Willis Creek Slot Canyon - Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
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Easy Slot Canyon
Willis Creek is the best easy slot canyon that I’ve had a chance to hike so far. This canyon is also free - there are no tours, tickets, permits, or park admission required. The walls of Willis Creek Canyon are tall, multi-colored, and cut into elaborate curved patterns that narrow, but not so much so that squeezing through is required anywhere. The trail is mostly flat and primarily runs through the bottom of the canyon without any real obstacles, other than an occasional bit of water.
The trail starts out pretty much in the canyon. This is great for two reasons. 1) The canyon walls will shade large portions of the trail 2) It doesn’t take effort to get into or out of the canyon - the trail just starts out beautiful, and because it’s an out-and-back, you can turn around at any point and feel like you’ve had an awesome hike. There isn’t a particular destination along this trail. Enjoy a short hike with young children or stretch your legs and hike the whole 6 miles.
The only potentially tricky aspect to this hike is getting to the trailhead along Skutumpah Road, a grated, sandy, and pretty bumpy trek, with steep, tight curves. We made it in our minivan - but I’ve been known to pick trailheads where we have popped tires before, and I was so happy that didn’t happen on this excursion. Although we have a minivan, I’ll note that we purchased the model which has slightly higher wheel clearance (for moments like this). The road was decently well maintained, but bumpier than Hole-in-the-Rock Road. With the right vehicle, Willis Creek Slot Canyon would be a great hike for anyone - little hikers, older hikers, new hikers, or hikers looking for a long trail option that isn’t terribly strenuous.
Location
Although Willis Creek Slot Canyon is located within Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, the trailhead is an hour away from the town of Escalante. This National Monument is huge! At 1.9 million acres, Grand Staircase-Escalante is 1.5 times the size of Delaware. Additionally, there aren’t many roads that run through this park, so it takes a bit longer to navigate to various trailheads.
There are closer options for lodging than Escalante, which include a campground at Utah’s Kodachrome Basin State Park (about 30 minutes north), hotels in Bryce Canyon City (about 40 minutes northwest), and campgrounds within Bryce Canyon National Park. The best option for visiting Willis Creek (least amount of extra driving) would be on a day that you switch lodging between Escalante and Bryce Canyon National Park, if both places are on your vacation itinerary.
To get to Willis Creek Slot Canyon, from US-12, take Main St., which turns into Kodachrome Road. The trailhead is located 4.5 miles down Skutumpah Road, which I already mentioned is a grated, bumpy, sandy road, where a higher clearance vehicle is going to be preferred, if not required. Note that if this road is wet (as true with any of the sandy, grated roads in Grand Staircase-Escalante), it will not be passable, regardless of vehicle type. Check in at the Escalante Interagency Visitor Center (or call out there) for current road and trail conditions.
In a park as big as Grand Staircase-Escalante, it’s worth mentioning nearby points of interest when they truly are nearby. Bull Valley Gorge is another slot canyon, not quite two miles further along Skutumpah Road. Bull Valley Gorge is the opposite type of slot canyon than easy Willis Creek. There may be deep amounts of mud, ropes might be needed to navigate over obstacles in the canyon, and the trail along the top of the canyon is extremely steep. I wouldn’t recommend hiking here with young children. However, there is a truck that slipped off the bridge along Skutumpah Road and into the Bull Valley Gorge in 1954. The truck remains wedged in the canyon, and it’s visible from the bridge, right next to the trailhead. It might be worth looking at, even for those not interested in hiking further.
Logistics
Other than needing the right vehicle to get the trailhead, planning for a day hike at Willis Creek Slot Canyon should be pretty easy. As I mentioned above, you can check in at the Escalante Interagency Visitor Center (or call out there) for current road and trail conditions. Pretty much the whole trail is at the bottom of the canyon, so if there is standing water, your feet might get cold. For us, in June 2025, it was mostly dry. We do have neoprene booties (OMG Water Socks from Amazon) though that we used hiking through canyons that were full of water (Kanarra Falls and Zion Narrows) on the same trip. They worked great instead of socks, inside our hiking boots. We didn’t need to use them on this particular hike though.
