Southern Utah, the Colorado Plateau Desert; of all the world this place is unique. Here the desert is a maze. Canyons and gulches dissect the plateau into a great network, a labyrinth of lost alcoves and secret glens which one could spend a lifetime exploring without even scratching the surface. This is a land of colorful sandstone sculpture, carved by water as the artist.

Water can do incredible things when sandstone is its canvas. Given time, a tiny river here carves a grand canyon. The Grand Canyon itself is an example of what water has done to the Colorado Plateau, but in southern Utah, there are thousands of canyons sculpted from the rock by the Colorado River and its tributaries. Take a look at the mysterious Escalante River, you’ll likely agree the canyon it’s carved is equally as striking and similar to the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River. The sandstone earth in Utah is bright and it is red. It’s so red the contrast of the blue sky begins to hurt your eyes. Viewing the river at the bottom of the great red canyon, it looks as only a swathe of green trees snaking through the land.

The Colorado Plateau isn’t truly a desert, it is borderline, receiving enough rain to be classified not as desert but as semi-arid or a steppe climate. All the water which falls here heads for the Colorado River, the main drainage for the area, by way of many smaller rivers like the Escalante. The Escalante etches the sandstone as it carries along, likewise, smaller streams which drain to the Escalante cut the sandstone as they travel through. An incredibly complicated maze is what we’re left with, and of course, the beauty is in the details.

I went one day with my brother to explore some of these details, in the vicinity of the remote and still pristine wilderness around the Escalante River. There are so many little niches of this river to explore, it’s hard to choose what to see if you only have a couple days. The country here will call me back for further exploration time and time again. The hike we did took only a couple hours, and is actually quite far from the river itself. Peekaboo Gulch and adjacent Spooky Gulch have been carved by the rapid drainage of water during floods, carved somehow into such narrow channels through malleable stone. These are slot canyons.

Hiking Peekaboo Gulch and Spooky Gulch

We arrived at the Dry Fork Trailhead early in the morning and it was a springtime drizzle. My brother donned his hiking boots but his feet were chewed up. We had been having a week of extreme Utah adventure before this and now he had a blister on every toe and a festering sore on his heel. He decided he couldn’t walk and would spend the morning reading in the truck, waiting for me to do the hike. I went in Spooky Gulch. Most people will begin the loop in Peekaboo first but I had received a tip from a local to start in Spooky. I’d stand by this tip. To find Spooky, walk down from the first slick rock bench at the trailhead to come to the Dry Fork Gulch. There you will see a slot canyon entering the rock off to your left and one slightly to your right. The right hand one is Peekaboo. Walk past Peekaboo, follow the cairns leading up the wash and when you see Spooky, it will be obvious. Tentatively I walked in.

I quickly found myself in the slots. I pressed on, and they just keep going farther and farther back. Boom, I heard a sound echo through. Extreme tightness for a long ways in both directions, it’s a squeeze. Hopefully it’s not a flash flood up there. Confronted by such claustrophobia, panic ensues. I found myself full of adrenaline and racing through, get out of the slots! Time to climb out of Spooky, and spooky it is. You must navigate a boulder choked chute to exit.

All of a sudden I was free, the top of the spacious slick rock bench was exhilarating after coming out of the dark canyon depths. I decided it had been one of the best experiences of my life. I followed an excellent cairn trail to bring me across the plateau and to Peekaboo Gulch. Peekaboo Gulch was far less claustrophobic, just beautiful and serene, filled with artful rock formations, and had a few small obstacles to navigate.

I went back to the truck, having hurried, the hike took an hour and a half. I showed my brother these pictures, and now he was convinced. He had to put his shoes back on, suffer through the pain and come see this place. He was so glad he did. I was more than happy to do the hike a second time.

It was later in the day and other groups had showed up to do this fairly popular hike. You usually will have the world to yourself if you rise early in the morning. We found ourselves now stuck behind a family of 10 people and 2 dogs in Spooky Gulch. Finding it impossible to pass them, we just waited in the narrows and listened, laughing to hear them having a spooky time of their own navigating the slots.

The mother screamed at the kids, the dogs barked, the sounds of shuffling, scrambling, and panic echoed back to us, we saw fur clinging to the canyon walls. Yes, hilarious traffic jams are a common occurrence on this dazzling and fun filled Utah slot canyon loop hike. Definitely put this hike on your list, it’s an experience of a lifetime.

Need to Know

Information

If you plan to stay overnight, you can fill out a permit at the trailhead, no permit is required for a day hike. Still a good idea to check in with the BLM at the interagency visitor’s center in Escalante. The rangers there will be able to give you any advice or directions you want about the hike as well as current weather information. Rain anywhere the area can cause flash floods in the canyons.

Getting There

Head to the remote town of Escalante, Utah, along scenic Highway 12. Take the famous turn for Hole in the Rock Road, a well graded, 2 wheel drive gravel road. From my experience it’s a comfortable ride for about the first 17 miles. After that it gets a bit rougher, the left turn you’re looking for is 26.3 miles in, look for a sign for Dry Fork Trailhead. Take this road for .7 miles and then bear to the left, where you will see a sign “high clearance only”, the trailhead is .9 miles further. The road past the sign was terribly washed out so one side of my truck was much lower than the other side. It was a roller coaster ride!

Best Time to Go

The best seasons of the year to be here will be spring or fall. Summer can be ok too, but much hotter especially mid-day. In mid-July through mid-September especially it's typically monsoon season in the canyon country. Assuming the road is open, a winter hike here could potentially be quite enjoyable, but more challenging if the slick rock is icy or if there’s snow on the ground. Rangers would have up to date information on conditions.

Books

Utah’s Favorite Hiking Trails, by David Day. A comprehensive guide to 77 excellent trails in Utah including the Peekboo/ Spooky loop hike. The guide touches base on all aspects of the dynamic state of Utah, which can be divided into 3 regions: The Rocky Mountains, The Great Basin Desert and the Colorado Plateau Desert. These three totally different environments are sparsely populated and in fact 63% of the state is federally owned land, protected as wilderness. This book guides you through many of the endless hiking opportunities in Utah’s 5 national parks, 7 national monuments, 2 national recreation areas and 6 national forests. The author also includes 250 photos in color and black and white, as well as 80 detailed trail maps.

100 Hikes in Utah, by Steve Mann & Rhett Olson. Another great option, this book is packed with information for 100 hikes in all corners of Utah. The maps are detailed and read easily, and the book contains many photos mostly in black and white.

Maps

National Geographic, Canyons of the Escalante. The map I used, a beautiful edition to any map collection. This map will not replace a 7.5 minute topo map for a trip requiring extended route finding. It is, however, a useful tool for exploring the various sights off Escalante’s Hole in the Rock Road. For getting to and from the trailhead and exploring other destinations in the state, the Utah Delorme Atlas & Gazetteer can be useful.

Editor's Note: This article by contributor Michael Swanbeck originally appeared in Issue 24 of TrailGroove Magazine. You can read the original article here for additional photos and content.