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An Off-Road Adventure
There is a free slot canyon 30 minutes outside of Zion National Park’s east entrance and 10 minutes north of Kanab, Utah, known as Peekaboo (not to be confused with Peekaboo and Spooky Gulch, which are slot canyons in Escalante National Monument). Kanab’s Peekaboo is an extremely easy slot canyon, and a great place for all ages and hikers. The one catch is that an off-road vehicle is required to get there. For anyone that does not have an off-road vehicle, it would require an extra 6 miles of hiking - not impossible, but not worth the extra steps needed when there is a beautiful National Park just 30 minutes away.
I had booked a day with All Ways Adventures to take my boys and I on a canyoneering experience. We had a little bit of extra time left at the end, and since we were in an off-road vehicle, I asked Brett if he could take us out to see Peekaboo Slot Canyon. (For more information on canyoneering with All Ways Adventures and a more complete review, please feel free to check out my post on an Intro to Canyoneering.)
All Ways Adventures is a company that you hire to take your small group (in my case it was just me and my two boys) wherever you want for the day for whatever you’d like to do near Kanab and Zion National Park. This is a really fun business model. For someone that just wants a little bit of an adventure - maybe an off-road experience to Peekaboo Slot Canyon or maybe Coral Pink Sand Dunes with easy hikes at the end, this would be a fantastic company to reach out to.
Getting to Kanab’s Peekaboo Slot Canyon
The trickiest part of visiting Peekaboo Slot Canyon is figuring out how to get there. Parking for regular vehicles is just off of US-89, but as I mentioned, it will require an extra 6 miles of hiking. It’s a cool canyon, but I don’t think it’s worth 6 extra miles of hiking to get there.
The off-road vehicle trails go directly to the entrance of Peekaboo Slot Canyon. There’s probably 3 ways to get to Peekaboo. 1) You own your own off-road vehicle, 2) Reach out to a company like All Ways Adventures to book a tour, 3) I haven’t ever rented a UTV / ATV, but I think there are options that operate out of Kanab. With access to an off-road vehicle, the other nearby place I would recommend exploring is Coral Pink Sand Dunes.
Map of Peekaboo Slot Canyon and other nearby things to do
Logistics
Visiting Peekaboo Slot Canyon is free (unless you need to rent a UTV / ATV or hire a guide). The parking lot for off-road vehicles is on the east side of the canyon. Peekaboo Slot Canyon is right next to the parking lot. One-way, this is an easy 0.5 mile sandy (or snowy in our case) hike up a shallow incline. Past the slot canyon, the Red Canyon Trail continues for another 1.4 miles (one-way). The Red Canyon Trail can be accessed from a second spot along the west side of the canyon, but this is going to involve either a 2.2 mile hike with someone driving the off-road vehicle to the opposite side of the canyon to pick you up, or a 4.4 mile round-trip hike. We just hiked the slot canyon portion of the trail out-and-back.
Off-Road Vehicle Map to get to Peekaboo Slot Canyon
Hiking Through Kanab’s Peekaboo Slot Canyon
Peekaboo Slot Canyon starts right next to a small parking area for off-road vehicles. The slot canyon extends 0.5 miles (one-way) along an easy sandy trail that has just a slight incline. This is a great introductory-level and extremely easy slot canyon. Before entering any slot canyon though, understand the watershed of the canyon, and know if there has been any recent rain or if rain is in the forecast. These canyons have been cut by fast-moving water. There isn’t a way to prepare for a flashflood other than to not enter the canyon.
Peekaboo Slot Canyon Hiking Map
We visited Peekaboo Slot Canyon in the first week of March 2023, and the canyon was still packed with snow. Yes, it snows in the desert.
Hiking into Peekaboo Slot Canyon
Peekaboo near Kanab has a gentle incline, and this is an extremely easy slot canyon to explore (unlike Peekaboo and Spooky Gulch in Escalante which requires rock scrambling, large climbs, large drops, and tight squeezes).
Entering Peekaboo Slot Canyon - an easy, beautiful hike near Kanab, Utah
The walls start short and grow taller the further you explore into the slot canyon.
Hiking through Kanab’s Peekaboo Slot Canyon
Snowy Peekaboo Slot Canyon in March
There are a couple of narrower sections in Peekaboo Slot Canyon
Somehow I missed taking pictures of the coolest feature of this slot canyon - the Moqui Steps. These are small hand and foot holes that people living in the area would have used to quickly climb up and out of the canyon. Different tribes used different patterns of hand / foot holes, so it would be fastest for the tribe living here to quickly ascend out of the canyon, giving them a small advantage to an invading tribe.
Exploring Peekaboo Slot Canyon near Zion National Park
Lots of snow still inside Peekaboo Slot Canyon
There was a large tree stump wedged quite high up in the canyon walls. It’s not just water that rushes through a canyon when it floods. Everything that water has captured - logs, brush, even boulders, can get swept into the canyon and if large enough, these objects may become lodged in the canyon’s narrow walls.
Peekaboo Slot Canyon near Kanab
Viewing the stump from another angle.
Eventually the canyon walls widen out and the slot canyon ends. Anyone wishing to continue hiking along the Red Canyon Trail can continue to do so for another 1.4 miles (one-way).
Other Things to Do Nearby (within an hour drive)
Below are other places we’ve visited that are located within an hour’s drive from Kanab’s Peekaboo Slot Canyon. I have hyperlinks to the places that I’ve created blogposts for already. Additional posts coming soon.
Moqui Caverns
(south) Moqui Caverns is a small man-made cave that can be explored with a short hike. Note that there is a steep scramble that’s needed to get up to the caverns.
Belly of the Dragon
(northwest) This is a cool place to stop for hikers of all ages. There’s a little cave that has been formed through the rock under US-89.
Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park
(southwest) Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park is a fun place to explore a sand dune habitat and play in the sand. Walk up a dune and have fun running down, sledding down, or rolling down. Repeat over and over.
Zion National Park
(west) Zion National Park is probably the reason for traveling to this part of Utah. There are so many fantastic hikes for all types of hikers - beginners through advanced.
Water Canyon
(west) Water Canyon is not a place for young kids. The trails are a bit hard to follow and are right on the edge of the canyon with some steep edges. For someone not afraid of heights, this is a fun, lightly travelled canyon to explore, with technical routes for anyone looking for a nearby place to try out canyoneering.
More from www.NatureImpactsUs.com
In the map below, there are additional posts I’ve written attached to each pin. Use two fingers to move around within the map.