Tunnel Slot Canyon Escalante

• Tunnel Slot Canyon Escalante Rim
• Tunnel Slot Canyon Escalante Reservoir
• Zebra And Tunnel Slot Canyons Escalante Utah
• Tunnel Slot Canyon Escalante

Turn left (north) and travel up the side canyon for 0.2 miles to Tunnel Slot. The “tunnel” slot is over 200-ft. Long and is usually filled with water. Depending on the temperate and the time of year a wade through the tunnel may be a welcome relief from the hot sun.

• Experience Southern Utah’s Zion National Park and Peekaboo Slot Canyon to view the beautiful canyons, and colorful picnic in brilliant colors. Observe a dramatic scenery change as your tour gains nearly 6,000 feet in elevation, from desert to towering Ponderosa pine forests!Travelers will stop at Zion National Park Visitor Center.
• Zebra Slot canyon was a very strenuous hike but well worth it. Hiking in the views are similar to surrounding area, pretty but not fascinating. Once in the slot it changes dramatically and picture worthy. Road to slot canyon is gravel and washboard.

April 16, 2014

Yesterday's visit to the tourist-infested Calf Creek Falls area was just a warmup; today it is time to venture down the hideous Hole-in-the-Rock Road to the first of several scheduled trailheads. Compelled to travel at as little as 10 miles per hour in places due to washboarding of the road surface, my Outback is delighted when I stop to park after just eight miles of torture.

Clouds are abundant, but non-threatening. For me, it always is difficult to predict what will happen to the weather around here.

Getting started

Before long, the trail reaches a rocky area sporting some predictably interesting formations.

That fence isn't guarding much of anything

As I reach another open area, I know that the first objective is over in that next rock outcropping.

Heading for the distant slickrock

There it is — an opening in the rock just where it is supposed to be:

Approaching Zebra Slot

Just inside the entrance, a little puddle is easy enough to inch around.

A minor obstacle

Claustrophobic, yet exciting

I must admit that being in here alone is a bit eerie. I'm no fraidy-cat, but I cannot help being reminded of the commemorativeplaque down at Lower Antelope Canyon showing the names of the eleven people who drowned in a flash flood there in 1997, while in the company of the resident guide (the only survivor). Today's skies are sufficiently inclement that, when I encounter a section of canyon that would necessitate a scramble though a section just six inches wide, I decide to proceed no further.

Some nice photos are going to be missed

I breathe just a bit more easily after exiting the slot.

Off to the next attraction

Just half a mile around the corner is the entrance to a scenic wash with rock walls steep enough to prevent climbing in an emergency, but I'll venture in anyway.

Some neat stuff around the opening

It's time to go in...

..or is it?

Oops! No sooner do I enter the slot than I encounter a puddle more than a foot deep, and there's no way around it. A strong canyoneer could inch his way over it, I suppose; but I am not one of those. Thwarted again!

Heading out already

Well, that's too bad; it wasn't far to the other end. When visiting slotcanyons in the springtime, one must be prepared to deal with water hazards.

Patterns

According to my research, there is some special stuff above the upper end of Tunnel Slot. Today I cannot get through it; but by returning to the mouth of the canyon I should be able to go up and around, and I do. Locating the objects of my search proves easy, because they are all over the place:

Moqui marbles ⇔

Tunnel Slot Canyon Escalante Rim

The spherules are iron oxide concretions — a sort of hematite 'glue' around a sandstone center. They weather more slowly than the surrounding stratum, finally detaching from the host rock as it erodes away. These geologic phenomena were predicted to exist on Mars; and in fact such 'Martian blueberries' were discovered at Meridiani Planum.

Moqui marbles had substantial spiritual significance to the Hopi Indians. Nowadays any interest tends to be purely commercial, and that is principally why it is illegal to remove these or other materials from federal parklands. I will content myself with a few photographic memories.

Upper Tunnel Slot Canyon is a contorted sandstone maze, seemingly unable to make up its mind.

Reminiscent of The Wave down near Buckskin Gulch ⇔

Heading back down beside the deep wash

Former plant life

Now that I know the lay of the land, it is easy to shortcut back across the open area.

More patterns

The threatening sprinkles have arrived. I really need to get a poncho long enough to cover my lumbar pack, thereby solving several issues. As it is, I wrap my rain gear around my camera and carry it under an arm as I scurry down the last mile of path to the trailhead. Just now, four hikers appear — the only humans I have seen today.

Trying to beat the rain

Tunnel Slot Canyon Escalante Reservoir

§: This nearly level walk served as a good initiation to the wonders of Escalante. Although my canyon explorations were curtailed by prevailing conditions, visiting all the fantastic rock formations was a lot of fun, and observing my first-ever Moqui marbles was a real treat.

• Trailhead: 8 miles from SR-12 on Hole-in-the-Rock Road
• Distance: 7½ miles
• Elevation: 5400' to 5200'
• Hikers: 4
• Rating: 5 (more in drier weather)

I think I found my new favorite place to hike, photograph and explore; The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (GSENM). It’s a huge area of land on the Utah and Arizona Border. From my brief adventures to the Devils Garden, Old Paria and Coyote Buttes I have a great admiration for the area and look forward to future trips here. The week I traveled deep into the GSENM to Zebra and Tunnel Slot canyons.

From the parking area (directions below) you head East onto a well traveled trail that takes you about 2 miles in to the edge of Harris wash. From hear it becomes your choice; head up the wash to Zebra Slot, or head down towards Tunnel slot. I chose Zebra first because I was really excited to climb into it, but I was curious to find some Moqui Marbles. Moqui Marbles are these amazing rocks that are like natures M&Ms. The chocolate coating is lava rock and the center is sandstone. I read about them while researching this hike and are supposed to have spiritual qualities.(Zebra Slot, Left)

I made my way slowly up the very sandy Harris Wash and made it to the entrance to Zebra Slot. I was looking forward to hiking deep into the slot canyon, but quickly realized that was out of the question. Zebra Slot was full of water, up to my chest before I decided to back out. I didn’t think to bring a dry bag for camera equipment. I wasn’t expecting water, especially this much. So I stashed my gear and waded back into the slot even further. More water and narrowing of the canyon, deflated I headed towards Tunnel Slot.(Harris Wash, Right)

I hadn’t planned to hike to Tunnel Slot when embarked today but after the Zebra I was fired up. About a mile down the wash I barely spotted a small cairn on the left side of the wash leading me up a side canyon. The canyon floor was soaked with water and I feared the worst ahead. As I reached the entrance to Tunnel Slot I was ready to get wet again. The cool part of Tunnel Slot is that it’s only about 100ft long, so wading into the water was less of a mystery than Zebra was. I could see the light at the end of the tunnel so to speak… A really interesting Slot canyon, a very narrow opening at the top and a wide tunnel where flood water flow through. Making my way through Tunnel slot the Canyon started to open back up. Time to head back to the other side of the slot canyon and sat down for a quick snack before hiking the 3 miles back to the car. (Tunnel Slot, Left)

Zebra And Tunnel Slot Canyons Escalante Utah

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Tunnel Slot Canyon Escalante

-Jon

Directions: From Escalante, Utah, take the main road, Highway 12, east through Escalante. The road will head in a southeastern direction. Follow Hwy 12 for five miles, and as the highway makes a left curve, the unpaved Hole in the Rock Road will be on the right side of the road. From here you will head southeast on the unpaved Hole in the Rock Road for approximately 8 miles. Turn right into a small dirt lot, no official trailhead for tunnel or zebra slot canyons, but a well traveled trail can be found a crossed the road to the eat.

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