Home › Escalante, Utah › Peek-a-boo and Spooky
Self guided
Peek-a-boo and Spooky
The two best known slot canyons in the Escalante area, and the two the local guides will not take you to. Going alone is the normal way to do this. Here is exactly what it involves.
Start here
Up Peek-a-boo, across, down Spooky
The standard loop climbs into Peek-a-boo at a dryfall, walks out the top of it, crosses about half a mile of desert on a cairned trail, then drops into Spooky and comes back down the wash. Depending on where you park and whether you add Brimstone, expect somewhere between three and a half and six miles and most of a day once the drive is counted.
Do it in that direction. The hardest obstacle is the entry climb into Peek-a-boo, and taking it first means you find out whether you can do it before you have committed to anything.
The two things that turn people back are a climb at the start and a gap you cannot fit through in the middle.
No permit, no fee, no reservation, no ranger. The whole cost is the drive and your nerve. If any of the above sounds like more than you want, a local operator will take you to a quieter canyon instead, which is often the better day. See slot canyon tours.
Step by step
The route
The whole thing is rated 1A in the canyon rating system, meaning no technical gear and no water. That rating describes the equipment, not the effort, and plenty of fit people find the obstacles harder than the number suggests.
The crux
Getting into Peek-a-boo
The canyon starts above the wash floor and you have to climb a dryfall to enter it. There are footholds carved into the sandstone and, usually, stacked rocks at the bottom left by previous parties.
Sources disagree on how high it is, so here is both
BLM describes a twelve foot climb to gain entry. Two detailed route guides call the same obstacle a twenty foot dryfall with steps carved into the sandstone. We have not measured it. What everyone agrees on is that it is the hardest move of the day, that a partner and a hand from below make a large difference, and that it is harder coming down than going up, which is the other argument for using it as the way in.
If you cannot make the climb, that is the end of Peek-a-boo and not the end of the day. Dry Fork Narrows takes no climbing at all, and you can walk up the bed of Spooky from its lower end for a while before the constrictions begin.
The other thing that stops people
Spooky is about ten inches wide
That figure comes from BLM and it is not a figure of speech. At the tightest points you take your pack off, hold it in front of you or drag it, turn sideways and shuffle. Route guides describe these as true slots, so narrow you must remove your pack to move at all.
Larger adults turn around here regularly. So do people who did not know they were claustrophobic until the walls touched both shoulders. Neither is a failure and both are completely ordinary, but there are two practical points worth knowing before you are in there.
- You will know within thirty seconds. If the narrowness is going to be a problem, it announces itself almost immediately. Back out then, while there is nobody behind you.
- Reversing is harder than going forward. A slot funnels people one way, and turning a party around in a ten inch gap is slow and unpleasant. Decide early.
Route guides are consistent that the loop is not suitable for young children because of the climb and the squeezes. Local guided trips take ages seven and up, in canyons chosen to suit the group. See Escalante with kids.
Read this before you add it
Brimstone
Why it is different
Brimstone sits roughly three quarters of a mile further down the wash from Spooky. It is the longest and darkest of the three, with minimal light and harder obstacles, and it is tighter than either.
The warning
At least one hiker has become wedged in Brimstone and required rescue. Route guides state plainly: do not force your way into any extremely tight constriction. There is no phone signal out here and no quick help.
Most people should skip it, and skipping it costs you nothing. Peek-a-boo and Spooky are the reason you drove out, and Brimstone is a serious step up rather than a bonus lap.
The drive is half the trip
Getting to the trailhead
From Escalante, drive five miles east on Scenic Byway 12 and turn onto Hole-in-the-Rock Road. Continue 26 miles to the Dry Fork turnoff, then 1.7 miles in on a rougher spur. Allow an hour each way and more if the washboard is bad.
BLM advises that low clearance vehicles should stop at the first parking area and walk the remaining stretch to the trailhead. There are toilets at Devils Garden about 12 to 13 miles in and none at Dry Fork, where human waste is a stated problem. Day use only at the parking area.
If the road is wet, do not go
The surface holds clay that turns to grease when wet, and four wheel drive does not solve it. Vehicles get stuck out here every season, there is no phone signal, and recovery is slow and expensive. Check the weekly road report at the visitor center on 435-826-5499 before you set off.
Kit and safety
What to take, and what to watch
- A small pack. Large packs do not fit through Spooky, and you will be passing it through gaps and holding it overhead.
- More water than feels sensible. None at the trailhead, none in the canyons.
- Shoes with grip for slickrock. Trainers are fine, sandals are not.
- A headtorch. The deeper sections are dark at midday and Brimstone is darker.
- Offline maps and a paper backup. No signal from the moment you leave pavement.
- Everything you need to pack out, including toilet paper.
The serious risk is not the climb or the squeeze. It is water. A slot canyon drains a large area, and rain falling twenty or thirty miles away on ground you cannot see arrives as a wall of water in a space with no exits. The sky above you can stay blue throughout. If there is any chance of rain anywhere upstream, do not enter. Full detail on flash flood safety, and timing on best time to visit.
Tell somebody your plan and your expected return time before you leave town, because you cannot call for help from out there.
Questions we actually get
Frequently asked
Do I need a permit for Peek-a-boo and Spooky?
No. BLM lists the fee for this trailhead as none, there is no day use permit and parking is free and unreserved. Overnight camping in the area is a separate question covered on the permits page.
Which way round should I do the loop?
Up Peek-a-boo and down Spooky. That puts the hardest obstacle, the entry dryfall, at the start, so you learn whether you can do it before committing. The dryfall is also harder to descend than to climb.
How narrow is Spooky really?
About ten inches at its tightest, according to BLM. You take your pack off, turn sideways and shuffle. Larger adults turn around here regularly and so do people who discover they are claustrophobic, and both are entirely normal.
Can I do it with children?
Route guides are consistent that the loop is not suitable for young children because of the dryfall climb and the constrictions. Dry Fork Narrows nearby has neither and is a good alternative. Local guided trips take ages seven and up in canyons chosen to suit.
Can a guide take me through these two canyons?
Not a local one. The Escalante based canyoneering operator states that it does not guide Spooky, Peekaboo or Tunnel. Trips to these canyons sold through large booking sites generally depart from Bryce Canyon City or Kanab, two to three hours away each way.
Can I get there in a rental car?
In dry conditions usually yes. The 26 miles of Hole-in-the-Rock Road are graded dirt and fine for a standard car driven slowly, and BLM advises low clearance vehicles to park at the first parking area and walk the last stretch of the spur. When the road is wet you should not be on it at all.
Going alone, or not
If the climb and the squeeze put you off, there is a better day available at the same price as the drive.
Other canyons worth the drive: Zebra and Coyote Gulch.
No permit, no fee. Just an hour of dirt road and a forecast to check.
Check the road first