Spooky Slot Canyon At a Glance

Location:

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah

Coordinates:

37° 28’52.69”N, 111° 12’32.44”W

Time:

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

Canyon Rating:

2AI

Description:

Spooky Slot Canyon is a fun, family-friendly slot canyon in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. This canyon is a little bit more difficult than Peek-a-Boo Slot Canyon and involves a 10' section of chimneying and several tight passages.

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

Spooky Slot Canyon

Download KML file to view in Google Earth.

Spooky Slot 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

The route we took through Spooky Canyon started at the top of the canyon because we hiked up Peek-a-Boo Canyon and down Spooky Canyon.

The trail between Peek-a-Boo and Spooky is about 0.42 miles long.

My GPS wasn’t working on this trip, so the trail I traced in Google Earth may not be 100% accurate. But the trail is very easy to follow and has rock cairns marking the way.

The trail drops you right at the top of Spooky Canyon (37°29'5.50"N, 111°12'34.91"W). This connector trail took us about 24 minutes.

Spooky Canyon is a little bit more difficult than Peek-a-Boo, but it’s still quite easy.

Like I said before, we brought our 10-month-old with us.

By far, the most difficult part of the canyon is the rockfall area, which requires chimneying down about 10 feet.

Like Peek-a-Boo, Spooky Canyon is also a slot canyon, and there are a couple parts where it is so tight that we had to unstrap our baby carrier and pass the baby from one person to the next.

Zac was pretty proud of the rock he found.

One of the neatest parts about Spooky is the texture of the canyon walls.

While Peek-a-Boo has smooth sandstone, Spooky has rough, “pock-marked” walls.

It may not look like it, but Savannah actually enjoyed herself. Even when she had to be carried on the side, she was enthralled by the canyon and wanted to touch everything.

Spooky Canyon took us about 37 minutes to go the 0.31 miles. Here is Tara and Savannah taking a breather at the mouth of the canyon.

The mouth of Spooky Slot Canyon.

From the mouth of Spooky Canyon, follow the trail to the southwest. The trail to the northwest doesn’t go anywhere.

After about 15 minutes, you’ll pass the mouth of Peek-a-Book Canyon. Return to the parking area the way you came.

We finished at about 6:20pm (total time of 2 hours and 40 minutes to do Peek-a-Boo and Spooky). We went at a leisurely speed on this trip. I’m guessing that if we were in a hurry, we could do the loop in about an hour (jogging), but I wouldn’t recommend rushing it.