Best Canine Hike through a Slot Canyon
A journey through a Southwest slot canyon - a fissure in the rock that begins as a tiny crack and grows larger through millenia of occasional rushing water - are among the most memorable hikes your dog will ever take. Some slot canyons are roomy enough to handle a dog team, others constrict to passages narrower than a foot wide. Still more can be traversed only with ladders. The nominees for best Slot Canyon Canine Hike are all doable by any dog and owners with only average levels of claustrophobia...
Colorado Riverway Recreation Area (Utah)
Mary Jane Canyon
Professor Creek flows year-round, although seldom enough to reach the belly of a basset hound. Fresh green vegetation dances against the exposed red rock canyon walls. Canine hiking in Mary Jane Canyon (the professor’s wife) begins almost from the parking lot and for the next four or so miles your dog will be splashing happily through the cooling desert stream waters. Eventually the winding canyon walls climb to over 100 feet and narrow to no more than 15 feet - if you haven’t been hiking straight through the streambed the whole way you certainly will be here. The trail ends with a chokestone wedged into the canyon walls that produces an impressive 30-foot waterfall. The way out of Mary Jane Canyon is the same as the way in. There are numerous dry slot canyons on the sides to poke into along the way.
Crack Canyon Wilderness (Utah)
Little Wild Horse Canyon-Bell’s Canyon
Little Wild Horse Canyon and neighboring Bell’s Canyon can be combined to form a unique eight-mile loop that provides an ideal introduction to the Southwestern phenomenon of slot canyon hiking. Little Wild Horse Canyon is a classic slot canyon that narrows to single file passing in places with an obstacle or two to negotiate. Bell’s Canyon is more airier but delivers gorgeous winding passages under high cliffs as well.
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (Utah)
Willis Creek Canyon
At Willis Creek all that is required is to lock your vehicle and lead your dog into the slot canyon. There are no obstacles impeding your hike - save one, which can be bypassed - as the gorgeously sculpted walls close in down the creek. Those slickrock walls are streaked with desert varnish and will eventually grow to over 200 feet high deeper along. The wash-route trail is sand and cobblestones and mostly flat, gaining a nearly imperceptible 300 feet. When Willis Creek can’t be avoided the water level is rarely deeper than splashing through a puddle. The narrow walls provide shade on even the hottest summer days. The dramatic twists and turns in Willis Creek slot canyon end after a little more than one mile as the wash yawns wider and canine hiking becomes more routine.
Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness Area (Utah)
Buckskin Gulch
Buckskin Gulch is the longest and deepest slot canyon in the Southwest. What it lacks in pretty walls and narrow passageways is made up in varying terrain. The canyon floor moves from soft sand to stone-speckled to rock-covered. Muddy pools, if present, will be your most challenging obstacle between these Navajo sandstone walls. Three trailheads modulate the length of time you will spend in the gulch with your dog, which can be considerable given the 12 miles of narrow walls.
Valley of Fire State Park (Nevada)
White Domes Canyon
At a little over one mile the White Domes packs plenty of excitement, especially if your dog is a Burt Lancaster or Lee Marvin fan since part of the Mexican hacienda set from the 1966 western The Professionals that was filmed here still remains along the trail. The sandstone walls narrow close enough to be touched by both hands for about 200 feet, traversed easily on a flat, gravelly wash. Nearby, at Wash No. 5, but unmarked on the map, the slot experience continues in Pastel Canyon with its maze of pinkish rocks and sand.
And the Waggie Award for Best Canine Hike through a Slot Canyon goes to...Crack Canyon Wilderness!
It’s never easy to beat a two-fer deal, especially when the two slot canyons form a hiking loop. That loop can be tackled in either direction but clockwise (up Bell’s Canyon to the the left first) seems to be the route of choice. A 1.5-mile jaunt along a wide jeep road links the two canyons through open desertlands and provides a refreshing break from the slots. Saving Little Wild Horse Canyon for last negates a couple of the tougher rock scrambles and keeps the most exciting wiggles through the curvy passageways for last. The walls loom 300 feet high at this point. The canyon floor is flat and mostly dry but count on cold, brown water pooled dog-belly deep in spots as well. By the time your dog encounters the occasional chokestone in the slot they will realize this is a hike like no other, one that will surely be barked about in the dog park back home for a long time to come.