Tunnel Slot Hike

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Hiking-The Subway The Subway is a classic semi-technical slot canyon hike in Zion National Park. To complete the hike you wade/swim/scramble/climb down the Left Fork of North Creek. The stream is the trail for most of the route. Some of the holes are deep enough that you do have to swim, and the water is cold. Overview This is a difficult loop trail to Tunnel Slot Canyon in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. This trail goes by Zebra Slot Canyon. Willis Creek Slot Canyon is located only 45 minutes from Bryce Canyon National Park, yet tourists hardly ever make the drive to the trailhead.This is one of the 'local's secret hikes'. Zebra and Tunnel Slot are both unique and distinct spots. Often photographed, Zebra lives up to its name with amazing pink stripes. Tunnel Slot, as the name implies, is a short section of slot resembling a tunnel. Bring your camera and the kids, this is a great family outing. The hike is reasonably short, with straightforward navigation.

Tunnel Slot is located down Harris Wash about 20 minutes away from Zebra. If you have plans to do this, get information at the BLM Visitor Center in Escalante before you get here. We chose to skip Tunnel Slot and continue down Hole-in-the-Rock Road to Peek-A-Boo and Spooky Gulches. To get back to your car, return the same way.

Many of Zion's canyons are deep, long and have a permanent stream flowing through, but the national park also contains plenty of short, narrow slots, and the easiest reached is undoubtedly Keyhole Canyon, the lower end of which is just 300 feet from UT 9, on the east side of the park half way between the entrance station and the Zion-Mt Carmel Tunnel. Keyhole has three sections of narrows; a shallow, open, upper section, a short enclosed middle with several moderate obstacles then a deeper, 500 foot long lower slot where ropes are required in at least three places to overcome sheer drops of up to 20 feet.

Tunnel Slot Hike Game

The compact nature of the narrows and the proximity to the highway mean that Keyhole is considered to be the best place in the national park to learn or practise rappelling techniques, though despite this the majority of the canyon can still be seen by regular hikers. The rocks in the narrows are eroded into the familiar wavy formations and contain numerous thin strata so the canyon is quite pretty, just not as photogenic as some since the majority of the passageways are rather gloomy.
The Navajo sandstone rock in this location is naturally dull red in color and most surfaces have been weathered to shades of grey and black; together with the predominantly east-west orientation, the overhanging rocks in the narrows and the higher cliffs above on the south side, much of the canyon is only rarely illuminated by the sun so the deepest parts are dark and cold. Pools and patches of mud persist in some sections all year.

Topographic Map of Keyhole Canyon

Photographs

17 views of Keyhole Canyon.

Location

Parking for the hike is 2 miles from the eastern national park entrance at two small pull-outs along UT 9 - one immediately south of the end of the canyon and another round a corner to the east (see map below).

Route Description

The lower end of the narrows can be seen by hiking up from the road, past a tunnel that takes flood waters under the highway, and reaching the slot after a 5 minute walk up the sandy wash. Red and white cliffs rise steeply overhead, and the canyon is soon dark and enclosed. A chokestone above a pool provides the first major obstacle; webbing is attached to a rappel point though the rock is easy enough to climb. Beyond are darker passages containing cold, muddy pools, enclosed by stratified rock walls that in some places are angled away from vertical.

Similar Canyons

Tunnel Slot Hike Grand Staircase

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Zebra Slot Canyon is located off of Hole in the Rock Road, near Escalante, UT. The hike is only 2 miles in, and the best section of the striped walls only lasts for about 100 ft. Getting to the slot is quite easy, as it meanders through Juniper & Sage brush, cuts through a beautiful red rock canyon, then open up as you walk through the sandy dry wash, and eventually leads to the iconic striped walls resembling zebra stripes.The biggest issue with hiking through Zebra Slot Canyon is the water; 90% of the time this canyon has standing water from recent/prior rain storms. When I saw that some friends went, and said it was completely dry, I knew I had to hurry and get down there. I had attempted Zebra back in November 2014 but was full of icy water. I wasn’t properly dressed or had neoprene socks to walk through that. I knew I had to get back, and we timed it perfectly this time.

