SAN RAFAEL SWELL & CAPITOL REEF

BAPTIST DRAW & CHUTE CANYON

MAY 2010 & MARCH 2013

CHUTE CANYON

JESSE ON RAP 3

JESSE ON RAP 2

RAP 2

CHUTE CANYON

JESSE IN CHUTE CANYON

BAPTIST DRAW

RAP 1 IN BAPTIST DRAW

LOOKING INTO CHUTE CANYON FROM BAPTIST DRAW

RAP 2

RAP 3 IN MARCH 2013

BLOOD STAIN ON RAP 3

CHUTE CANYON

Baptist Draw to Upper Chute Canyon is a great loop hike in the San Rafael Swell that does not require a high-clearance vehicle to access. Make sure you bring really good directions when you visit, and preferably a GPS unit. I had a really difficult time finding Baptist Draw both times I visited, and ended up adding a couple of miles to my hike. Because it is located in the San Rafael Swell, the road, trailhead and trail are all unmarked. Three rappels are required to complete the hike, with the longest being about eighty feet.

The most difficult part of the hike is locating Baptist Draw, which I had to use a GPS to find both times I visited. Once you locate Baptist Draw you will know it, as it is very tight slot canyon that requires you to take your pack off to squeeze through in some sections. There is one short rappel in Baptist Draw that could probably be down-climbed if necessary, as Jesse up-climbed it when our rope got stuck. There was no anchor for this rappel when we visited in May of 2010, so we made one out of some webbing and a carabiner at a pinch. When I visited in 2010, this was actually my first-ever rappel, so it was good to practice on a fairly small drop before making the much longer rappel just down the canyon. Baptist Draw will eventually end at an eighty foot drop-off into Chute Canyon. Both time I visited, this rappel was well anchored by some bolts in the canyon wall.

Just after dropping into Chute Canyon you will reach the third rappel. Be really careful on this one. While it is a very short rappel, it is very awkward, as you are rappelling down an overhang rather than down a flat wall. Because of this you have the tendency to swing into the rock on your way down. I remember scraping my hand a bit after getting it caught between the rope and the rock, and when I visited in 2013, there was a huge blood stain here left by a previous canyoneer. I actually saw spatters of blood on the canyon floor for several miles afterwards. After the third rappel, there are no more major obstacles. Chute Canyon stays really narrow for a couple miles providing some amazing scenery. After about two hours of walking in Chute Canyon, you will exit out a side canyon on your right, which will take you back to your car.

While Chute Canyon was completely dry both times I visited, it has the potential to hold deep water. I have seen video of people slogging through waist deep water on this hike, so be really careful if you are going to attempt this in the winter.

LITTLE WILD HORSE CANYON

MARCH 2007, MARCH 2008, APRIL 2012, NOVEMBER 2018 & SEPTEMBER 2023

LITTLE WILD HORSE CANYON

MIRIAM IN THE NARROWS

MIRIAM WALKING THROUGH THE NARROWS

ELI IN THE NARROWS

LITTLE WILD HORSE CANYON

Little Wild Horse Canyon is one of the best non-technical slot canyons there is. It is also easily accessible, as the trailhead is located just six miles west of Goblin Valley via a well-maintained dirt road. Due to the popularity of the hike, a restroom is even provided at the parking area. The narrows begin about a half-mile from the trailhead and continue for about two-and-a-half miles before the canyon opens up. There are no major obstacles and no equipment is needed. The first time I hiked Little Wild Horse, I combined it with Bell Canyon for an eight-mile loop hike. While Bell Canyon is nice, it is not nearly as cool as Little Wild Horse, so I would recommend just walking up Little Wild Horse for three miles and returning back the way you came for an amazing six-mile round-trip hike.

Little Wild Horse was the first slot canyon I ever hiked back in 2007, and it is what inspired me to keep coming back to southern Utah. I wondered why I had never heard of it until then. I had mistakenly assumed that all the cool stuff in southern Utah was located within the National Parks. However, I later found that there were many National Park-quality areas located on BLM land, without the crowds of the National Parks. Its been over ten years now, and I'm still learning about new places like this in southern Utah that I never knew existed.

When we visited in September, 2023, we had to do a bit of wading towards the start of the narrows. The water was only about knee deep, but it was a fairly long stretch, so we took our shoes and socks off to keep them dry. The rest of the canyon above this section was dry. As we were hiking this during the later afternoon on the Sunday of Labor Day Weekend, we only saw two or three other groups of hikers while were there.

