Plan with
Confidence
Path Type
There and Back
This 12-mile out-and-back trip could be done as a day trip, but an overnight trip is best so you can have time to enjoy the scenery and seek out the elusive rock art panels. Being public land, this trip offers many freedoms including the ability to choose your own camp spot. One option is to camp near the car at the trailhead and do the canyon in a day. However, nothing is better than backpacking deep into a canyon in Utah and spending a quiet night under the stars. Be sure to practice Leave No Trace, and only use camp spots that have clearly been used before, rather than clearing your own.The best starting point is a spot along Dutch Flat Rd / Little Wedge Rd that's marked "Salt Wash Access" on BLM maps. From there, navigate an old road and a footpath down into Salt Wash. Continue down-canyon using a mix of sandy trails, river beach, and sometimes the stream itself.Keep a keen eye out for rock art panels and ruins of structures. These are mostly located away from the main path, so you'll have to look up and around to spot them, or explore side trails to find them. You can hike and distance down and back in this canyon, and most of the historic sites are found in the first few miles. If you have the time and ability, however, it's highly rewarding to meet the San Rafael River at Salt Wash's confluence within the Little Grand Canyon. The water in the river may also be better for filtering, but any water in these canyons is likely to be very silty. Better to bring plenty of your own.
Some Issues
We hiked in from Sid’s slightly upstream from the main entrance to salt wash. The water here was extremely high at crossing points and the trail basically did not exist. Expect bushwhacking, trailblazing, and clever thinking to find places to cross the stream here. Once we made it through to the main trail entrance there was a better established trail and the stream was very crossable at most locations with some conventional crossings being flooded. Beavers are everywhere here so expect a lot of water. We were able to filter the stream water but had to run it through the filter a couple times to get that beaver, cow, and mud taste out of it. Also be on the lookout for algae blooms in some of the more exposed pools, that you cannot filter out no matter how fancy a filter. Overall a fantastic hike and well worth the drive as long as you are prepared: bring a sat phone. Also hiking up the main entrance was very steep. Backpack down VERY slowly with trekking poles if you must backpack down that way.
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