Day 22 – June 9, 2024 – Cannonville, UT
Today we took the advice of our host and headed to the Willis Creek Narrows Trail, which is part of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. The trail leads you through a narrow slot canyon carved by Willis Creek. To get to the trail head, you have to take an unimproved road for about 5.8 miles, and it is not an easy drive, lol! Lots of bumps, dips, ups and downs, and very tight turns. Once you get to the parking lot, it’s easy to start on the trail. We have never done a slot trail and were not sure what to expect.
There is a very short trail then you dip down into Willis Creek. The rest of the hike we walked alongside Willis Creek. At first the canyon walls are not very high, but as you go further in, that begins to change. The scenery is unbelievable! We had to jump and walk across rocks through most of it to keep our feet dry, but it was fun doing it! Most of the hike is through the wide portions, but the narrow parts were the best as you had more shade and you had to think about where to step next. We went about 2 miles in then headed back. It was a very fun hike!
We next headed to Kodachrome Basin State Park, which is about 4 miles down the road from Willis Creek. It is known for its sandstone spires and red rock mountains. There are 67 monolithic stone spires, and multi-hued sandstone layers that reveal over 180 million years of geologic time. In 1948, the National Geographic Society expedition found the colors and the beauty so enlightening, they named the area Kodachrome, after the color film. Since we had already done over 4 miles on Willis Creek, we opted for a ½ mile Nature Trail and then a 1 ½ mile loop trail. The views were spectacular! We got back to the car and headed back into town.
We headed into Tropic, which is about 9 miles from our BNB to get gas and pick up more water. We had eaten a big breakfast, so we just had some trail mix and a couple of protein bars for lunch. We had a beer on the back patio, cleaned up and had leftovers for dinner, which was Italian meatballs, the other half of my sandwich from yesterday, and the pot pie from the other night. I threw some peas in for good measure 😊
Tomorrow, we head for Lake Las Vegas and it’s about a 4 ½ hour drive from Cannonville, and I’m sure we’ll take some scenic routes along the way as well as stop for lunch. Ready for the next, and last, adventure of our Wild West trip!
