Cathedral in the Desert is a magnificent natural alcove located in Clear Creek Canyon, a tributary of the Escalante River arm of Lake Powell. Before the reservoir filled in the 1960s, it was considered one of the most beautiful sites in Glen Canyon, rivaling Zion Canyon and other iconic Southwest landscapes.

The centerpiece is a towering, cathedral-like chamber of Navajo Sandstone with high vertical walls and an elegant pour-off waterfall that trickles down a smooth, bowl-shaped recess. The spot embodies the beauty that was lost beneath Lake Powell and is often cited in debates over restoring Glen Canyon.

After the lake filled, it was considered lost but re-emerged in 2005 due to low lake levels. After hearing about this magical place for years, I had the incredible good fortune to visit in the spring of 2005, when it had fully re-emerged due to low lake levels. That trip was by boat, and a friend let my partner and me off at Hole-In-The-Rock. We hiked up the Hole-In-The-Rock trail, then cross-country, and descended Clear Creek. The canyon left a lasting impression on me as one of the most beautiful places I had seen.

In 2025, with lake levels about 6 feet higher than when I visited in 2005, I decided I needed to visit this magical place again. This time, without a boat, I visited from the Hole-In-The-Rock-Road, left ropes, and ascended out. It was as magical as I remembered!

Notes on Visiting:

• You either need a boat to pick you up at the bottom of the canyon or fix ropes to ascend out. There is no hiking way out of the bottom.
• A boat drop-off at Hole-In-The-Rock and pickup at the Cathedral In the Desert would be my recommendation if you have a boat and someone willing to do the shuttle.
• Fixing ropes turned out to not be too bad. The rappels are all easy to ascend with ascenders. This offers the advantage of getting to see the canyon twice.
• Lake level matters a lot. The top of the Cathedral waterfall is about 3,605’. If the lake is above that level, you won't see the cathedral; it will be underwater. As the level drops below 3,605’, the waterfall and Cathedral become visible. Below about 3,565', a sandbar emerges across the canyon from the bottom of the cathedral waterfall you can stand on. In 2005, at 3,555', the last rappel into the cathedral deposited me into shallow water. In 2025, at 3,561', the bottom of the waterfall was a swimmer, but the sandbar on the opposite side of the canyon was large and dry.

Though the cathedral is spectacular and lives up to the hype, I think the canyon above the cathedral is also stunning.

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