Arizona/Utah Trip – KANAB

Next stop Utah! We stayed in Kanab very close to the border. They call it the “little Hollywood” of Utah. Many films shot around here. On the way there we found the Nautilus, which was off the beaten path and not well known, but definitely worth a stop. Best known hike around here is The Wave, but we weren’t lucky in the lottery to win a pass to hike it. We had fun nonetheless here.

We did a UTV tour to Peek-a-Boo Canyon with Kanab tour Company. This was one of our favourite days. Shelley our guide was just incredible. She was kind, knowledgeable, took pictures for us, pointed out photo ops and did demonstrations in the sand showing us how arches and slot canyons are formed. It is difficult and near impossible to hike or drive to the slot canyon, but taking a Polaris is recommended and fun! We followed Shelley’s vehicle through deep sand, water, forest and slick rock. After taking us through Peek-a-boo Canyon we rode our Polaris through the wilderness for about an hour, much to Cory’s delight.

We didn’t win the lottery to hike the Wave, so we were going to hike Buckskin Gulch instead. However, after checking in at the visitor centre they told us it was currently full of waist high water, sludge and quicksand. So instead we spent the day at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon which was 1.5 hour drive from Kanab. In 2015 we visited the South Rim and the views from this end were totally different and equally or even more stunning.

On our way out of Kanab towards Zion, we stopped in at the man-made Sand Caves and the Belly of the Dragon. The Sand Caves were just outside of town and took us about an hour to climb up explore and get back to the car. They were made when mining the sand began in the area. The mining process was short lived, but these caves remain. Belly of the Dragon was also man-made. It was made for drainage under the highway, but the sandstone has been carved by the water creating ripples and does look like a belly of a dragon.