Peek A Boo Slot Canyon Kanab Utah

There are many 'slot canyons' in the desert southwest. Some are worth seeing, some not so much. Some you need a guide and have to pay to see them. This one is easy to get to if you can drive in loose sand and is a short trip very near to Kanab, Utah. The colors in the sandstone are really worth seeing. Peek-A-Boo Slot Canyon is a quiet, special place off the beaten path just outside of beautiful Kanab. The quiet serenity of beautiful colored Navajo Sandstone rocks that have taken millions of years to form will take your breath away and leave you wanting more. Peek a Boo Slot canyon in Kanab, Utah.

*Recommended guides:
The Wildland Trekking Company →
Utah Slickrock Guides →

Coral Cliffs Tours and Townhomes offers the best Jeep Tours in and around the Kanab, Utah area. You can tour Kabab, Peekaboo Slot Canyon, The Wave Trail, and White Pocket, Arizona with your friends, and even stay in one of our beautiful townhome units to unwind and enjoy your stay. Flights to Kanab; Kanab Restaurants; Kanab Attractions; Kanab Travel Forum; Kanab Photos; Kanab Map; Kanab Guide; All Kanab Hotels; Kanab Hotel Deals; Last Minute Hotels in Kanab; By Hotel Type. Kanab Motels; Kanab Hostels; Kanab Campgrounds; Family Hotels Kanab; Business Hotels Kanab; Kanab Green Hotels; Romantic Hotels in Kanab; By Hotel. #grandstaircaseescalantehikes #peekaboogulch #slotcanyon The Peek-a-boo/Spooky Gulch slot canyon loop trail used to be one of those little-known treasures hi.

Peek-a-boo Gulch is a short slot canyon in the Dry Fork area of the Grand Staircase- Escalante area, located on the Hole-in-the-Rock Road, 26 miles south of the town of Escalante. Peek-a-boo is not very long, or physically demanding, but it requires some navigational and rock-scrambling skill in order to get through its twists and chutes.

In order to reach Peek-a-boo Gulch, visitors should drive the 26 miles down the Hole-in-the-Rock Road off of Highway 12, until they find the Dry Fork Road, heading northeast into the desert. The Dry Fork turnoff branches after only a few hundred yards, and visitors need to stay left in order to reach the Dry Fork overlook.

Peek-a-boo can be combined with Spooky Gulch to make a fun loop hike. The recommended route is to actually take Peek-a-boo Gulch first, scrambling north up through its depths, and upon exiting, hiking overland to the east for half a mile until the wide streambed above Spooky Gulch is reached. From there, follow Spooky back down to Dry Fork, and then hike back to the overlook. The total loop route is about 3.5 miles long.

Dry Fork Turnoff

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The entire route from Highway 12 is an extremely rugged washboard road with sand traps and the occasional rut. Though vans and cars can tackle the route, a four-wheel drive vehicle with decent suspension is recommended.

Dry Fork Overlook

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There is a parking lot at the end of the Dry Fork road, beside an overlook that sits 300 feet above the canyon systems below it. From this vantage point, visitors can see the rock formations that hide Spooky and Peekaboo Gulches.

Dry Fork

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A short climb from the overlook takes hikers down a winding path along the slopes and boulders of the cliff, and into the sandy bottom of Dry Fork below. Immediately ahead is Peek-a-boo Gulch, heading north. Spooky Gulch is farther down the dry creek bed to the east, and the Dry Fork itself continues west.

Peek-a-boo Gulch Trailhead

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Though not nearly as long, deep, or narrow as Spooky Gulch, Peek-a-boo has its own unique challenges and thrills. Right off the bat, as visitors begin the trail from the bottom of Dry Fork, they will note the steps carved into the wall that they must climb in order to reach the slot canyon. At the top of the steps, they will find a pothole that is generally full of water year-round, which can be circumvented without getting wet by those smart and agile enough.

End of the Gulch

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The Peek-a-boo route eventually climbs up out of the slot canyon, and onto the high ground above. From there, hikers can turn right around and head back the way they came, or they can head overland to the south until they hit Spooky Gulch and continue with phase two of the adventure.

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Peek A Boo Slot Canyon Kanab Utah Videos

Kanab Utah Peek A Boo Slot Canyon Trail

Like the similarly named Red Cave and Red Hollow, Red Canyon forms a colorful series of narrows through the deep red sandstone rock of the Glendale Bench, a few miles east of Zion National Park, although the drainage is a tributary of Kanab Creek rather than the Virgin River.
The canyon has about half a mile of enclosed, curving passages up to 100 feet deep, mostly without any obstructions, and quite easily reached from a main road (US 89); the canyon runs parallel to the highway about 2 miles from it, and may be accessed either by driving along a very sandy 4WD track or walking cross-country, hiking over a rolling, open landscape of dunes and occasional trees (the Sand Hills). Adventure tour companies from Kanab sometimes take visitors to the slot, which is known locally as Peek-a-Boo Canyon, though the place is in general little visited compared to the more famous narrows within the nearby national park.

Peek A Boo Slot Canyon Kanab Utah

Topographic Map of Red Canyon

Photographs

9 views of Red Canyon.

Location

A secondary road leaves US 89 a mile east of the turn-off for Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park and runs eastwards alongside (to the north) for 4 miles, rejoining the highway shortly before it begins the descent into Three Lakes Canyon towards Kanab. The secondary road is partly paved, and it provides many good places to camp, close to the main road though mostly out of sight. The track to the canyon starts at the east end of this old road, by the junction with US 89, and is very sandy from the start, as it skirts around a large area of dunes, rises slightly to cross a low ridge then descends towards a dry wash (a tributary of Kanab Creek) where the surface becomes even softer. The remaining stretch is more level though still across deep sand, as the road curves east then back west just before the streamway, meeting it one mile downstream of the end of the slot. ATVs can drive along the streambed right up to the start of the narrows.

Peek A Boo Slot Canyon Kanab Utah

Route Description

The wash is enclosed by low cliffs for a short distance below the slot, offering plenty of entry/exit routes before the walls become vertical and form the first section of narrows. The Navajo sandstone here is dark red in appearance, typical of this region, and is eroded into delicate curves bearing graceful surface patterns, from thin horizontal bands of lighter rock crossed by vertical strips of desert varnish. The first narrows are quite short, opening out to a sunlit section, but this doesn't last long as the drainage constricts again to a longer, deeper slot. Some parts are quite dark because of overhanging rocks above, and the smooth curving walls allow for pretty reflections and light effects, quite similar to canyons around Page in Arizona, such as Antelope. The floor is sandy and has no potholes to hold any water so the passages are largely unobstructed, until a 20 foot pour-off topped by protruding chokestones, a blockage not easily climbable. The nearest exit route to bypass this drop is quite far back. Above the dryfall, the canyon is not narrow for much further, soon becoming wider and less sheer-sided.

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