This hike is through a slot canyon, so you absolutely need to know the weather - both on the day that you are going to hike as well as knowing if it has rained recently. Flashfloods happen quickly inside of slot canyons without much rain needed. Don’t enter the canyon if rain is in the forecast.
The parking lot is nice and big, and there are port-a-potties available. Most of the trail will likely be in the shade due to the high canyon walls (although how much shade you get will depend on the angle of the sun). Remember to bring at least 2L of water - even if the trail isn’t terribly exposed, this is still a desert, and it’s easy to get dehydrated.
Parking lot at the Willis Creek Slot Canyon trailhead
Hiking through Willis Creek Slot Canyon
Distance / elevation - Up to a 6 mile out-and-back hike / 400ft elevation change
This is an out-and-back hike and the trail starts inside of the canyon. You can turn around at any point and feel like you had a great trek. We turned around about 1.5 miles into the canyon. This was hike number 3 for us, and we still needed to get out to Bryce Canyon with some daylight left to set up our tent.
The trailhead is marked. From the parking lot, walk across Skutumpah Road, and the trail should be easy to see.
Willis Creek Slot Canyon Trailhead
Just minutes into the hike, the trail enters the canyon. That makes following the trail extremely easy… There are two high walls along most of it - not many options for wandering off the trail.
Beginning of Willis Creek Slot Canyon
When we visited in June 2025, there was just a slight bit of water in some places within the canyon. We were easily able to keep our feet dry.
Walking into Willis Creek Canyon
Although this trail is rated as “easy,” it’s stunning. I’ve been in several easy, short and boring slot canyons that I don’t feel are worth the time for a more experienced hiker. I loved Willis Creek Slot Canyon, though! After harder hikes to Zebra Canyon and Bull Valley Gorge, this was the perfect way to end our day in a relaxing setting.
Walking into the slot canyon section of Willis Creek
The canyon walls are high and tight, but there weren’t any places we needed to squeeze through. This is a canyon that you can just enjoy without obstacles.
Hiking through Willis Creek Slot Canyon
The canyon opened up for a short moment. It’s still obvious where to go. I track of my hikes on the GAIA GPS map, but I didn’t need to consult the map for directions.
Just a little bit of water on the canyon floor in June
At the junction, go to the right. Again, it felt obvious which way to go. But pay attention to this junction so on the return, you remember when you are looking for when you need to turn off and go left.
Junction within Willis Creek Slot Canyon
The canyon narrows again after just a short bit.
Hiking through Wills Creek Slot Canyon
I love the textured patterns along the canyon walls.
Willis Creek Slot Canyon
This is the perfect hike for littles - there isn’t a particular destination that you need to aim for. You can turn around at any point and still feel like you had the perfect hike.
Hiking through Willis Creek Canyon
Although this is an easy hike, it’s still a desert wilderness. Carry extra water. If not for you, there may be someone else on the trail that needs some.
Hiking through Willis Creek Slot Canyon
There was a park ranger in the parking lot that we talked with before we started our hike. She told us that there was an older couple that had lost a wallet earlier in the day. They had walked back into the canyon to look for it, and she was starting to get nervous that they hadn’t come back yet.
As we hiked, we were looking for this couple.
Willis Creek Slot Canyon
Eventually there were two hikers walking towards us. We stopped and asked them if they were the ones that had lost their wallet. They told us that yes, that’s who they were, and yes, they had found it. These were the only two people that we saw while we hiked - this is not a busy trail.
Willis Creek Slot Canyon
While talking with them, they seemed a bit off, something was still wrong. And we realized they didn’t have any water with them. They had left their car back at the trailhead in a panic to find their wallet, forgot to grab more water, and ended up having to hike the whole 3 miles again to the end of the canyon where they found it. Now they were halfway back and still didn’t have any water. That’s a long hike, especially after already hiking 6 miles the first time. We always pack extra water, and we happily gave them one of our bottles.