Tunnel Slot Hike Trail

Drive East of Escalante, UT on HWY 12, then turn right onto Hole in the Rock Road. Reset your odometer and drive 8 miles. The TH/parking lot is right at a cattle guard, and the trail starts on the East side of the road.

Here is a driving map.

Distance: 5 miles RT

Elevation gain: flat, 23 ft

Time: 2-4 hours

Tunnel Slot Hike Games

Dog friendly? Yes, off leash but read advisory below

Kid friendly? Yes, but read advisory below

Fees/Permits? None

Can I bring my dog here?

Though dogs are allowed off leash, and we brought ours along, I wouldn’t recommend taking dogs here. Zebra slot canyon is very narrow; there are also several tight obstacles they need assistance with – the hardest is getting them over a really narrow section at the bottom. We had to sit cross-canyon (legs and back agains the wall), and let the dogs walk over our laps to get across! Another option would be to bring them, but then each hiker goes one by one to get to the end, then comes back and trades off watching the dogs at the canyon entrance. If you still want to bring your dog, make sure they wear a dog harness to help pull them over obstacles.

Is this a good hike for kids?

Kids who are comfortable with tight spaces and scrambling will have fun and do well. They will need help getting over/through the tightest sections.

What should I bring?

Each person should carry at least 2-3 liters of water. The simpler & lighter you go, the easier it will be getting through the canyon. We opted to leave our packs at the canyon entrance so we didn’t have to worry about carrying them through. The best section is really short anyway, and you should need anything out of your pack for 15-20 minutes. Also don’t wear your “nice” hiking clothes – the canyon walls will scrape your clothes and they can get torn. Dress in layers – even in January we were down to tank tops when popped out of the canyon into the sun.

The parking area is big, and is right on the other side of the cattle guard off Hole in the Rock Road (HITR), on the West side fo the road.

The trail starts on the East side of HITR road.

The trail is very easy as it meanders through Sage & Juniper trees – pass the No Collection sign.

As you can see the trail is very exposed – no shade for the entire hike. Make sure you carry sunblock, plenty of water, and a hat, even in Winter.

Hike past the Wilderness Study Area sign, and you will now be in a dry wash called Halfway Hollow.

Cut through the gate either right through the swining ladders, or off to the right, where you can move a gate to get through.

You should now be hiking through some amazing red rock country!

Tunnel Slot Hike Grand Canyon

Once you reach the large, dry Harris Wash, head left. You can either walk through the middle of the wash, or off to the side on the right through some sage brush. Either way it’s slow going since it’s thick sand.

Entrance to Zebra. The temperatures weren’t even that hot, yet Charlie decided to take a break in the shade. We dropped our packs right around the corner so we didn’t have to shimmy through the slot with them on.

@adventuresofpollyandmac gets a boost from her mom as the canyon narrows.

I think they are all saying, “ME FIRST!” This was one of the toughest sections to get them over because the ground was too narrow for even us to put our feet. We had to put our backs and legs against the walls, then let the dogs walk over our legs!

Same tough spot, but looking back to the others as they get the last dog, Copper, across. He was the hardest since he is the biggest dog at 80 lbs.

The canyon stays narrow, but this time the dogs can make it through themselves.

And after one last boost up for Charlie, we found the best section. It’s even more amazing in person! The end of the canyon is only about 10 ft behind me. To be honest, it’s a long, dry, sandy hike to get to for such a short section of the zebra stripes. This was my second time here, and I finally got to see the best part, but wouldn’t do this hike again.

Trail map (you can see my GPS went a little crazy in the slot canyon)

The Ultimate Guide – Dog Friendly Hikes in Escalante, Utah!

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