Kanarraville Falls and Spring Creek Slot Canyon

It is hard to believe in a week’s time we had a temperature drop of almost 70° from the upper 80’s in Quartzsite to a very comfortable 60’s-70’s in Lake Mead to the chilly low 20’s in Kanarraville, Utah. The heat of Quartzsite is a welcome and distant memory. Although it is a bit chilly here we certainly prefer the cooler weather to the heat…..we are definitely not heat people.

Red Ledge RV Park & Campground is a nice little Passport America campground right in the heart of Kanarraville. I say little as we had a hard time fitting in, they were nice enough to allow us to take two spots along the edge (3 with the jeep and trailer). Laundry services, showers, free Wi-Fi and full hook-ups! We have not had full hook-ups in….(I really had to think about this one)…. almost 7 months!

Our site at Red Ledge

So what brings us to Kanarraville? Our #1 reason for stopping here was Kanarra Creek Hiking Trail – commonly referred to as Kanarraville Falls. This combined with a few other hiking trails and its proximity to the Kolob Canyon area of Zion National Park made this the perfect area for a layover on our way to Salt Lake.

Due to the rain and snow we had to put off our falls hike for the first two days. Instead we took a drive up Kolob Canyon during a snow storm.

You know you are in Zion when you start seeing the red roads!

 

Snow over the mountain

 

The first hike we ventured out on was the Spring Creek Canyon hike a really cool slot canyon hike just south of town. First, let me say that for a couple of people who spent the winter at sea level, this 5,000 - 6,000 elevation kicked our butts for the first hour or so. To get to the trailhead take Spring Creek Road to the east just south of town. This will lead you past the town ball field to a parking area.

Follow the trail for a mile and a half to the mouth of the slot canyon. The narrow walls, coloring of the walls combined with the green of the pines and white from the snow are really what made this hike! The main canyon goes for about a mile before it gets too narrow and overgrown to go any further. If you are really ambitious you can follow one of the several smaller slots that branch off but be prepared to do some scrambling over rocks and under trees. We apologize in advance for all the pictures but it was just so beautiful!


Headed down the trail

The entrance to the slots



Daisy in a little cave

A little scramble area

Daisy chill'in in the snow

 

Barb admiring the view

Looking up one of the side canyons

Barb ahead on the trail

 

Time to head back to the jeep!

Wow! Those were the words that kept coming out our mouths as we did the Kanarra Falls hike. The trailhead is right in town. We walked right from our campground but those passing through can pay $10 and park right at the trailhead. This 3.5 mile roundtrip hike (4.5 from the campground) rates as our second coolest hike ever! (Angel’s Landing is still #1).

The trail starts up a gravel road with a moderate grade eventually winding downhill where it meets the creek. From there the trail follows along, crisscrosses or is in the middle of the creek. I will tell you right now, it is impossible to do this hike without getting your feet wet. There were times we were hiking in water up to our knees, and it was none too warm! Don’t worry, your feet soon go numb and you can’t feel a thing.

Information at the trailhead

 

Starts with about 1/2 mile on this gravel road

No Daisy today....too rough and too wet!

 

 

 





It's peek-a-boo Barbie!

Every time we turned a corner we were in awe of the scenery, a waterfall or the color of the rock formations. The hike took us a total of 4.5 hours up and back. We really took our time going up taking a lot of pictures and spent about 10 minutes finding a geocache near the top of the hike. My favorite part of the hike had nothing to do with the scenery or a waterfall, nor did I get a picture let alone see it…..Barb had stopped to take a few pictures and I hiked ahead. When she caught up to me she was totally soaked from head to toe! As she tells it, she slipped on a rock and she fell backwards on her back. Since she was wearing her backpack she said she felt like a turtle trying to flip over! I asked her to reenact it so I could get a photo but she refused!

There are two waterfalls that require you to climb ladders.......





Ladder #1





Ladder #2

 



Not many people find this geocache! Time to head home......

If you are traveling I15 in the Cedar City/St.George are I highly recommend a stop in the quaint little town, you will not regret it!