MUDDY CREEK

NOVEMBER 2009 & MARCH 2013

MUDDY CREEK

MUDDY CREEK FROM ABOVE

MUDDY CREEK

Muddy Creek is a beautiful thirteen-mile walk through the Swell. There are many narrows sections, highlighted by the four-mile section known as The Chute where the canyon walls shoot straight up hundreds of feet on each side of the narrow creek. The first time I hiked Muddy Creek was in November of 2009 on an unseasonably warm day, and had the entire canyon to myself. While the air temperature was pleasant, the water temperature was pretty cold, especially in the morning. I spotted a bike at the Hidden Splendor Mine Trailhead, and then drove to the Tomsich Butte Trailhead to begin my walk.

I started hiking around nine in the morning, and tried to avoid walking in the creek as much as I could because of how cold it was at that time. But eventually you are forced to walk through as you enter the first set of narrows. Most of the time you are hiking this route you will be in the shade so you may not want to do it too early or late in the year unless you are in a wetsuit. A wetsuit would make this hike much more enjoyable in the cold seasons. My feet and legs were numb and freezing for the first several miles. However, the creek did eventually warm up as it got later in the day (or I just became numb to it).

Eventually you will enter The Chute. This is an amazing place. The cliff walls appeared to be five or six hundred feet straight up on both sides and continue like this for four miles. While in The Chute, I came to a section in which the water came up to my chest and had a muddy floor that sank in. Feeling especially cold at the time and trying to avoid a swim I back-tracked down canyon and attempted to walk around the section (I had mistakenly assumed I was near the end of The Chute). Once on top of the cliff, there was no way back down to Muddy Creek for several miles, plus the extra miles I walked going around deep canyons jutting out from The Chute. I eventually made it back down to Muddy Creek after The Chute ended and had to walk the last two miles in the dark. I was only able to find the Hidden Splendor Mine Trailhead and my bike by walking toward the GPS coordinate I had marked for my bike and using the light on my GPS display screen to help me somewhat see the ground in front of me. Just after finding my bike I was lucky enough to bump into someone camped nearby who was nice enough to give me a ride back to my car at the Tomsich Butte Trailhead, saving me a sixteen mile bike-ride in the dark.

So my advice on hiking Muddy Creek would be to do it on a warm day in the summer, or bring a wetsuit. Either way, be prepared to swim. Because of how narrow the canyon walls get, parts of this creek can be deep even in winter. Also, bring a dry bag for the things you don't want to get wet. And lastly, don't try to go around any sections. Once you start going down Muddy Creek, keep going down it. I added a couple hours onto my already long day by trying to avoid a cold swim. Better just to suck it up, throw everything in your dry bag and swim when needed. Give yourself plenty of time for this hike. It is thirteen miles, but it can be a slow thirteen miles trudging through mud and trying to avoid any sink holes or deep sections in the creek. If you are hiking this in winter, know that the canyon will start to get dark around five o'clock and will be almost pitch black by six.

I tried this hike again in March of 2013 from the bottom up starting at the Hidden Splendor Mine Trailhead. I did an out-and-back hike, to try to hit some of the spots at the lower end of the canyon that I missed on my last trip when I edged out. It takes a couple miles for the canyon to narrow up, but it was a pleasant walk. I don't remember seeing anyone else that day. Once the canyon narrows up, it becomes very muddy. In some spots you are walking through ankle-deep mud, which can slow you down. After about four miles Muddy Creek got above chest-high, and not having brought a wet suit or dry bag, I decided to turn back. Being March, the water was also really cold.

EAGLE CANYON ARCH

JANUARY 2022

EAGLE CANYON ARCH

SWASEY CABIN

NEAR SWASEY CABIN

DUTCHMAN ARCH

HEAD OF SINBAD PICTOGRAPH

Eagle Canyon Arch is a really enjoyable five-mile roundtrip hike located just south of the I-70 freeway in the San Rafael Swell that doesn't seem to get too much attention. I was really impressed when I visited in January of 2022. Due to how cold it was at the time, I had the entire place to myself, with the exception of a hummer I saw driving out when I was making my way down the trail. I was a bit surprised to see it, as most of the road leading to the arch was covered in snow.

You can actually drive right up to the arch and beyond if you have a rugged-enough vehicle, but I parked at Swasey Cabin, located about two-and-a-half miles from the arch, to be safe. If you hike this during a popular time, its possible the trail could get a lot of vehicles on it, so it's probably best to visit on the off-season or a weekday. The road to Swasey Cabin from the I-70 was pretty-well maintained, and should be passable to most vehicles. Swasey Cabin and the nearby Ice Box Trail were fun to explore and in surprisingly good shape.

If you hike Eagle Canyon Arch, you might as well also visit Dutchman Arch and the Head of Sinbad Pictograph, as they are not too far away and don't require any hiking. They are located just on the other side of the I-70 freeway via a dirt road which travels underneath it. The roads north of the I-70 to Dutchman Arch and the Head of Sinbad are a bit rougher than the road to Swasey Cabin, but I was still able to drive them without much trouble in a Ford Escape.