After the fun Fisher Towers hike and walk at Dead Horse Point State Park, the next day, we decided to “leave” Moab and drive to Little Wild Horse Canyon for a short slot canyon hike, followed by a stop in Goblin Valley State Park before eventually heading out to Capitol Reef National Park for more hiking.

Since our New Year’s Eve slot canyon hike to Kanarra Falls was so awesome, we really wanted our friends Chad and Shannon to experience hiking in a slot canyon while on our Moab trip.

So, we set our sights on Little Wild Horse Canyon. We weren’t sure how much water would be in the canyon, or how far we’d get into the canyon, but we figured it was worth a try.

Well, let me just say we made it about 1.25 miles into the canyon. But the slot canyon itself was remarkable.

Some of the recent mud was cracked and curled up like paint chips.

And the colors, patterns, and textures of the canyon rock was beautiful.

Parts of the trail were sandy or layered in fine rock, while other parts were solid rock and contained uneven terrain and obstacles.

Parts of the trail were wide while many parts were narrow, and some really narrow.

As Shannon said, one of the few times in life that it pays to be small.

Then, as I mentioned, we only made it about 1.25 miles into the canyon. This is why.

For some reason, my husband decided he was going to wade through the water to see what was ahead and if it was worth all of us getting wet and muddy in order to continue.

None of us had brought rubber boots for this slot canyon hike, so ultimately, we decided to turn back and head out to the trailhead.

Narrow space!

Did I mention sections of the trail were really narrow?

As we neared the end of the canyon, Chad spotted a little cubby that was just begging him to climb up into.

We wandered back to the trailhead, got in our vehicle and headed back toward our next stop: Goblin Valley State Park.

Little Wild Horse Canyon
Total Distance	2.49 mi
Total Time	1:12:45
Total Ascent	112 ft
Max Elevation	5,246 ft

Goblin Valley State Park

The odd scenery at Goblin Valley State Park is kind of difficult to grasp, especially from photos.

From the parking lot, we descended a series of stairs and found ourselves in the middle of a desert amongst a valley of sandstone bobble-headed goblins and hoodoos.

Shaped by wind and water erosion, parallel layers of rock are revealed and sandstone’s uneven hardness results in inconsistent erosion patterns, some areas resisting erosion much better than others, which is what creates the mushroom-shaped formations.

And one of my favorite little sightings at Goblin Valley State Park: A trail of tiny lizard footprints in the sand.

After wandering around Goblin Valley for a little while, we got back in our vehicle and continued to Capitol Reef National Park as the adventures continued.

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