Coyote Gulch is a tributary of the

Escalante River The Escalante River is a tributary of the Colorado River. It is formed by the confluence of Upper Valley and Birch Creeks near the town of Escalante in south-central Utah, and from there flows southeast for approximately before joining Lake P ...

, located in

Garfield ''Garfield'' is an American comic strip created by Jim Davis. Originally published locally as ''Jon'' in 1976, then in nationwide syndication from 1978 as ''Garfield'', it chronicles the life of the title character Garfield the cat, his hum ...

and Kane Counties in southern

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, in the western United States. Over long,"Canyons of the Escalante", Trails Illustrated Map (1994), Coyote Gulch exhibits many of the geologic features found in the

Canyons of the Escalante The Canyons of the Escalante is a collective name for the erosional landforms created by the Escalante River and its tributariesthe ''Escalante River Basin''. Located in southern Utah in the western United States, these sandstone features includ ...

, including high vertical canyon walls, narrow

slot canyon A slot canyon is a long, narrow channel or drainageway with sheer rock walls that are typically eroded into either sandstone or other sedimentary rock. A slot canyon has depth-to-width ratios that typically exceed 10:1 over most of its length and ...

s, domes, arches, and natural bridges. The upper sections of Coyote Gulch are located within the

Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument The Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument (GSENM) is a United States national monument protecting the Grand Staircase, the Kaiparowits Plateau, and the Canyons of the Escalante ( Escalante River) in southern Utah. It was established in ...

, while its lower sections are located in the

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (shortened to Glen Canyon NRA or GCNRA) is a national recreation area and conservation unit of the United States National Park Service that encompasses the area around Lake Powell and lower Cataract Canyon ...

. The headwaters of Coyote Gulch have their origins along a segment of the

Straight Cliffs Formation The Straight Cliffs Formation is a stratigraphic unit in the Kaiparowits Plateau of south central Utah. It is Late Cretaceous (latest Turonian – early Campanian) in age and contains fluvial (river systems), paralic (swamps and lagoons), and marg ...

which is the eastern edge of the

Kaiparowits Plateau Location of the Kaiparowits Plateau within Utah The Kaiparowits Plateau is a large, elevated landform located in southern Utah, in the southwestern United States. Along with the Grand Staircase and the Canyons of the Escalante, it makes up a ...

. Intermittent streams flowing down the Straight Cliffs merge to form larger branches, including ''Dry Fork'', ''Big Hollow'', the main branch of Coyote Gulch, and Hurricane Wash. The combined flow from these branches has carved a canyon up to deep into sandstone layers before meeting the Escalante River.

Canyon access

The main canyon of Coyote Gulch can be accessed by one of several trailheads located along the Hole-in-the-Rock Road (HITRR). The HITRR is an unpaved road that heads southeast into the Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument, branching off Utah Scenic Byway 12 about east of Escalante. The Red Well trailhead is at the end of a short spur road off the HITRR, and leads into the main channel near its junction with Big Hollow Wash. The trail into Hurricane Wash starts just off the HITRR. A trailhead located near some stock watering tanks along Fortymile Ridge Roadanother spur of the HITRRcan be used for a cross-country route to the middle of Coyote Gulch. This route involves a rather steep climb over slick rock. A trailhead at the end of the Fortymile Ridge Road leads to the junction of Coyote Gulch, the Escalante River, and Stevens Canyon. This route involves squeezing through a crack in the rim of the canyonreferred to as the Crack-in-the-Wall routeand then descending down the face of a high sand dune.

Features

The sandy streambed of Coyote Gulch, typically just a few inches/centimeters deep, provides a path for wading through the trees and vegetation lining the bottom of the canyon. Near the middle of the main canyon's length is

Jacob Hamblin Jacob Hamblin (April 2, 1819 – August 31, 1886) was a Western pioneer, a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), and a diplomat to various Native American tribes of the Southwest and Great Basin. He ...

Archalso known as Lobo Archwhich is large enough to reach under an overhang on the opposite side of the canyon. Further downstream within the canyon is ''Coyote Natural Bridge'' a small hole carved in a large sandstone fin. Still further downstream is ''Cliff Arch'', a jug-handle style arch in the north wall of the canyon. Finally, just outside the mouth of the canyon and high above the Escalante River is ''Stevens Arch'' with an opening approximately wide. There are also numerous small waterfalls and cascades in the canyon between Jacob Hamblin Arch and the confluence with the Escalante River. Some of these waterfalls can be easily climbed, but others must be bypassed.

Dry Fork

The northernmost branch of Coyote Gulchcalled the Dry Forkis one of the most popular destinations in the area. A short spur road leads off from the Hole-in-the-Rock Road to a trailhead above the

wash WASH (or Watsan, WaSH) is an acronym that stands for "water, sanitation and hygiene". It is used widely by non-governmental organizations and aid agencies in developing countries. The purposes of providing access to WASH services include achievi ...

. A brief descent to the canyon floor leads to several tributary

s. The Dry Fork is an excellent example of how occasional flash floods over long periods of time have carved narrow grooves into the

Navajo Sandstone The Navajo Sandstone is a geological formation in the Glen Canyon Group that is spread across the U.S. states of southern Nevada, northern Arizona, northwest Colorado, and Utah as part of the Colorado Plateau province of the United States.Anonymo ...

. Approximately deep, the Dry Fork slot can be followed upstream for several hundred yards/meters. Just downstream from the mouth of the Dry Fork is Peekaboo Gulch which has carved an even narrower channel into the sandstone, leading to a tube that empties into the dry wash of the main streambed. Further downstream, Spooky Gulch is over deep, but the channel rarely widens to more than , forcing hikers to remove their backpacks and walk sideways. Finally, even further downstream in the main wash, Brimstone Gulch is the last named slot canyon in the Dry Fork area and is even narrower than Spooky Gulch, eventually reaching a width that is impassable to all hikers except animals smaller than mice and insects.

Gallery

File:Coyote Natural Bridge, UT.jpg, Coyote Natural Bridge File:StevensArchUT.jpg, Stevens Arch File:PeekaBoo.jpg, Peek-a-Boo Gulch

References

External links

BLM info for Coyote Gulch

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

TopoQuest Map

{{authority control Canyons and gorges of Utah Rivers of Utah Tributaries of the Colorado River in Utah Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument Glen Canyon National Recreation Area Rivers of Garfield County, Utah Rivers of Kane County, Utah Geologic formations of Utah Geologic formations with imbedded sand dunes