As such, slot canyons do require a minimum degree of coordination and mobility.

Within slot canyons, you’ll find birth-canal-like slots to squeeze through, massive boulders wedged between the walls (called chockstones) to slither beneath, and even pools of water to jump into which can vary between serene and downright disgusting. Estimates put the number at more than 1,000, with most found in the southern portion of the state. While slot canyons exist throughout the world and appear in all kinds of rock, they are most commonly found in sandstone, which is why Utah has arguably the highest density of slot canyons in the world. Slot canyons form over millions of years: water-and the sediment it carries along with it-gouges out channels in the rock as it trickles down through existing cracks. A hiker in Spooky Gulch in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (Photo: Depositphotos) The main criterion for slot canyon designation is that a canyon’s walls be at least 10 times as high as its width. Spooky Gulch-the narrowest slot canyon in Utah-squeezes down to just 10 inches at one point. What is a Slot Canyon?īut just what differentiates a slot canyon from a regular canyon, anyway? If the Grand Canyon is an example on the large end of the spectrum, a slot canyon represents the other end: these serpentine passages snake for miles and can constrict to just inches and feet apart. Our beginner guide will provide you with everything you need to get started. In reality, slot canyons can be totally appropriate-and safe!-for beginners, and diving into their shaded and sun-dappled corridors is one of the most unique adventures one can have in the American West. He escapes only by cutting off his arm above the wrist with a pocketknife.īut that is the exception of all exceptions. In that true story, adventurer Aaron Ralston finds himself stranded in a deep and narrow sandstone canyon after a boulder crushes his right arm and pins him to the wall.

If you’ve watched the movie 127 Hours, you could be forgiven for thinking that Utah’s slot canyons automatically entail mortal peril. ‘Beginners?’ you might ask incredulously. Approached with the proper knowledge, canyoneering in the Beehive State is safe and fun, even for beginners.

They offer breathtaking sculptural formations, and weaving in and out of them is one of the most immersive ways to see the landscape. Utah’s world famous sandstone slot canyons are true works of art: these thin, maze-like passages with their multicolored and intricately patterned walls are among nature’s greatest architectural feats.

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