Thanks to my brother-in-law, we left Bryce Canyon National Park for a quick excursion to Grand Staircase – Escalante National Monument to hike through a slot canyon.
The hike is called Willis Creek, and the trail is six miles down a dirt road just outside of Cannonville, UT.
The canyon floor is relatively flat, and all the guidebooks and information that I read graded the trail as easy. It’s a little over four miles down and back if you leave from the trailhead near Sheep Creek.
The best slots are during the first 1.3 miles of the trail, so we hiked with the kids to that point and turned back.
On our hike, the water levels were low, but there were some parts of the canyon that were difficult to pass without getting wet.
There is a lot of stone stepping, and you are bound to get your feet wet, so you might consider wearing shoes that repel water or dry quickly.
Here are our pictures from our morning hiking Willis Creek in Escalante.
After the photos, I share some more information about this hike and directions that will get you to the trailhead.
Good Things to Know when Hiking Willis Creek
Trailhead Location:
Other Tips:
Water is not available at the trailhead. Carry your water in. Also, there are no bathrooms.
The road leading to the Willis Creek trailhead can become impassable in a heavy rain. On our trip, we saw that some sedans had made it to the parking lot at Willis Creek, though several had clearly scraped mud on the way to the trailhead.
If there has been recent rainfall, the roads or canyon may be impassable. There is an Escalante Bureau of Land Management Visitor Center in Cannonville, UT, and I would advise you check in with them about road conditions.
Such a fun day!