave-like sections, and wishing the canyon would open up a bit more. But after turning around and realizing there were no wolves or mountain lions waiting around the corner for me, I was able to relax and enjoy the tight, dark sections.

THE WAVE

DECEMBER 2011

THE WAVE

FORMATIONS BETWEEN THE WAVE & WIRE PASS

LANDSCAPE NEAR THE WAVE

The Wave is an over-hyped rock formation on the Utah-Arizona border accessed via a 5 mile round-trip hike from the Wire Pass Trailhead. In my opinion, the BLM thinks its more special than it really is, so they only allow 20 people per day to visit it through a complicated lottery system. I've read that the success rate for the lottery is only around 14%, meaning most people aren't allowed to hike here.

While generally supportive of the BLM, I don't like it when they start blocking hikers from public lands. In my opinion, there are plenty of cool trails to go around in the southwest, so just let people hike them whenever they want, and they will naturally disperse when one spot gets too crowded. People who don't mind crowds can visit on popular weekends during the spring, while those who prefer solitude can hike the popular trails on weekday mornings in the winter.

Anyway, I decided to add The Wave to my hike into Buckskin Gulch over New Years weekend in 2011, and while it was nice, I couldn't understand what all the hype was about. I guess it just didn't touch me the way it touches other people. It feels like something that should be a side-trip along a trail to something cooler, and not a destination of its own.

KOLOB ARCH

MAY 2025

KOLOB ARCH

VIEW ALONG THE TRAIL TO KOLOB ARCH

BEAR TRAP CANYON

Kolob Arch is a hike I've been wanting to do for a long time. It's located in the much-less crowded Kolob Canyons section of Zion National Park accessed from the I-15 freeway just south of Cedar City. From the Lees Pass Trailhead, you will descend down into the canyon and walk about 6.5 miles to the turn-off to Kolob Arch on your left. It is about a half mile from the turn-off to a viewing area of the arch, where there is a sign saying it is not recommended to go beyond it. But to get a better view, you will need to follow an unmaintained trail past the viewing area that will make a steep climb up to a beautiful overview near the edge of a cliff that had a light waterfall coming down along the side of it while I was there. You can't get too close to the arch due to its location near the top of a very tall cliff, but it is still impressive. Due to how far away you are, it can be hard to appreciate it's ranking as the sixth largest arch in the world.

After visiting Kolob Arch, I decided to continue up La Verkin Creek another three miles or so to a waterfall in Bear Trap Canyon. The primary trail crosses La Verkin Creek shortly after Kolob Arch, but I got off track and just walked straight up the stream about a half mile before eventually finding a trail along La Verkin Creek that continued all the way to the turn off to Bear Trap Canyon. Bear Trap Canyon was a very pretty, peaceful canyon that eventually leads to a waterfall in a nice shady alcove. I had lunch here and then began the long walk back to Lees Pass. I was surprised I didn't see more people on this trail since I was hiking it on Memorial Day weekend, but the distance to the arch, and limited shade, probably keeps the numbers down a bit. I didn't see anyone on my walk from Kolob Arch to Bear Trap Canyon and back. It doesn't look like many people venture beyond Kolob Arch.

MAZE PETROGLYPHS

NOVEMBER 2017

MAZE PETROGLYPH

MAZE PETROGLYPHS

PETRIFIED WOOD NEAR THE MAZE PETROGLYPHS

DEER JUST BELOW THE PETROGLYPHS

The trail to the Maze Petroglyphs is located just a couple miles south of the Wire Pass Trailhead along House Rock Valley Road, and is accessible to low-clearance vehicles. The hike is approximately 1.5-miles round-trip through flat, open desert. I had only heard of these petroglyphs a couple days before I visited them in November of 2017 while looking for other hikes to do in the Buckskin Gulch area. Apparently this hike is starting to get popular as the BLM just recently created parking spaces along the side of the road and made a trail leading to the panel.

The reviews of the area I had read on-line were all done before the trail and parking area were made. As they are not marked, I didn't realize they were related to the Maze Petroglyph hike and drove past them. I ended up making my own way to the panel following rock features I had seen on-line, before finding the trail just before reaching the petroglyphs. The petroglyphs are impressive. Particularly the two-headed snake about to enter the maze. Nobody else was there when I visited, except for a group of deer just below the panel.

RIVERWALK TRAIL

APRIL 2011

WATERFALL NEAR THE BEGINNING OF THE TRAIL

VIRGIN RIVER BELOW THE WATERFALL

The Riverwalk Trail is a flat, paved, kid-friendly and ADA accessible stroll along the Virgin River at the top of Zion Canyon. If you visit in the winter, you can drive to the trailhead, otherwise you will need to take the shuttle. The paved trail ends after one mile, where, depending on the season, you have the option of continuing up the river into the Zion Narrows. This is an extremely popular hike, so expect large crowds.

