Trail Canyon

Six west-side tributaries join Trachyte Creek over a distance of 10 miles, between the UT 276 crossing and the edge of the Little Rockies, and all are at least moderately narrow, if not particularly deep. This region is covered by a large expanse of orange-red Navajo sandstone - mixed with sandy hills and patches of grass in many places, but for two square miles on the west side of the highway the rocks form a higher outcrop, completely devoid of any vegetation; here the surface is just bare sandstone, and the few canyons cutting through are much narrower and deeper, albeit still fairly short. These typically have pools, chokestones, drop offs and some sections (known as Mae West slots) where the passages narrow to just 6 inches or less at floor level, so can only be traversed by climbing some way above, until the ravine widens sufficiently to allow a descent back to the streambed.

The main slots are formed by two forks of Maidenwater Canyon and a north fork of Trail Canyon; this latter extends for nearly a mile, starting at its upper end by descending quite steeply, including two places where ropes are needed, then leveling out but becoming more confined towards the lower end. For those not rappelling, a reasonable amount of the downstream section can be explored, after just a short approach walk from the road.

Although brief, this part of the canyon is pretty, colorful and varied in character - it changes from an open V-shaped gorge to a twisty, smooth-sided section containing several watery potholes, followed by an extremely dark and tight passageway where the vertical walls are less than one foot apart, and the rocks overhang above.