If you are in Southwestern Utah you need to check out the Kanarra Falls Hike.
If you like slot canyons you will love this hike in Kanarraville, Utah. We had been hearing about this hike from lots of others and it was being compared to Zion’s Narrows hike which is one of our top 5 all time hikes. As soon as we heard the Kanarra Falls hike compared to the Narrows we were in and had to make this hike happen.
Like many VERY popular sites these days you need a permit to access the Kanarra Falls Hike. Unlike other places like, The Wave, this is not currently a hard permit to get. They sell 150 permits per day, and they are $12 each. You can purchase your tickets up to 30 days in advance of the date you would like to hike. Visit the website to purchase your permits.
Once you head out on this hike you will be glad for the permit system. We saw just a few people during our hike and the trail was in good shape and not littered like some crazy busy trails get. I feel like people who will pay to do a hike are much more invested and conscientious while hiking. I understand this place was really a zoo and becoming torn up before they instituted this system.
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Getting there and all the details
The Kanarra Falls hike is located in Kanarraville which is just a couple miles off highway 15 in Southwest Utah. There is an excellent parking area with a nice bathroom/changing facility. (You may get wet and need to change clothes). Once you get parked and squared away with your gear, i.e., water, poles and footwear you can get wet, you will take your online ticket to the ticket booth at the trailhead. There is someone there to check you in and then you are on your way.
According to AllTrails, my go to GPS map, the Kanarra Falls Hike is 3.6 miles round trip with about 700 feet of elevation gain. Much of that gain is at the beginning as you head out from the parking lot.
Heading out
The first part of this trail is really an old road. The story we heard is that in the past local students would bring an old couch or two up the road as far as they could to have parties down by the river. That no longer happens as the road is blocked off. You take the old road for a way until you come to the stream for the first crossing.
You are going to get wet on this hike. Plan your footwear accordingly. We like to have good grip when we are walking through water, especially if it’s even a little deep and you might not be able to see the bottom. We love our Merrell Boots and just wear them right in the creeks. You can check out our favorite boots and other footwear favorites in our Amazon Store.
We love crossing streams. Kanarra Falls hike has lots of stream crossings. We did this hike in early June and the water was strong from all the snow melt this year and boy was it freezing. Your feet were basically numb once you were in the slot canyon. If it’s warm outside, it won’t bother you much. Enjoy the views along the hike and the different little waterfalls you see along the way. It’s beautiful.
Reaching the Slot Canyon
You will be hiking along and up the stream when you suddenly just come upon the slot. It’s awesome. It really is a mini-Zion Narrows and it’s equally stunning. Once you are in the slot you will really realize how cold the water is since there is no escaping it for a few minutes to catch a break.
Make your way up the slot and enjoy the amazing rock walls and the different rocks and logs etc. that litter the slot inside. Every time there is a big storm and there is flooding in and through the canyon the look inside changes. That is your reminder that you do not want to be inside this slot canyon during any type of storm. There is nowhere to escape a slot canyon during flooding, and it is extremely dangerous.
As you make your way through the canyon you will begin to hear the sound of the falls coming. When the Kanarra Falls Hike went to a permitted system they put in a solid metal ladder to get up and over the falls. It used to be a makeshift wooden ladder. This new ladder is quite heavy duty, and we understand it was brought up here and lowered into the canyon by helicopter.
If it’s a hot day you will want to stand under the falls after your hike up. Not so much on an early June day in the middle of a heavy snow melt. Brrrrrr, it was COLD. I wanted to get in but wow, I just couldn’t do it. We enjoyed hanging out and checking out the falls before heading up the ladder to the NEXT falls above.
Technically the second fall is the the end of the hike. AllTrails seems to agree. But I am not one to give up easily in a slot canyon. If you look at the third pic above, you will see the huge rock to the right of the falls. Head toward that and you will find a few rocks and there were also some logs wedged in there from previous flooding. We scrambled up and around from there to reach the top of the second falls and to continue exploring.
Once you are above the second falls the area opens up a little and there are a few logs to sit on. We pulled off our boots and warmed our feet in the sun a bit and it was amazing. It’s a gorgeous place to sit and enjoy your views. There is another tiny waterfall here and if you want you can even continue up the stream a little more.
I can’t say enough about this hike. It’s just so much fun. The Zion Narrows is the ultimate slot canyon river hike but this one really does fall in the next tier right below Zion. It’s a great half day hike that will keep you moving. Once we explored at the end of the slot, warmed our toes, and ate a snack we were on our way back down and seeing everything from the other direction. It was fabulous!
If you are exploring anywhere in Southwestern Utah, you definitely need to plan to do this hike. You won’t be disappointed. This hike is rated as moderate, and I think it’s doable for most hikers. Kids will LOVE it. We both said we wished we had our 5- and 6- year old grandsons with us. It would have been so fun exploring with them. Take your little people out and show them all of the beautiful creations God made! They will thank you later.
I hope this helped you plan your visit to the Kanarra Falls hike. I love helping you find new places to explore and visit. I hope you will like, comment, and share this blog or even better do all three. Please follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and X.
Keep exploring,
This hike looks amazing! Especially the waterfall – I had no idea about it. Thank you for the guide!
Thanks so much for the comment. It really was awesome. Hope you can go sometime.
Utah has some cool-looking hikes! I need to make a trip down. I am going to add this to the list. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Utah is just awesome. It never gets old.
This looks like an amazing hike and one I need to add to my list, thank you for the details!
You will really enjoy it. Just beautiful.