Atlas › San Rafael Swell - Eastern Reef
Little Wild Horse Canyon
verified
ACA 2A
Extreme flood risk
Goblin Valley / Hanksville, UT
The Swell's marquee non-technical slot: tight, sculpted sandstone narrows that you can walk through without rope, usually run as a loop with Bell Canyon.
Bell Canyon is the partner route and shares the same trailhead; the standard loop is about 8 mi total. The slot's accessibility is also its risk profile: the 2020 fatalities happened to an experienced group on a forecast that read clearer than the storm cell that actually hit. Watch the entire Eastern Reef forecast, not just the trailhead.
Logistics
| Manager | BLM Price Field Office, San Rafael Swell |
|---|---|
| Permit | No permit required. Dispersed BLM land. Trailhead just outside Goblin Valley State Park. |
| Time | 1-7 hr |
| Technical | Rated 2A II (v1a1 II). Non-technical narrow hiker slot. No rope required on the standard route. Most parties run it as the Little Wild Horse and Bell Canyon loop: up Bell, over the divide, down Little Wild Horse, or the reverse. |
| Season | Year round, brutally hot Jun-Aug. Winter and spring are the most comfortable. |
| Flood risk | Extreme. Two people died in a flash flood here on May 11, 2020. The slot is the only exit and the entire Eastern Reef catchment funnels through it. Cancel on any forecast rain in the upper basin. |
| Vehicle access | Passenger car on the paved approach off Goblin Valley Road. |
| Crowd | Heavy in season. The premier family-accessible slot of the Swell; expect children and dogs on weekends Mar-May and Sep-Oct. |
| Coordinates | 38.5958, -110.8054 |