I've never been more than about a mile up The Narrows, though a longer, all-day exploration is definitely on my to-do list. The large crowds just keep scaring me away. In order to make the hike a little more peaceful, some people will bring wet suits and hike it in the winter. Another option would be to hike it first thing in the morning to at least get some solitude on the way up, before running into the masses of people on the way down.

KANARRAVILLE CANYON

JULY 2014

NARROWS SECTION

NARROWS

LOWER FALLS

NARROWS

Kanarraville Canyon is a 4.8-mile round-trip hike located just outside of the town of Kanarraville. There is a large parking lot located at the trailhead which requires a $10 fee to use. This trail has become really popular, so expect a lot of people along the trail unless you are there during the off-season. We happened to be there over the 4th of July weekend, which made it especially crowded.

Underestimating the trail and the heat a bit, I convinced my wife and kids to come along. While they really enjoyed the watery slot canyon, they did not feel it was worth a four mile round-trip hike through the desert to reach. We turned around at the lower falls, where the slot canyon ended, but if you continue a little further up the trail you will come to another, smaller waterfall.

EMERALD POOLS

APRIL 2011

WATERFALL AT UPPER EMERALD POOL

UPPER EMERALD POOL

NEAR THE BEGINNING OF THE TRAIL

The Emerald Pools is a beautiful hike, roughly 2 miles in length, past several waterfalls and pools located just across the street from the Zion Lodge. There is also a bus stop near the trailhead, making this a very popular trail. There is a paved loop trail to the Middle Emerald Pools, and an unpaved trail from the Middle Emerald Pools to the Upper Emerald Pool. The waterfalls at Middle Emerald Pools and Upper Emerald Pool will be most impressive just after a large storm or during a time of high run-off, and can completely dry out during hotter times of the year. The waterfall pouring into the upper Emerald Pool was really impressive, so you will definitely want to hike this trail during a time when it is running.

PARIA RIVER

APRIL 2008, JANUARY 2021 & MAY 2025

PARIA CANYON NEAR THE BUCKSKIN GULCH CONFLUENCE

PARIA CANYON

PARIA CANYON NEAR THE BUCKSKIN GULCH CONFLUENCE

ROCK FORMATION ALONG THE PARIA RIVER

PARIA RIVER IN JANUARY

PARIA RIVER

ROCK FORMATION ALONG THE PARIA RIVER

PARIA RIVER

The Paria River hike is a peaceful stroll along and through the Paria River as it meanders back and forth between red rock canyon walls. The trail begins at the White House Campground and Trailhead, which is accessed via a 2 mile dirt road coming south off of Highway 89. The road was well maintained and was easily accessible to low clearance vehicles. The White House Campground is a great place to stay while visiting the area. The cost was only $5 when I stayed there in April of 2008. There were a few tables and fireplaces scattered around the area, but no officially designated spaces, so you were allowed to set your tent down anywhere you could find room. There was a restroom, but no running water. However water is available at the Paria Contact Station 2 miles to the north.

Many people backpack the Paria River to the confluence with Buckskin Gulch, and then hike Buckskin Gulch to Wire Pass or vice versa. This does require dropping one car off at the ending destination before starting. This would make a great hike, though I did not come down prepared for backpacking, so I just walked down the Paria River about three miles and back in the evening. It was a very pleasant walk. You do need to wade through the river at various points when it passes along cliff walls, but it is very shallow, and never came above my knees. It actually felt really nice wading through the water after spending the past few days hiking around in the desert.

I returned again to Paria in January of 2021, hoping to hike all the way to its confluence with Buckskin Gulch. However, I didn't quite come dressed warm enough to handle the prolonged walking in ice cold water, and turned around about a mile or two before the confluence. I had on some neoprene socks and a 45 degree wetsuit, which were fine for the first couple miles of shallow river crossings and intermittent wading, but once the canyon narrowed and the water became deeper, without any dry ground to recover on, my legs became too cold to continue. The river was still covered in a lot of ice that you had to break through in many parts. While disappointed in not making it to the coolest parts of the canyon, it was still a beautiful stroll through some amazing scenery. Going in January, I also had the whole place to myself.

In May of 2025 I returned again to complete the hike all the way to the confluence with Buckskin Gulch. There was a $6 fee (plus a small processing fee) to park in the day-use parking lot, which you could pay with a handy electronic pay station which worked very smoothly. When I hiked it over Memorial Day weekend, there was no water at all in the canyon until just before the confluence. The trail guide I was using said it was seven miles from the trailhead, however, my GPS watch showed it being eight miles. I was day-hiking, which made it just over sixteen miles roundtrip after a tiny bit of exploring in Buckskin Gulch. The trail is completely flat and pleasant, and the canyon keeps getting more and more interesting the further you go. It begins to narrow up at about five miles and keeps getting tighter and tighter until the confluence. There was some knee-deep water to wade through just before the confluence with some mud you had to be careful with. A hiker I met there had just sunk down to their thigh in an especially watery section of mud. It was a great feeling finally sitting in the confluence eating lunch after having this hike on my list for so long.