Belly of the Dragon - A water drainage solution for US-89, but still a cool place to stop and see
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Quick Stop Along US-89
I’ve seen Belly of the Dragon described as many things - tunnel, cave, mine, lava tube. It’s none of these things. Belly of the Dragon is a manmade culvert for water drainage under US-89. It’s still really cool and worth a quick stop, but have the expectation that it’s a really cool water culvert. I had been imaging a mine in one of the surrounding cliffs, and honestly was disappointed because it was a water drainage solution for US-89. It’s silly to be disappointed though - I would still 100% recommend stopping. Just have the right expectations to start with.
This is an easy, pretty accessible trail that is under 0.25 miles out-and-back, and the trailhead can be accessed with any type of vehicle. The trail keeps going past the culvert. Although the trail is easy, it’s not interesting. Walk through the culvert and return to your car. Save your steps and head over to Zion National Park where every hike is phenomenal.
Where is Belly of the Dragon?
The trailhead for Belly of the Dragon is 14 miles from Zion’s east entrance. From UT-9, turn south on US-89 and drive about 0.5 miles. Exit onto Elephant Gap towards the Twin Hollows Campground. The parking lot will be on your left, about 0,3 miles down the road. Kanab is the closest town, about 19 minutes south. Kanab is a big enough town to have both hotels and restaurants.
I’d tried to find this place back in 2019, assuming it was a mine in the nearby cliffs and never found it. When we returned in 2023, we had a bit of time left over after canyoneering with All Ways Adventure. I’d mentioned it to our guide Brett that I was wondering where the trailhead was, so he took us there. I’m leaving this map for you though. I 100% appreciated the help getting here so I could see it, but you don’t need to come here with a guide. Hopefully this map is helpful.
Note that our trip with All Ways Adventure was amazing and I would recommend them to anybody curious about trying anything near Zion National Park! We went canyoneering, and then stopped at Peekaboo Canyon and Belly of the Dragon before returning to Kanab. Here is my review of All Ways Adventure and some information about canyoneering, as well as our story.
Map to Belly of the Dragon - parking is marked with a black star
Logistics
It’s free to stop at Belly of the Dragon, and this is going to be a 20-30 minute stop at most. The trail is called “Belly of the Dragon” and it continues past the culvert. I’ll be clear - the culvert is the “belly of the dragon” and the rest of the trail isn’t worth it. There is a national park less than 30 minutes away. Zion is one of my favorite National Parks. If you have extra steps you want to take, spend your time hiking there. There are cool things nearby Zion, but Zion is the best place to be. Belly of the Dragon is a great place to stop between Kanab and Zion.
Two other stops nearby (between Kanab and Zion) are Moqui Caverns (also known as Kanab Sand Caves) and Peekaboo Slot Canyon. Moqui Caverns does require a hard and slightly precarious scramble up a sandstone cliff, and Peekaboo requires an off-road vehicle.
Belly of the Dragon Map - just explore under US-89 and return to the parking lot. If you want to hike more, head to Zion National Park.
Exploring the Dragon’s Belly
This is a super easy trail. From the trail through the culvert is just 0.1 miles and it’s flat the whole way. Everyone will be able to pear into the Belly of the Dragon. The only accessibility issue might be walking through the culvert. You can see my boys below, walking along the right side. There is a slot canyon forming through the sandstone that I wouldn’t recommend walking through. Stay on the right side. There are some moments where the trail is bumpy and requires a jump or two a descent ways into the culvert.
There is a slot canyon slowly forming through the culvert - which is cool to see how they form in real-time
Belly of the Dragon is manmade, and it is a water drainage solution, and yet, I would describe this as beautiful. It’s hard to explain. But this is such an easy place to get to, and it’s on the way to Zion from Kanab. I’d recommend stopping to see it for yourself.
Looking back out to the entrance
We walked through the entire culvert. There was a small amount of water at the bottom. Our shoes did not get wet. Note that if your shoes do get wet in southwest Utah, just leave them outside. They will dry overnight.
There is a small curve in the culvert - this helps make the pictures better :)
This is what the culvert looks like on the other side of Belly of the Dragon
Walking back through the Dragon’s Belly - I like this picture because you can see the slot canyon forming under the culveert.
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 the Belly of the Dragon. I have hyperlinks to the places that I’ve created blogposts for already. Additional posts coming soon.
Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park
(west) 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.
Water Canyon
(southwest) 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.
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.
Moqui Caverns
(southeast) 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.
Peekaboo Slot Canyon
(east) Peekaboo is a short beautiful slot canyon near Kanab (not to be confused with the Peekaboo Slot Canyon in Escalante). This canyon requires an off-road vehicle to get to the trailhead.
More from www.NatureImpactsUs.com
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