Wild Horse Canyon

2025-09-08
Goblin Valley, UT

I got started early this morning to tackle Wild Horse Canyon and Bell Canyon. I was on the trail by 7:00 to hike these slot canyons. I knew that there was some scrambling, but two guys at the entrance assured me that it wasn't bad. They were heading up Bell and coming down Wild Horse so I figured that if I got in trouble I could just wait and they'd be by in a bit.

This canyon was relatively easy when it wasn't terribly difficult. Most of the trail was sand and gravel; similar to what you'd walk on at a park. I presume this is a result of the canyon flooding on occasion. However, at places it was a boulder field, or a big rock you have to surmount, or any of various other technical challenges. When I encountered one, I remembered that plenty of others have beaten this same challenge. Whether that was by being more clever, stronger, or in a group I didn't know. I thought the second unlikely and nothing I could do about the third, so I always assumed it was the first.

Imagine try to get a tame horse through that, let alone a while one...

With careful analysis and brute force, I got to the top of the canyon. It was a really cool, especially the narrow slots. The whole canyon wasn't this narrow, but those are the parts that make it unique and thus I took most of the photos. One other note: the photos today are courtesy of the 35mm lens. Due to the length of the hike I didn't take the heavier 24-105 zoom lens, and the 50 yesterday didn't seem wide enough in full-sized canyons. So I tried this for a compromise and I think it worked well.

Light getting a little more challenging, but the trail even more so.

Slot canyons don't get a lot of sun and thus it was cool through Wild Horse canyon (although I have literally no idea how you can fit a horse in most of the sections). It was about five miles to the upper end of the canyon, and then a mile over the ridge to Bell Canyon. This is not really as much of a slot canyon as it's mostly wider, and being later in the day the lighting was difficult. My solution was to take fewer pics.

Between the canyons, you can see what I'm pretty sure is Capital Reef

Bell Canyon. I know you're inundated with slot canyon pictures.

Finally, the last slot! If you're like me, at this point you'll be wanting to start again.

The hike clocked in at 9.5 miles but we know that GPS and slot canyons don't mix well. After the hike I just relaxed in the shade at my campsite for the afternoon, reading and napping and moving every hour as the shade moved. I hoped for either an evening stroll or a moonlight hike in the goblins tonight, but between clouds and lightning it didn't happen.

Hiking distance: 9.5* miles