UT_2014-09: Little Wild Horse Slot Canyon

Little Wild Horse Slot Canyon: That was FUN! As part of our annual meet-up in Utah, a group of us wanted to check out Little Wild Horse slot canyon as it is known to be a fun slot to hike as well as one of the prettiest in the San Rafael Swell. We hiked Little Wild Horse on gorgeous Friday in late September. We were staying in Green River, so we had a little bit of a drive to get to the trailhead, but it is an easy drive ( I-70 west for a few miles then jump on route 24 south for about 24 miles, take the road to Goblin Valley and they just follow the signs to Little Wild Horse). Paved roads all the way, so you can get there in just about any type of car. Just watch the weather as there are a couple of fords in the access road to the trailhead that could be full of water during a storm. We left Green River about 8:40 AM and were at the trailhead at 9:30. This hike can be done as a loop that includes the adjacent Bell Canyon, however our plan was to hike up Little Wild Horse as an out-and-back, as he had heard that it is a much prettier hike than Bell Canyon. For us this turned out to be a great plan. The short story is that this is a GREAT HIKE. The slots in Little Wild Horse are extremely photogenic and there is a lot of variety in terms of terrain, geology and views. There were also a few small critters like lizards and toads in the slots. So something for everyone along this trail. The trail through the canyon is actually fairly easy with just a few small scrambles over or under boulders and a pour-off or two to negotiate. There was one section early in the hike, at the first narrow point, where the canyon was blocked, but there was a detour route available that required only a minor effort to negotiate. For the most part the hike was dry. There was not anyplace that we had to get our feet wet and just a few small puddles to step across…well, until we reached the end of our hike, but I’m getting ahead of myself. Of course the puddles are of great interest from a photographic point-of-view and we did try to take advantage of those opportunities. But the real fun was just walking through the narrow parts of the canyon and enjoying the twisting and turning contours of the strata. I was in my usually position at the back of the line so I could get shots of the slots, both with and without my hiking partners. Plus there were not a lot of folks on the trail, so we could enjoy the views and stop and take some photos without getting over run by other hikers. I mean we passed a few groups, but it was not a steady stream of folks and everyone was friendly, courteous and willing to share the trail. We finally came to a deep pool in the middle of a particularly narrow area of the slot. We knew there was a way around it as we saw the cairns marking the detour, but we figured that this was probably near the end of Little Wild Horse and would make a good point to reverse course. We took the time to take a team photo here and also marveled at the forces of nature that carved the narrow canyon. We could see the narrow opening at the far side of the pool; it was the narrowest slot we had seen so far. Not some place that I would want to be in a flash flood! It was a good plan to just return back down Little Wild Horse rather than make the loop through Bell Canyon. Retracing our steps let us see Little Wild Horse Canyon from a different perspective as well as slightly different lighting. We also caught a few photos that we might have missed on the inward trip. Our hike into Little Wild Horse took 4 hours almost on the nose. The route tracking app on my phone indicated that we hiked a total of seven miles, but I’m thinking that is a bit on the high side; maybe the GPS signal got a little confused down in those deep slots. Still it was a great hike, with excellent companions through some beautiful rock formations. This is certainly a hike I would do again.

Hiking/Backpacking

There are toilets at the trailhead.
Utah, United States
OhioHick photo
time : Sep 26, 2014 9:39 AM
duration : 3h 58m 43s
distance : 7 mi
total_ascent : 1444 ft
highest_point : 5302 ft
avg_speed : 1.8 mi/h
user_id : OhioHick
user_firstname : Allen
user_lastname : Arrington
Little Wild Horse Slot Canyon: That was FUN! As part of our annual meet-up in Utah, a group of us wanted to check out Little Wild Horse slot canyon as it is known to be a fun slot to hike as well as one of the prettiest in the San Rafael Swell. We hiked Little Wild Horse on gorgeous Friday in late September. We were staying in Green River, so we had a little bit of a drive to get to the trailhead, but it is an easy drive ( I-70 west for a few miles then jump on route 24 south for about 24 miles, take the road to Goblin Valley and they just follow the signs to Little Wild Horse). Paved roads all the way, so you can get there in just about any type of car. Just watch the weather as there are a couple of fords in the access road to the trailhead that could be full of water during a storm. We left Green River about 8:40 AM and were at the trailhead at 9:30. This hike can be done as a loop that includes the adjacent Bell Canyon, however our plan was to hike up Little Wild Horse as an out-and-back, as he had heard that it is a much prettier hike than Bell Canyon. For us this turned out to be a great plan. The short story is that this is a GREAT HIKE. The slots in Little Wild Horse are extremely photogenic and there is a lot of variety in terms of terrain, geology and views. There were also a few small critters like lizards and toads in the slots. So something for everyone along this trail. The trail through the canyon is actually fairly easy with just a few small scrambles over or under boulders and a pour-off or two to negotiate. There was one section early in the hike, at the first narrow point, where the canyon was blocked, but there was a detour route available that required only a minor effort to negotiate. For the most part the hike was dry. There was not anyplace that we had to get our feet wet and just a few small puddles to step across…well, until we reached the end of our hike, but I’m getting ahead of myself. Of course the puddles are of great interest from a photographic point-of-view and we did try to take advantage of those opportunities. But the real fun was just walking through the narrow parts of the canyon and enjoying the twisting and turning contours of the strata. I was in my usually position at the back of the line so I could get shots of the slots, both with and without my hiking partners. Plus there were not a lot of folks on the trail, so we could enjoy the views and stop and take some photos without getting over run by other hikers. I mean we passed a few groups, but it was not a steady stream of folks and everyone was friendly, courteous and willing to share the trail. We finally came to a deep pool in the middle of a particularly narrow area of the slot. We knew there was a way around it as we saw the cairns marking the detour, but we figured that this was probably near the end of Little Wild Horse and would make a good point to reverse course. We took the time to take a team photo here and also marveled at the forces of nature that carved the narrow canyon. We could see the narrow opening at the far side of the pool; it was the narrowest slot we had seen so far. Not some place that I would want to be in a flash flood! It was a good plan to just return back down Little Wild Horse rather than make the loop through Bell Canyon. Retracing our steps let us see Little Wild Horse Canyon from a different perspective as well as slightly different lighting. We also caught a few photos that we might have missed on the inward trip. Our hike into Little Wild Horse took 4 hours almost on the nose. The route tracking app on my phone indicated that we hiked a total of seven miles, but I’m thinking that is a bit on the high side; maybe the GPS signal got a little confused down in those deep slots. Still it was a great hike, with excellent companions through some beautiful rock formations. This is certainly a hike I would do again.
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