Backpacking Arizona. Bruce Grubbs
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Buckskin Canyon, but the water is silty and must be filtered. You’ll find several unnamed springs between miles 10 and 25.
PERMITS Required, and a reservation is recommended. Walk-in permits may be available, depending on demand, at the BLM Kanab Field Office or the Paria Information Station at the north trailhead, especially during the off-season (summer and winter).
RULES Campfires are not allowed and all toilet paper must be packed out.
CONTACT For information: Bureau of Land Management, 345 E. Riverside Dr. St. George, UT 84790, http://paria.az.blm.gov; for reservations: Arizona Strip Interpretive Association, 345 E. Riverside Dr., St. George, UT 84790, (435) 688-3246, [email protected]
HIGHLIGHTS Starting just north of the Arizona border in southern Utah, this classic hike takes you through one of the most spectacular sandstone canyons in North America. Surprisingly, the hiking is reasonably easy—it’s the only hike in this book with no elevation gain. A prime feature of this trip, the narrows of Paria Canyon, are 12 miles long, and average 20 to 30 feet wide and more than 500 feet deep. An optional side hike takes you into Buckskin Canyon, which is even narrower.
PROBLEMS Because Paria Canyon is popular, reservations are required for the limited number of permits available during the prime spring and fall seasons. A daily fee is charged for each person and each dog in the party. Although the Paria River is usually less than 1 foot deep, you’ll cross it hundreds of times. You will need a pair of river sandals or other amphibious footwear. Conventional leather hiking boots will be ruined by a trip through Paria Canyon. A hiking stick is useful for maintaining your footing in the silty river.
Because a flash flood would be extremely dangerous in the narrows, and inconvenient elsewhere in the canyon, you must have a stable weather forecast before starting the trip. A storm in the Paria River’s headwaters, completely out of your sight or hearing, can easily send a flash flood through the narrows. Hike the canyon north to south, as presented here, so that your weather forecast is as current as possible for the passage through the narrows from roughly mile 4 to 16. Summer weather can be extremely hot, and during the late fall and winter, the Paria River runs too high and cold to wade. A shuttle is necessary, so contact the BLM for a current list of commercial shuttle operators.
Warning: Before committing to the narrows, be certain you have a stable weather forecast for the Paria watershed, and that the actual weather matches the forecast.
HOW TO GET THERE To reach the starting point at White House Trailhead from Page, drive north 29 miles on U.S. 89 to the BLM ranger station and campground on the left (south) side of the highway. The end point of the trip at Lees Ferry on the Colorado River can be reached from Page by driving 23 miles south on U.S. 89 to Arizona 89A. Turn right (north), and continue 14 miles, across Navajo Bridge, and turn right (northeast) on the road to Lees Ferry, drive 5 miles and park in the west end of the long-term parking lot.
DESCRIPTION As you hike south from the White House Trailhead, the Paria River runs through an open valley, but within a couple of miles the canyon walls begin to close in, soon rising 200 feet above the Paria River bed. The narrows begin at about mile 4, where the canyon walls narrow to 20 to 50 feet. Paria Canyon is now over 400 feet deep. From here to about mile 12, there is no escape from rising water in the event of a flood, and no place to camp.
Backpackers in Paria Canyon
As you continue, the narrows become progressively deeper and more impressive. The Navajo sandstone walls curve overhead, blocking out most of the sky. Little vegetation grows in the narrows because floods regularly scour the riverbed. At mile 7.2, Buckskin Canyon enters from the right through a narrow slot. You also cross the state line back into Arizona at this point, a fact that seems pretty irrelevant deep within the canyons.
Tip: In a pinch, you can hike about 0.25 mile up Buckskin Canyon to a broad alluvial terrace, which is the only spot in the Narrows section where you could escape rising water.
The Paria River is sometimes dry from the trailhead to Buckskin Canyon, but it usually flows downstream of this point. Buckskin Canyon offers an optional side hike.
Another 3 miles of hiking leads out of the narrows, which ends gradually as the canyon grows steadily deeper and wider. The first sign that the character of the canyon is changing is the appearance of Fremont cottonwood trees on alluvial terraces on the insides of bends. Watch for the first springs along the canyon walls. Although it still should be treated, the spring water is cleaner and certainly tastes better than the Paria River water. These terraces offer reasonable campsites safely above possible flood waters.
As you continue downstream, the canyon increases in depth and width. More sunlight finds its way to the bottom of the canyon, allowing cottonwoods and other vegetation to flourish. Watch for several rincons perched above the riverbed. Rincons are old canyon meanders that have been cut off from the main canyon. In a rincon, the now-abandoned river channel curves around a central sandstone butte. A particularly accessible rincon is located just above Judd Hollow, at mile 17.7. Judd Hollow marks a place where early ranchers attempted to pump water from the Paria River to the dry plateau above, in order to water their cattle. A few artifacts remain from this failed endeavor.
At mile 20 Wrather Canyon, a major side canyon, enters from the right. The canyon itself is a huge opening in the right wall of Paria Canyon, but the actual bed of the canyon enters the Paria through a narrow slot. Wrather Canyon offers an optional side hike.
After Wrather Canyon, Paria Canyon continues to grows wider, and the constant meanders decrease as the Paria River wanders generally east.
Tip: You can expect to find the last spring at around mile 25, so you may want to pick up water for camp farther down the canyon.
At mile 28, the canyon widens significantly, and the Paria River enters an open valley that leads down to Lees Ferry and the Colorado River.
Tip: You’ll find little shade in this section. In hot weather, it’s a good idea to camp near Water Pockets Canyon, at mile 28.5, and get an early start in order to walk the lower canyon in the cool of morning.
Below Water Pockets Canyon, an unmaintained trail offers an alternate route. As you near Lees Ferry you’ll pass the ruins of the historic Lonely Dell Ranch, operated by John D. Lee and his wife. She supposedly exclaimed, “Oh, what a lonely dell!” when she first set eyes on her new home. Lee operated a ferry across the Colorado River just upstream from the mouth of the Paria River until the late 1920’s, when Navajo Bridge replaced it. Even today, Colorado River crossings are far apart—the next bridged crossings upstream are at Page, 17 miles upstream, and Narrow Canyon, 200 miles above Lees Ferry. Downstream, the next bridged crossing is at Hoover Dam, 300 miles away.
At mile 34, the obscure Dominguez Pass Trail climbs 2 miles and 1600 feet to the east rim of the Canyon. Although it offers fine views of lower Paria Canyon, this trail is not often hiked because most backpackers have their sights set on Lees Ferry and a shower by this time.
Paria River, Paria Canyon
Canyon Formation
Deep, narrow canyons form on the Colorado Plateau for several reasons. First, the entire plateau has been raised high above sea level, creating a huge amount of erosive power from the precipitation that falls on it. Second, an energetic Colorado River system is fed by copious snowfall in the Rocky Mountains, creating a master canyon and drainage to the sea. Third, the soft sandstone is eroded more rapidly by stream action than from local rainfall, so the canyon deepens quickly but widens slowly.
BUCKSKIN CANYON OPTIONAL SIDE HIKE Buckskin Canyon is 16 miles long, its width varies from 3 to 15 feet, and is up to 500 feet deep. A recommended side hike from Paria takes you 3 miles up the canyon. You’ll encounter