2 Mile Roundtrip Hike Through a Beautiful Pink, Orange, Tangerine, and Red Tall Slot Canyon

26.8 miles down the Hole-in-the-Rock Road lies The Dry Fork Slot Canyon and it is a cool, beautiful, colorful, and wondrous approximately 2 mile roundtrip hike off of the Hole-in-the-Rock Road in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

When I explored the Dry Fork years ago, there were a few hiccups to my adventure. The first was the fact that my 2WD Tacoma of the time couldn’t climb the sharp slick rocks that made up the road, not to mention the road was so banked I honestly thought I was going to roll my truck (I wasn’t). So I had to park a good bit of ways away and walk to the trailhead where a bunch of Jeeps and some off road vans were parked. I then began the descent down the steep sandstone and sandy hike that makes up the route to the little canyon where the three main slot canyons of the area are. There’s Dry Fork, the one I’m about to explain, and then the famous Peek-a-boo and Spooky. Besides how awesome and spectacular and fun the two Peek-a-boo and Spooky are, the great thing about them is you go down Peek and then start the back end of Spooky, which creates a super convenient loop. So I knew this going in but I did not know that Dry Fork existed. I simply didn’t know it was there so naturally, I began going down what I thought was Peek-a-boo and I was absolutely delighted the entire time. It was so beautiful and much cooler than the desert floor. The sandstone walls and path are gorgeous and range in colors from pink to red to yellow and orange. It’s a great quick hike at about 2 miles round trip with one mile being in and one mile being out.

Because this is Dry Fork and not Peek-a-boo, which I did not know, at the end of the slot canyon I exited and began following a trail through the sun exposed coral pink sand to what I assumed was the nearby Spooky. The next 45 minutes of walking through the desert in 90° with a cowboy hat on and almost out of water were not the most pleasant moments and I did indeed run out of water. But then I approached a family sitting under a tree at the end of Peek-a-boo whom I asked (probably looking rough) if they’d just exited Spooky and they responded negative, they’d just done Peek and they were taking a break. I did not know what I had done yet but I knew I had goofed.

Now there’s a freaking parking lot and pit toilets and they’ve built trails… it’s so lame and the wild and woolly west is slowly becoming less wild… but here I am, making a website that also slowly chips away at the wilderness… the adventurer’s dilemma.