Willis Creek Slot Canyon
On our way back to the car, we passed the couple again, who were still about 0.5 miles from the trailhead. As we were almost back to the car, we gave them what we had left for extra water. They were going pretty slow, though, and clearly were still dehydrated. When we returned to the parking lot, the Park Ranger was still there. We told her what happened, and she immediately notified Search and Rescue and headed down the trail to make sure they were ok.
Willis Creek
Water means life in the desert. There weren’t any other hikers in Willis Creek that could have provided assistance. We were so happy that we found these people when we did, and that we were able to help them before they had an urgent medical issue.
Hiking Willis Creek in Grand Staircase-Escalante
Pack extra water - even on the easy hikes. Someone might need it.
Stopping for a short break because the wall had a built-in place to sit
Willis Creek Slot Canyon surprised me. For all the hype nearby Peekaboo and Spooky Gulch get, Willis Creek gets crickets. These are very different hikes inside very different canyons, but ultimately, I’m not sure why Peekaboo and Spooky Gulch are crawling with people, while Willis Creek is empty. Willis Creek Slot Canyon is definitely an underrated trail.
Hiking through Willis Creek Slot Canyon
Willis Creek Slot Canyon
We made it a little bit past this large rock before we had to turn around to be able to make it to Bryce Canyon National Park to set up our tent. I would have loved to finish this trail. I had thought when I was planning our trip, that since this slot canyon was rated as “easy” that I needed to find something harder to pair it with to make the trek along Skutumpah Road worth it. We started instead at Bull Valley Gorge. If I were to do this day over, I would skip Bull Valley Gorge and hike the entire Willis Creek Slot Canyon Trail.
Willis Creek Slot Canyon
We peeked around the last bend past the big rock and stopped. This was 1.5 miles from the trailhead.
Turning around along Willis Creek Slot Canyon
This raven was talking to us as we turned around. I’m not a fan of crows, but ravens fascinate me. He earned his picture in my blog.
Raven in Willis Creek
One last picture of this amazing canyon as we hiked back to our car.
Willis Creek Slot Canyon
“Nearby” Things to Do
As mentioned, Grand Staircase-Escalante is huge. Although there are a lot of great hikes, trailheads are pretty spread out. So, when I say “nearby” - it’s a bit relative… The following places to visit are within a two-hour drive.
Bull Valley Gorge
6 minutes - The trailhead to Bull Valley Gorge is just 6 minutes further along Skutumpah Road, past the Willis Creek Slot Canyon trailhead. I would not recommend bringing younger children on this hike, but there is a truck, wedged in the canyon that is visible from the bridge, and that might be interesting to see. The trail itself is narrow with steep drops into the slot canyon. I couldn’t find directions that I was confident in, but I think it is possible to make this into a loop hike. We made it a short distance through the canyon and hit an obstacle we weren’t sure how to get up and over in the event we couldn’t figure the loop out. That was our turnaround point.
Kodachrome Basin State Park
30 minutes - You will pass Kodachrome Basin State Park on your way in and out to the Willis Creek Slot Canyon trailhead. This State Park has some of the same types of hoodoos that are found as Bryce Canyon National Park, although they are not as dramatic, nor are there as many. It’s a fun park to hike through, and much quieter than its nearby National Park.
Bryce Canyon National Park
45 minutes - Willis Creek Slot Canyon is actually closer to Bryce Canyon National Park than the town of Escalante. Bryce is northwest a short distance off US-12, along US-63. Bryce Canyon has some amazing viewpoints, but the best parts of this park involve some difficult hikes. I would recommend staying in Bryce Canyon City, or camp in Bryce Canyon or Kodachrome Basin, and you could visit Willis Creek Slot Canyon without needing to switch lodging.
