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Park Service ground
Coyote Gulch
Two arches, a natural bridge and several waterfalls in a canyon with a creek running through it. Also the one place around here with rules that bite, and they are not BLM's.
Start here
The best multi day walk here, and the most regulated
Coyote Gulch is a tributary canyon of the Escalante River with water in it, which in this country changes everything. Cottonwoods, hanging gardens, arches, a natural bridge and waterfalls, all in a canyon you walk down rather than scramble through. Most people who do it once come back.
The catch is administrative. Coyote Gulch is managed by the National Park Service as part of the Escalante District of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, not by BLM, and nothing on the ground tells you where that changes. It carries real restrictions that the rest of the area does not.
Twelve people maximum, carry out all solid human waste, and no fires. These are rules, not suggestions.
Day use needs no backcountry permit, though the Park Service asks you to sign the trail register. Overnight needs a free permit from the Park Service, available at the Escalante Interagency Visitor Center in town or at an entry trailhead. Full detail on the permits page.
Get these wrong and it matters
The three rules
Group size 12
A hard cap. It rules out larger organised parties entirely, and it is worth checking against any guided trip you are considering.
Carry your waste out
All solid human body waste must be contained and carried out using a portable toilet or an engineered waste containment bag. Buy them in town before you go.
No fires
Fires are not permitted in Coyote Gulch. Bring a stove and warm layers rather than planning around a campfire.
The waste rule surprises people more than the others and it is the one that most affects what you pack. It exists because this is a narrow canyon with water in it and heavy use, which is a bad combination for the alternative.
The Park Service also flags flash flooding here specifically. Coyote Gulch is wider than a true slot, which gives you more options, but it is still a drainage and heavy rain still sends water down it. Read flash flood safety before a monsoon trip.
Access
Four ways in, and what each costs you
All four trailheads are off Hole-in-the-Rock Road. Published mileages vary by about a mile between sources, so these are the Park Service figures.
| Trailhead | On the dirt road | Walking | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hurricane Wash | About mile 33 | 12.3 miles to the Escalante River | Easiest access The standard walk in. Long, sandy and gentle. A normal car reaches it when dry. |
| Red Well | About mile 30, plus 1.5 miles of spur | 13 miles to the Escalante River | Quiet The longest route and the least used. Fewer people, more walking. |
| Fortymile Ridge, Water Tank | About mile 35, plus 4 miles of spur | 2 miles to Coyote Gulch | Technical Requires 100 feet or more of class 5 friction climbing. This is not a walk. |
| Fortymile Ridge, Crack in the Wall | About mile 35, plus 7 miles of spur | 2.5 miles to Coyote Gulch | Sandy Includes a 700 foot sand dune, and packs must be lowered through a narrow crack. |
The spur roads are the real gatekeeper
Hurricane Wash and Red Well are reachable by a normal car in dry conditions. The Fortymile Ridge spurs need high clearance, and the last stretch to Crack in the Wall needs four wheel drive because of deep sand. Plenty of trips are decided by the vehicle rather than the legs.
Crack in the Wall is the name people know, and the crack is literal: a narrow gap you pass packs through separately before descending. If you are tall, broad, or carrying a large pack, factor that in honestly.
Why people come back
What is in there
The Park Service describes two arches, a natural bridge and several waterfalls. The best known feature is Jacob Hamblin Arch, a large span with the creek running past it and a spring nearby, and it is the image most people have seen without knowing the name.
What the photographs do not convey is the water. A perennial creek in a desert canyon means cottonwoods, green hanging gardens on the walls, shade, and the sound of running water for the whole walk. After a week in this country that combination is genuinely startling.
It also means wet feet more or less continuously, because the route crosses and follows the creek rather than avoiding it. Shoes you are happy to soak are not optional.
Logistics
Shuttles, loops and out and backs
Enter at one trailhead and leave at another and your car is a long way off, on rough road. That is the shuttle problem, and with one dedicated shuttle operator left in town it needs sorting early. See hiker shuttles.
Walk in and out from Hurricane Wash or Red Well, or do the Crack in the Wall option as a loop from a single trailhead. Both remove the problem entirely and neither is a lesser trip.
Through trips combining a high entry with a low exit. More varied, more committing, and dependent on one operator with limited capacity in a short season.
For a first visit we would take Hurricane Wash in and out, or the Crack in the Wall loop if you have the vehicle for the spur and do not mind the dune. Save the through trip for a second visit when you know the canyon.
Guided backpacking is an option too, and thirty operators hold hiking and backpacking authorisations here, though the 12 person cap applies to them as much as to you. See the outfitters directory and backpacking trips.
Questions we actually get
Frequently asked
Do I need a permit for Coyote Gulch?
Not for day use, though the Park Service asks you to sign the trail register. Overnight requires a free backcountry permit from the National Park Service, available at the Escalante Interagency Visitor Center or at an entry trailhead.
Who manages Coyote Gulch?
The National Park Service, as part of the Escalante District of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. The approach drive and trailheads are on BLM ground off Hole-in-the-Rock Road, which is why people assume it is all BLM. Nothing on the ground marks the change.
What is the group size limit in Coyote Gulch?
Twelve people. It is a hard cap that applies to private parties and guided groups alike, and it is worth confirming against any organised trip you are joining.
Can I have a campfire in Coyote Gulch?
No. Fires are not permitted in Coyote Gulch. Bring a stove and enough warm layers that you are not relying on a fire in the evening.
Do I really have to carry out human waste?
Yes. All solid human body waste must be contained and carried out using a portable toilet or an engineered waste containment bag. Buy what you need in town, because there is nowhere to get it on the road.
Which Coyote Gulch trailhead should I use?
Hurricane Wash for a first trip, at about mile 33, reachable by a normal car in dry conditions and 12.3 miles to the Escalante River. Crack in the Wall is shorter walking but needs four wheel drive for the spur and involves a 700 foot sand dune. The Water Tank route requires class 5 friction climbing and is not a walk.
Sort the permit and the vehicle
The walking is the easy part here. The trailhead road and the free Park Service permit are what need deciding first.
Day hiking instead? See the slot canyons and Calf Creek.
Twelve people max, waste carried out, no fires. Free permit for overnight.
Permit details