Zebra Slot Canyon in Grand Staircase Escalante
After hiking Antelope Canyon, I assumed I’d seen the pinnacle of slot canyons… That was until I learned about Zebra Spooky, and Peek-a-Boo slots (I wrote about Spooky and Peek-a-Boo in another post). All three are located on Hole in the Rock Road within Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. Hole in the Rock is a long, dirt road, but it’s well taken care of so you shouldn’t need 4 wheel-drive, barring inclement weather conditions.
Zebra slot is the first slot canyon you come to, not far down Hole in the Rock Road. The hike is short and relatively easy, but it’s one of the coolest hikes I’ve been on. You spend a few miles walking through formations that look a good deal like the elusive Wave formation… The hike through the actual slot canyon, however, is relatively challenging. Not because it requires endurance, but because it requires scrambling, some climbing, and long hikes through deep, icy water in very narrow (10 inches wide or less) passages. I wouldn’t recommend trying this canyon if you’re claustrophobic, afraid of scrambling, or unwilling to walk through extremely cold water. If you’re willing to risk those things, it’s 100% worth it and really, really fun. Here are my tips on getting the most out of your hike:
- You’ll encounter water immediately upon entering the canyon. Regardless of what you read or hear, expect to walk through some amount of water in this canyon. And expect this water to have ice in it, so your legs will go numb.
- The water most likely won’t go above mid-to-low thighs. It also will be deepest in the parts where the canyon is the most narrow. That’s spooky, but if you can get through that, you’re in for a big reward on the other side.
- The water never really ends (at least it didn’t for us), but there are breaks where the canyon floor is dry for awhile. Push as quickly as you can through the first bit of water to keep your legs from going numb and get to the dry part.
- After you make it through the first stretch of water, the canyon will dry out and the zebra stripes will begin. This is a good place to turn back if you aren’t comfortable climbing.
- After this, you’ll quickly encounter a 10-12 foot dry fall. You’ll probably want to climb over it to keep going. Just beware that this is a tougher climb than it appears, particularly if you end up coming back down (like we did).
- After the dry fall, you’ll encounter pockets of canyon with deep pools of water and slick, 10 foot or higher sides. To keep going, you need to climb up these sides. This could be feasible if the water was low. When we were there, it was above my head, so we didn’t attempt it. Instead, we climbed back down the dry fall, which was a lot tougher than coming up it.
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