Slot Canyon Buckskin Gulch
Start: Wire Pass Trailhead
Note: there are multiple trailheads that provide access to Buckskin Gulch. Wire Pass Trailhead offers the most direct access for a day hike. This is not to be confused with the Buckskin Trailhead, which follows a wash for several miles before intersecting with Wire Pass Trail and then the confluence with the Paria River.
- Buckskin Gulch is a natural wonder. At 15 miles long it is the longest slot canyon in the world. It sometimes is as narrow as 2ft. Because of the nature of this canyon and Utah topography this canyon is subject to deadly flash flood if it rains anywhere along the headwaters. Be sure to check in with.
- The canyon hike was a 1.5 to 2-miles long and joined with Buckskin Gulch and some more slot canyons. We did not have time to go in that direction. There is a BLM fee at the trailhead. At the time we went in 2019, the fee was $6. The actual hike was relatively easy. It is best not hiked in sandals, which Joyce did.
- Buckskin Gulch is the ultimate in canyon-country slot canyons. For 12.5 miles the gulch is enveloped in a very narrow gorge 100 to 200 feet deep, flanked by vaulting convoluted walls of Navajo Sandstone.
Buckskin Gulch is a spectacular slot canyon located in south-central Utah, halfway between the towns of Kanab and Page. It is the longest and deepest slot canyon in the United States and perhaps the entire world.
Distance: 3.4 miles, round-trip
Approximate hiking time: 1.5 to 2 hours, round-trip
Difficulty: Easy
Trail surface: Wash route
Trailhead access: 4WD advised when the road is wet
Best seasons: April through early June; September through October
Canine compatibility: Dogs permitted (navigating boulder jam with dogs can be difficult)
Water availability: None available; bring your own
Hazards: Flash-flood danger
Permits: Reservations for permits for overnight use required; day hikers must pay the appropriate fee at the trailhead register/self-service fee station; no fee required for children age twelve and under
Topo maps: Pine Hollow Canyon (Utah-Arizona) USGS quad; BLM: Paria Canyon–Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness map, Hiker’s Guide to Paria Canyon, or Kanab
Finding the trailhead: Follow U.S. 89 to an unsigned southbound dirt road that branches off the highway at the west end of a 50 mph right-angle curve just west of The Cockscomb. Find the turnoff 0.8 mile west of milepost 25 and 34 miles northwest of Page, Arizona, or 0.2 mile south of milepost 26 and 37.5 miles east of Kanab, Utah.
Antelope Canyon Or Buckskin Gulch
This dirt road (known as House Rock Valley Road) is passable to cars in dry weather, barring severe runoff damage, and steadily ascends for 2.5 miles to a saddle separating The Cockscomb and Buckskin Mountain. Ignore the right fork to Fivemile Mountain at the saddle, then descend to a crossing of the Buckskin Gulch wash after 4.4 miles, where the road is subject to flood damage. The signed turnoff to Buckskin Gulch Trailhead (located 0.2 mile east of the road), which you avoid, is located a short distance south of the wash.
You reach the spacious Wire Pass Trailhead, located on the west side of the road, 8.4 miles south of US 89. Several undeveloped camping areas can be found en route to the trailhead. Pit toilets are in place at both Buckskin Gulch and Wire Pass Trailheads.
Slot Canyon Buckskin Gulch Trail
Hike Information
Buckskin Gulch is the ultimate in canyon-country slot canyons. For 12.5 miles the gulch is enveloped in a very narrow gorge 100 to 200 feet deep, flanked by vaulting convoluted walls of Navajo Sandstone. Buckskin Gulch is renowned not only because of its continuous challenging narrows, but also because there is no other canyon like it in the world. Wire Pass, a gorge carved through The Cockscomb by Coyote Wash, is the most popular entry route into Buckskin Gulch. Wire Pass is short, but its narrows are even more confined than those in Buckskin. This is an excellent easy hike through Wire Pass into the famous gorge of Buckskin Gulch. You can extend the day hike as far as you wish by exploring Buckskin’s narrows either up- or downcanyon.
Buckskin Gulch Slot Canyon Utah
As in any slot canyon, do not enter Wire Pass or Buckskin Gulch if there is the slightest chance of rainfall. In these canyons, as little as .25 inch of rain can run off the slickrock landscape and turn the slots into inescapable death traps. Save this memorable trip for fair weather only.