The Quick and Dirty:
Location: Grand Escalante Staircase National Monument
Distance: 8 miles round trip but we only did about 4 miles before losing light and turning back
Terrain Type: Slot Canyon, although the canyons are much wider than the Willis Creek canyons we hiked previously
Difficulty: Easy during summer with long days.
Best Time: Year round
Special Conditions: Approximately 20 miles off-roading, 4WD and high clearance vehicle recommended during wet seasons, although we did this in our 2WD sedan when the road was in good condition
Duration: Around 4-5 hours, however we only hiked the first 2 miles
Entry point of the Lick Wash Trail
After enjoying a nice lunch at the Willis Creek trailhead, we headed towards Lick Wash. The weather was really warming up by the time we finished lunch and much of the previously accumulated snow has began to melt. It took another 14 miles of driving off-road to get from the Willis Creek trailhead to Lick Wash. The road condition was excellent that day thanks to the great weather, we were able to get to both of the trails in our 2WD Honda Accord.
Bull Valley Gorge on the way to Lick Wash
Lick Wash Trailhead
The Lick Wash Trailhead sign can be easily missed. Make sure you reset your odometer from the Skutumpah Road, the trailhead is about 20 miles in. Turn left after the Lickwash Trailhead sign and parking is 0.1 miles after the turn.
Inside the slot canyon.
By the time we got back to Bryce Canyon National Park at the end of the day, we realized we still had a good hour of day light left. We decided to hike a part of the Swamp Gulch trail towards the northern end of the national park. The trail was suppose to be 4 mile round trip but we couldn’t seem to find the 2 mile marker before losing day night.
Dusk photo of the Swamp Gulch before heading back to Ruby’s Inn.
Hike Now, Work Later 