I have never had such a strong and opposing opinion on a canyon as I have Devil's Crack, aka Devil's Hole This short canyon, south of Naples, Utah, was striking beautiful and stood out in contrast to other outings and scenery in the area I adored the sculpted walls, easy access, and fun little climbing moves like a schoolboy with a first crush Alas, though, every rose has its thorn, I suppose The crushing negative to Devil's Crack is that it is home to dozens of birds That doesn't sound so bad, you may be thinking ...

Crack Canyon, as it cuts a deep path through the reef, is a great adventure and not to be missed if you are in the Southern Swell area It's easy access, striking scenery, and ease make it a great choice for a family hike The hike is best in the Fall, Winter, or Spring, and can be blistering hot in the summer It is a dog-friendly hike if you use the bypasses for the most difficult sections

Coyote Gulch is one of, if not thee, premier canyon in Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument The canyon, emblematic of the beauty of the Escalante region, is often near the top of desert hikers and backpackers bucket lists This is a canyon that has astounding beauty and charm, with seemingly each bend of the canyon revealing a scene to marvel at Arches, waterfalls, cavernous alcoves, rock art, and a plethora of color make this an amazing journey Because of its iconic status, the canyon sees many visitors and ...

Compared to its neighbors, Crack Canyon to the east and Little Wild Horse to the west, Chute Canyon comes off as a bit of a dud Wide and high walled, it is easy to pass through and lacks the narrow slot sections of its neighbors Chute Canyon is best visited as a loop hike going down Crack and up Chute, or as a casual after dinner hike after climbing Chute Buttress The loop hike is fairly long, but can be shortened a bit with two cars Though long, I recommend it Seeing Crack Canyon, then traversing along the face of...

The North Fork of Robbers Roost has always been one of my favorites Relatively short, but quite beautiful, it is a charmer On our groups first trip through in about 2005, we saw little signs of traffic On my most recent trip, I was surprised at the well worn trail Clearly this has become a popular canyon There are two commons ways to do North Fork The first is the "full meal deal" This involves seeing the whole North Fork, then exiting up the Crack Route Expect about 5-7 hours for this loop Exiting the Crack Route ...

The Wives are a total of 7 short canyons in Capitol Reef that are side drainages of Cohab Canyon The canyons are all very short, so only take an hour or so once the approach is made A competent group can do 2-3 of them easily in a day That being said, if you are OCD, such as myself, you will undoubtedly do all 7 For those more quality oriented, Wife 5 is head and shoulders above the rest Wife 3 is also fairly good Beyond that, I would not highly recommend the others Wife 4 and 1 are OK, next I would put Wife 2, and...

Driving the Wolverine Loop Road, it is hard to miss the large rock slope that the road skirts and climbs around The narrow crack that parallels the road looked too inviting on my drive, so I had to stop and check it out! The crack, Frog Canyon, turns out to be shallow, usually only 10-20 ft deep, but incredibly sinuous and sculpted This is not a canyon I would make the long trek out to visit on its own, but coupled with something else in the area, it is an absolute treat! The canyon can be ascended or descended, bu...

THE tower to do in Arches National Park, Owl Rock likely sees more traffic than most of the other routes in the park combined On some weekends, I've seen several groups lined up at the base waiting their turn Why the appeal The climbing is fun, and the views spectacular Though the route climbs a crack, the climbing is more reminiscent of jug-like big hold gym climbing that traditional hand and foot crack climbing For the rating, it is surprisingly steep, but also surprisingly positive climbing This is a route I've ...

The Swell is steeped in history, from the Native Americans that passed through to the early settlers and Uranium miners This hike visits a bit of that history The hike is moderate, with a fair bit of elevation gain, and a fair bit of distance That being said, it is an excellent hike, and recommended in Fall, Winter, or Spring when the temperatures are cooler Although easy access from the freeway, it doesn't seem crowded of overly traveled The combination of the early settler ruins, a historic horse trail, and expan...

If there is one adventurous hike to do in the Cederberg Wilderness Area, this is it! Very popular, and for good reason, this is a hike with an adventurous feel and is a lot of fun Many people just do the Wolfberg Cracks I would recommend adding the additional miles to see Wolfberg Arch as well Once up the cracks, the hiking along the top to the arch is easy and very stunning This is an amazing hike that is do-able most any time The steep part of the hike is in the shade much of the day, making it approachable even ...