Lower Calf Creek Falls
90 minutes - The trailhead to Lower Calf Creek Falls is about 90 minutes northeast of Willis Creek Slot Canyon. If you are staying near Kodachrome or Bryce, this would be a full day trip between the drive and a 6-mile hike. US-12 is a beautiful highway, and the waterfall is impressive, but there are so many other things to do though that are closer to Lower Calf Creek. I would recommend switching lodging and either move to Escalante, or hike Lower Calf Creek Falls on your way to Capitol Reef National Park (2.5 hours away).
Anasazi State Park Museum
1 hour 45 minutes - For anyone heading to Capitol Reef National Park, Anasazi State Park Museum is an interesting, quick stop, also off of UT-12. Just outside of the museum, there is a six-room dwelling replica constructed on the original site.
Long Canyon
2 hours - The trailhead is quite a bit off of UT-12. It’s a really easy and short hike through a slot canyon, but the slot canyon isn’t that deep, and I don’t think it was worth the drive out this far.
Hole-in-the-Rock Road
The following trailheads are located along Hole-in-the-Rock Road. Escalante is the best place to stay if you want to visit both Willis Canyon and any of the following trails:
Zebra Canyon
85 minutes (Hole-in-the-Rock Road) - The trail to Zebra Slot Canyon is a relatively easy 5.25 mile out-and-back hike through gorgeous desert backcountry. Most of this trail is entirely exposed to the sun. Hiking to Tunnel Slot Canyon adds 1.8 miles. Hike early in the morning to avoid the afternoon heat, bring 4L of water per person, pre-download a GPS map, and be prepared to get wet inside Zebra. Water shoes are helpful inside the canyon.
Devil’s Garden
90 minutes (Hole-in-the-Rock Road) - Devil’s Garden is located 4 miles down Hole-in-the-Rock Road from the Zebra Canyon Trailhead. Devil’s Garden isn't so much a formal hike, it's rather a place to explore with a beautiful arch. The trails crisscross throughout this park, so just enjoy. There are vault toilets to use here as well, if you are looking for nearby bathrooms.
Twenty Mile Wash Dinosaur Trackway
1 hour and 45 minutes (Hole-in-the-Rock Road) - The turnoff for Twenty Mile Wash Dinosaur Trackway is 2 miles further along Hole-in-the-Rock Road, past Devil’s Garden. Turn right onto Left Hand Collet Cyn Road and follow for 2.5 miles. For anyone interested in finding some dinosaur footprints, this is a quick place to explore. The Sauropod footprints (big round circles) are easy to spot. There are also some Therapod footprints (3-toed), but these are harder to find.
Peekaboo and Spooky Gulch Slot Canyons (Dry Forks Narrows and Brimstone Gulch)
2 hours (Hole-in-the-Rock-Road) - The Upper Dry Forks Trailhead is located 10 miles further along Hole-in-the-Rock Road from the turnoff for Left Hand Collet Cynn Road. This is a fun and challenging 4.6-mile loop hike through 3 slot canyons (Dry Forks Narrows, Peekaboo, and Spooky Gulch). Add Brimstone Gulch for an additional 3.6 miles.
Kanab, Utah
2 hours - Kanab, Utah, is 2 hours southwest of Willis Creek. Switch lodging to visit Kanab and plan to spend a few days. Kanab is a smart place to set up basecamp for a trip to Zion National Park, just 35 minutes away from Zion’s east entrance. There are several other fun and less crowded places to hike nearby, as well.
Toadstool Hoodoos
2 hours - Toadstool Hoodoos are located 2 hours southeast of Willis Creek. The best place to stay to visit the hoodoos is either Kanab, Utah, or Page, Arizona. The hike out-and-back to Toadstool Hoodoos is about 1.8 miles long, depending on how far one explores the hoodoos. There is minimal elevation change, parking is right off of the highway. This trail does not have shade. Bring extra water.
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