Little Wild Horse Canyon

Little Wild Horse Canyon

The Little Wild Horse Canyon is an amazing slot canyon in central Utah. The hike runs 8 miles but for a number of reason’s I was not able to complete it. If you have never been to a slot canyon this is a great one to experience.

Getting Started

Little Wild Horse is located just outside of Goblin Valley State Park in Utah. You have to take the roads to Goblin to get here and then turn off just before you enter the fee section of the park. The hike starts with an easier walk through an old river bed.

As soon as you get to the mouth of the canyon the hike gets a bit more challenging. The mouth of the canyon brings with it some large boulders that you will have to walk over and around. The most difficult part is when you come about a half mile into the hike. You will come to a ledge about 6 feet high. If you go around the sides you should be able to scale the wall without too much difficulty.

The Slot

After you climb this small ledge the trail will split into two. You can either take the Little Wild Horse or Bell routes. I took the Wild Horse side. The canyon starts out relatively wide and easy to walk through.

As you proceed, the canyon narrows and soon you will find yourself in a tight slot canyon. Make sure to keep an eye on your feet as the ground will start to become angled up the wall.

As you continue down the trail the canyon will get more and more narrow and begin to curve. Visually this is an absolutely stunning place to be. The red and white lined stone creates a sort of endless feel to the walls as you walk.

However for a “Hefty Hiker” the walls can get a bit claustrophobic. I was hiking by myself and was starting to get uncomfortable. Getting stuck four miles into a slot canyon didn’t seem like the best idea so I decided to stop down. I figured getting this far was well worth it and a first experience in a slot canyon.

Video Review

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Elevation and Distance

I didn’t finish this hike. It was longer than I was expecting and to be honest, I got a little freaked out in the slot!

If you don’t have the AllTrails app you might want to check it out, I really love mine. It records your progress and is a great way to search for hikes that are nearby and gives you difficulty measurements. According to AllTrails today’s hike was around 2.36 miles and had a total elevation gain of about 171 feet including undulations. That put the high point at around 5,142 feet. I was also moving for a total of 57 minutes.

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Effort

This was a pretty flat hike. There is a section towards the beginning where you will have to climb up into the canyon but it isn’t too challenging if you find the proper line. The most difficult part is walking through the narrow canyon one foot in front of the other style. Granted, I did not go through the entire canyon but it didn’t seem like it got too different further in.

Terrain

The hike starts with a dried riverbed style walk until you approach the canyon. In the canyon there is a lot of walking on top of rocks and obviously with a slot canyon it gets quite narrow so you will have to deal with that. I would suggest a good pair of hiking shoes with good grip to deal with the rock walking.

Access

The Little Wild Horse Canyon trail is located near Goblin Valley State Park. You will need to take the same road to get to Goblin, Temple Mountain Road, and then follow signs and turn off before you get to the Goblin visitor station. There was parking for about 12 cars and a pit toilet facility.

Wrapping up Little Wild Horse Canyon

Little Wild Horse Canyon was a very cool and my first full slot canyon. It is a little out of the way and I was getting pretty tired by the time I made it here so I didn’t end up finishing the hike. That and the walls were getting very narrow so I got a little freaked out.

I’m not sure if you need to do more than a mile of a hike into a slot canyon. The experience is pretty incredible no matter how long you are there. There is a bit of a scramble to get into the slot so make sure you are prepared for that. All in all, a great experience!

I have added this hike and all of my hikes to the interactive map page you can find here. If you have any suggestions for hikes or comments feel free to email me at fatmanlittletrails@gmail.com. You can follow me on any of the below social media platforms. Happy Hiking!