MARCH 2023

Crack Canyon Wilderness

Where: central Utah

Directions: Interstate 70 to Utah 24 south

Good to Know:  

* The terrain to the trailheads is doable with two-wheel drive vehicles.

Why so good:   

THE STATE PARK

You may have already seen the “goblins” of Goblin Valley State Park yourself if you caught the outer space yuk-fest Galaxy Quest. The park was used to create the hostile planet Thermia where actors in a televised space drama were recruited to fight a real war. After visiting Goblin Valley it is hard to believe that Hollywood did not arrive until 1999 to use the park as a backdrop for alien planets. Then again, the world didn’t learn about this other-worldly place until the early 20th century when cowboys searching for cattle stumbled into the valley of weathered sandstone hoodoos and spires. The bizarre gnome-like rock formations spread out across a barren valley beneath the parking lot. Just walk down into Goblin Valley with Seaman and head in any direction to start exploring the desert playground. Curious dogs will exalt in bounding up and around the orbital stones populating the valley floor. There are probably thousands of “goblins” living here. The edges of the valley feature intricately eroded cliffs and walls. Pushing beyond the main valley, across intervening ridges, are more collections of hoodoos where the goblins are taller and more complex. Your dog will still be sniffing goblins two miles from the parking lot. For more challenging canine hiking steer your dog to the outsides of the valley into the surrounding badlands with sand dunes and mud hills. Formal trails also connect the campground and the goblins.

THE SLOT CANYONS.

Just up the road outside the park is the best slot canyon journey you can take with your dog in the West. Little Wild Horse Canyon and neighboring Bell’s Canyon can be combined to form an 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. Bell’s Canyon is less claustrophobic but delivers gorgeous winding passages under high cliffs as well.Expect obstacles and maybe a lift or two will be necessary in places: there are short rock scrambles and the oc- casional chokestone that blocks the canyon floor. Those floors are flat and mostly dry but count on cold brown water pooled dog-belly deep in spots as well. You can make the loop 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. By this time, your dog will realize he is on a hike like no other, one that will surely be talked about in the dog park back home.

THE MOUNTAIN

The bleached white sandstone formations - standing out across the desert and visible for miles - was called Temple Mountain for its supposed resemblance to the great Salt Lake Temple built by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in central Salt Lake City. It wasn’t spiritualism but mining that brought pioneers here in the early 1900s, specifically uranium. After uranium was determined to be the best mineral for nuclear fusion in the 1930s and 1940s the area boomed but those days are a distant memory. Old roads crisscross the area today that attract hikers and off-roaders alike, passing mining ruins, dilapidated structures and the occasional decaying vehicle. That is the recipe for a great day out for your dog.