Buckskin Gulch

Dogs Leashed

Features Cave · Commonly Backpacked · Geological Significance · Historical Significance · River/Creek · Views

Your GPS will not work in the canyon. In most spots, you'll have only minimal view of the sky at all.

Buckskin Gulch is less well-known than the adjacent, world-famous, Coyote Gulch, but is still a life-list destination hike. You'll wind along a sandy floor between 200-foot-tall sandstone walls, sometimes so close together you can touch both sides at the same time. In one spot, you'll need to climb down a short knotted rope (about 10 feet). You may need to wade through water or negotiate mud (or quicksand!) at various point as well.

Buckskin is not to be taken lightly! This is an experts-only trail and you should have some experience in deserts and slot canyons. Once you venture into Buckskin, it's hard to get lost. However, escape is difficult—make sure flash flood conditions are minimal because ... well, there are large logs wedged 40 feet or more overhead between the canyon walls from past floods.

The entire gulch is more than 16 miles from the Buckskin Gulch trailhead to the confluence with the Paria River, as mapped here. The upper part is not a slot canyon, but a wide wash that gradually narrows. Most people entering Buckskin opt for the shorter route in from Wire Pass Trail. See the Buckskin Gulch: Wire Pass to White House page for a complete description