Peek-a-Boo Slot Canyon At a Glance

Location:

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah

Coordinates:

37° 28’53.23”N, 111° 12’59.93”W

Time:

2 hours for just Peek-a-Boo, 3 hours for Peek-a-Boo and Spooky

Canyon Rating:

2AI

Description:

Peek-a-Boo Slot Canyon is a fun, family-friendly slot canyon in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. The hike takes you 0.3 miles up a short slot canyon with a double arch and two single arches.

Fees:

None

Permits:

Free permits are required for overnight trips. Permits are available at several trailheads and at the Escalante Interagency Visitor Center

Appropriate for Scouts:

Yes

Printable Map:

Dry Forks Coyote Gulch Map*

*Map has Topo Map layer and Satellite Image layer.

Waypoints:

Download KML file

Trip Dates:

Most Recent: June 17, 2011

USGS Topographic Maps:

Big Hollow Wash US Topo (2011)
Big Hollow Wash (1968)

Helpful Links:

Tom’s Utah Canyoneering Guide
The American Southwest
RedRockTrails.com

Overview
Interactive Map
Printable Map
Waypoints
TR: Jun 2011

Peek-a-Boo Slot Canyon

The double arch in Peek-a-Book slot canyon.

Download KML file to view in Google Earth.

Peek-a-Boo Canyon Beta Information

Waypoint	Latitude	Longitude	Description
TURN1	37.4666516	-111.2239595	Turn 1, 26.2 miles down Hole in the Rock Road
CAMP	37.4662378	-111.2059334	One good place to camp
PARK	37.4768015	-111.2201705	Park
DFBOT	37.4812382	-111.2176675	Dry Forks Bottom
DFTOP	37.4834545	-111.2249238	Dry Forks Top
PBBOT	37.4816014	-111.2166066	Peek-a-Boo Bottom
PBTOP	37.4852864	-111.2166052	Peek-a-Boo Top
SPTOP	37.4851380	-111.2094564	Spooky Top
SPBOT	37.4814013	-111.2093207	Spooky Bottom
JUNC1	37.4761991	-111.1970365	Junction #1
LBBOT	37.4873471	-111.1932913	Lower Brimstone Bottom
LBTOP	37.4930344	-111.1906222	Lower Brimstone Top
LIBOT	37.4747478	-111.1950517	Little Canyon Bottom
LITOP	37.4769922	-111.1933339	Little Canyon Top

Download KML file to view in Google Earth.

Trip Report: June 17, 2011

Peek-a-Boo Canyon / Spooky Canyon Loop at EveryTrail

On Friday afternoon, after finishing Zebra Slot Canyon, we met up with the rest of our group. We set up camp at a really nice campsite that was close but still off the beaten path (37°27'57.76"N, 111°12'21.77"W). Then when it cooled down a little, we went and hiked through Peek-a-Boo and Spooky Slot Canyons.

The roads are pretty rough, but we still drove our little Nissan Altima all the way to the trailhead (37°28'35.57"N, 111°13'13.07"W). We started hiking around 3:40pm. In our group: Jeremy, Tara, Savannah, Anthony, Arianne, Zac, and Aaron.

The first part of the trail is a little hard to follow at parts, but all paths lead to the same place, so don't get too stressed out if you lose the trail. After you drop down off the ridge, you’ll see the mouth of Dry Fork of Coyote Gulch Narrows on your left (37°28'52.13"N, 111°13'4.96"W). Keep going straight and you’ll soon arrive at the mouth of Peek-a-Boo Slot Canyon (37°28'53.03"N, 111°12'59.90"W).

Dry Fork Coyote Gulch and Spooky Canyons

We made it there by 3:56pm (16 minutes), but when we were hiking to Brimstone Canyon on Saturday morning, we arrived at Peek-a-Boo in just 8 minutes.

The entrance to Peek-a-Boo Canyon is the most difficult part of the whole canyon. The roughly 10-foot wall would normally be un-climbable for most people. However, someone was kind enough to carve Moqui Steps in the wall, making is possible for almost everyone to gain access to the canyon. Others that have been to Peek-a-Boo say that there is often a pool of water at the entrance, but when we were there in June, it was completely dry.

There was another group exiting the canyon when we got there, so we had to wait for a while. Judging from the rock spiral in the sand, I'm guessing we weren't the only ones to wait at the mouth for a while.

While we were waiting, Zac, Aaron, and I had fun running up the wall to a pocket.

Almost immediately after entering Peek-a-Boo Canyon, there is an awesome double arch (best viewed after passing through the arches and looking backward).

There are also two other arches in the canyon.

Peek-a-Boo Canyon is a true slot canyon because you can touch both walls at the same time. In fact, there are places that get quite narrow.

The canyon remains fairly narrow for about 0.15 miles at which point it widens out and opens up a little bit. You may be fooled into thinking this is the end of the canyon, but it isn’t.

Keep going a little bit further and it gets narrow again.

At 0.35 miles, the canyon opens up again (37°29'6.15"N, 111°12'59.85"W).

The trail splits from here. You can keep going up Peek-a-Book Canyon, where it soon gets narrow again; you can turn around and go back down the way you came; or you can follow a trail to the right that takes you to Spooky Canyon, which is what we did (but next time we go, we’ll definitely explore Peek-a-Boo farther up).