Slot Canyons and a Natural Arch

Our third day in the Bryce area we decided to check out a slot canyon that was recommended to us by the tourism bureau worker, Willis Creek Slot Canyon. She mentioned that there were five slot canyons in the same hike and if you did the whole trail it would be about 5 miles total. What she did NOT mention was the condition of the road getting there. We ran into a back country ranger as we were heading down the road and he warned us that there were some huge pot holes (dirt road, of course) and some areas where the dirt was super powdery and about 4 inches deep. He said our Subaru had good clearance but we would have to be careful of the potholes and the powdery dirt. We decided to take a chance and try to make it. It was about 4 miles of this dirt road with spots of hill climbing in powdery dirt and potholes that were about 3 feet across. Luckily we didn't pass anyone when we were going through the scarier parts of the road. 

We did pass some vehicles about a mile or two from the trail head, right before a steep incline with powdery dirt. The ranger recommended we stop around that area and hike in but hiking in with two kids on our backs and then hiking the trail did not sound appealing! Carlton was able to get our car through that scary road and we made it! The ranger also warned us that after going through the first slot canyon, you come out to an open area and if you didn't know better, you would think that was all. So we knew to keep hiking to see the rest of the slot canyons. We only saw four of the five. Giving the kids time to get out and run around made the hike last a lot longer, so we chose to skip the last slot canyon.

As you can see in the pics, there were some amazing rock formations and cool striations to see. The pitting in some areas was interesting and the arches were fun to discover. The whole trail crisscrossed a small creek which Gavin thoroughly enjoyed when we let him out of his carrier!

After making it back out of that area, we headed over to Grosvenor's Arch which was somewhat nearby. Luckily the dirt road to it was much better for driving! It was a nice arch just off the road, so not much walking to get to it.