Not for the faint of heart, Hidden Canyon is a hike through a canyon with almost 1,000 feet of elevation gain, many perilous climbs, and loose rocks and deep holes to fall into. The first leg of the hike offers a nice view of the park, but once inside the canyon, there are no more overlooks. This hike is definitely for the adventure seeker and adrenalin junkie.
Location:
Zion National Park, Utah
The Hike:
Starting at the East Rim Trailhead, hike up the East Rim Trail until it intersects the Hidden Canyon Trial. From there, follow the Hidden Canyon Trail along the edge of a cliff to the mouth of the canyon. There are chains bolted into the rock face for grip, but the open side of the narrow trail has drops of 1,000+ feet to the floor of the valley. Once in the canyon, the sandy ground makes hiking easy, until the first obstacle. Every half mile or so there is some type of rock formation blocking the canyon that must be climbed. Some a small and easy to scramble over, some are large and require climbing 20-30 feet up to get over. There are even a few time you must shimmy up fallen trees to get over the obstacle. Getting up was difficult, but not impossible. However, getting down was the tricky part and was even more perilous than the accent. During our hike we saw only a handful of people making Hidden Canyon one of the least traversed trails in Zion National Park. The round trip is about 3.5miles.
Time of Year/Day:
We hiked Zion in June of 2016. Temperatures during the day where in the high 80’s to low 90’s.
We started up the trial around 8:00am and hiked until we were uncomfortable scaling the obstacles. When we returned to the trailhead it was around 12:00pm.
Tips:
Location:
Zion National Park, Utah
The Hike:
Starting at the East Rim Trailhead, hike up the East Rim Trail until it intersects the Hidden Canyon Trial. From there, follow the Hidden Canyon Trail along the edge of a cliff to the mouth of the canyon. There are chains bolted into the rock face for grip, but the open side of the narrow trail has drops of 1,000+ feet to the floor of the valley. Once in the canyon, the sandy ground makes hiking easy, until the first obstacle. Every half mile or so there is some type of rock formation blocking the canyon that must be climbed. Some a small and easy to scramble over, some are large and require climbing 20-30 feet up to get over. There are even a few time you must shimmy up fallen trees to get over the obstacle. Getting up was difficult, but not impossible. However, getting down was the tricky part and was even more perilous than the accent. During our hike we saw only a handful of people making Hidden Canyon one of the least traversed trails in Zion National Park. The round trip is about 3.5miles.
Time of Year/Day:
We hiked Zion in June of 2016. Temperatures during the day where in the high 80’s to low 90’s.
We started up the trial around 8:00am and hiked until we were uncomfortable scaling the obstacles. When we returned to the trailhead it was around 12:00pm.
Tips:
- Use the bathroom at before you hike.
- Bring lots of snacks and water! It is very taxing climbing and scrambling over all the rock formations.
- This hike is not easy, not for the faint of heart, and not for children, but if you want something challenging Hidden Canyon could be the hike for you.
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The Crew:
Nate and Mark