Exploring Utah - Red Canyon - Exploring Northwest Arkansas

07/28/2016

Exploring Utah - Red Canyon

One of the biggest surprises to our trip to Utah last fall was an unexpected stop at Red Canyon. In planning our trip, Red Canyon was an area that I never really saw mentioned. There was only one page on the area in our 300 page travel guide, and barely a mention of it on any of the online planning tools. However, when we passed Red Canyon on the drive to Bryce Canyon, we knew we had to stop in and check it out.

Red Canyon is 14 miles WEST of the Bryce Canyon National Park entrance on Highway 12. We passed the area shortly after turning onto Highway 12 from Highway 89. We took a couple of photos from the highway on the way to Bryce Canyon, but saved time at the end of our day at Bryce to come back and check out a few of the hiking trails here.

You can't miss the Red Canyon, as the highway actually passes through two tunnels carved out of the rock here., and the red rock formations are definitely striking as you drive through.

Red Canyon also has a 9 mile long paved biking trail that looks like a magnificent place for riding.

We stopped back by the Red Canyon Visitors Center which is on the east side of the park. There is a nice visitors center here with water, restrooms and trail maps. While the Red Canyon area is quite large and also contains several horseback riding and ATV trails, the section nearest the visitors center has many family-friendly trails that are for hikers only. And with several trail options, it offers nine different trails that can be combined to form loops that range from .5 miles to 15 miles in length.

In spite of the proximity to the highway, and accessibility, the trails weren't terribly busy when we were there and the scenery was fantastic.

We started hiking on the west side of the visitors center on the Hoodoo Trail. The Hoodoo Trail is a .3 mile loop that goes through the valley through sagebrush, juniper trees and just below two large hoodoos that rest high on the hill that appear as if they are standing watch over the area.

All of the trails are well-marked and easy to follow, and most near the visitors center don't stray very far from the highway, so you can usually avoid any fear of getting lost by knowing where the highway is at all times.

After a short distance, the Hoodoo trail turns to the right and forks. To the left is the Birdseye Trail -- that runs high along the bluffs further west for approximately .8 miles or the Hoodoo Trail continues back to the right. We remained on the Hoodoo trail.

After another short distance, the trail forks again. At this fork, the Hoodoo Trail stays to the right in the valley area and heads back to the visitors center. However, to the left is the Pink Ledges Trail.

The Pink Ledges Trail is a .4 mile trail that runs from the Hoodoo Trail about 200 feet up into the red cliffs, and then back down to the parking area by the visitors center. We turned LEFT here and took the Pink Ledges Trail.

After the climbing on the trail, it provides some spectacular views back to the hoodoos and the valley below.

The "Pink Ledges" name definitely was warranted.

A look back at the trail and the hoodoos.

Really, this was just a fantastic hike throughout. The trail was smooth and easy to follow, and even though there is a slight elevation gain, the trail seemed very family friendly.

The Hoodoo Trail/Pink Ledges Trail loop is roughly a .7 mile hike -- that was filled with incredible scenery and was the perfect spot after a busy hiking day for us. I'm surprised that this area isn't talked about more, because although it is overshadowed by Bryce Canyon just a few miles away, it is a great experience and would be a great entry point to hiking for a family with young kids or people new to hiking.

We'll definitely plan to spend more time here on our next visit to the area. We were pretty short on time after a busy day of hiking in Bryce Canyon and then heading down to Zion still that evening, but we are glad we made the time for our short hike here.