WIRE PASS and BUCKSKIN GULCH

Buckskin Gulch is a side canyon of the Paria Canyon. You find the trailhead by driving 5 miles south on a dirt road off Hwy 89 about 5 miles north of the Paria Canyon - Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness Ranger Station (House Rock Valley Road). There is a self-pay fee station at the trailhead ($5 per person). The first part of the trail runs in an "open" canyon surrounded by beautiful red rock scenery. After about 1½ hours of hiking you will enter a spectacular, narrow slot canyon which continues for a long while. The total length of Buckskin Gulch is more than 15 miles. Where Buckskin Gulch meets the even narrower Wire Pass Canyon you can find some interesting Indian petroglyphs on the massive rock that forms the southwest corner of the confluence.

If you want to get into a slot canyon right away, continue south on House Rock Valley Road for another 5 miles to the Wire Pass trailhead. There are some pit toilets there. You will enter the slot canyon of Wire Pass a short distance from the trailhead. And you will get to Buckskin Gulch in less than an hour.

Two sections of Wire Pass Canyon.

Wire Pass meets Buckskin Gulch and a section of Buckskin Gulch.

Indian petroglyphs on the wall where Wire Pass meets Buckskin Gulch.

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