1. Slot Canyon Near Kodachrome State Park
2. Slot Canyons Near Kodachrome Basin
3. Slot Canyon Near Kodachrome Basin

Bryce Canyon National Park is OPEN

Come see this natural wonder for yourself!! We're Open!!

Our Bryce Canyon Villas are only a scenic 20 minute drive to Bryce Canyon National Park, nestled in the heart of the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. Our spacious cabins provides you with affordable lodging, near Bryce Canyon National Park as well as many other great surrounding parks in Southern Utah.

1. A majority of the slot canyons in Utah that we know and love today were found by adventurous explorers. Using a map and compass, they scrambled over boulders, down canyons, and across riverbeds to squeeze into slot canyons. Thankfully, the Utah slot canyons on this list are pre-explored, making them well-known and recommended among slot hikers.
2. Located in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (near Kanab, Utah) and Paria Canyon-Vermillion Cliffs Wilderness (Arizona), Buckskin Gulch trails takes hikers through the veritable layer cake of the Colorado Plateau's geographical wonderment. It is the longest and deepest slot canyon in the Southwest and offers obstacles like rock.
3. If you like hiking and slot canyons, this is a great spot to visit. Hike Zebra slot canyon, Peek-A-Boo Gulch, and Spooky Gulch, and check out some more hoodoos at Devils Garden. The start of Hole-in-the-Rock Road is a one-hour drive from Kodachrome Basin.

Enjoy Beautiful and Completely Updated Cabins with Granite Counter-tops and Full Tile Bathrooms

We are located in Cannonville, Utah which is just east of Bryce Canyon National Park and on the western edge of the Grand Staircase National Monument. There is a Grand Staircase Visitor Center one block east of us. There are wonderful Day Trips all over the Grand Staircase - just minutes away!

Bryce Canyon Villas are a short 10 miles from Kodachrome State Park, just 15 minutes down the road with beautiful views and hiking trails.

Many visitors to Bryce Canyon National Park and the Grand Staircase prefer our more economical cabins and our clear bright star gazing nights.

Bryce Canyon was much closer to Kodachrome, only 30 min. Going down in the canyon by way of the Navajo Trail was excellent. At this time of year it was not too hot, yet. Still, we liked the more isolated location of Kodachrome. We would not hesitate to go back and do further exploring. By way of dirt roads, Escalante can also be reached.

This entire area of southern Utah is famous for beautiful star gazing.

Need some Inspiration to Visit??

Willis Creek Slot Canyon with its incredible waves

Tired of using Stairs?

All of these beautiful sites and activities are very close to our Bryce Canyon Villas

Just in case you forgot to shower this morning!

Climbing back up

Helpful Articles

The All-American Road Scenic Byway 12 ~ By VisitUtah.com

Sometimes you find yourself on a road that you can sense is something truly special. It is not just the landscapes, though you can't take your eyes off them. It is something about the byway itself, though it's not just the quality of its surface.

It seems to have a history. There's something in the engineering — the vertiginous 'Hogsback' stretch comes to mind — and in the thoughtful lay of the road. The way the road connects with the land, feels somehow..Read more...

Sunset hike in Kodachrome Basin State Park ~ By Leslie Kawai, Daily Herald

Tired of the cold? Head south for the winter and explore one of Utah's beautiful southern desert attractions - Kodachrome Basin State Park. Located seven miles south of Cannonville and about 20 miles east of Bryce Canyon, Kodachrome Basin is a small, 2,240-acre state park surrounded by the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. In 1954, National Geographic photographers, inspired by the park's..Read more....

Roaming Grand Staircase–Escalante. By Ace Kvale ~ VisitUtah.com

Ace Kvale is a photographer and guide in Boulder, Utah. Whenever possible, he roams Utah's Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument*. Along for most of his wanderings is Genghis Khan. Genghis Khan is the desert dog of Ace's Desert Dog brand, and co-star of a short film about a 60-day backpacking hike through the backcountry trails of Utah’s canyon country. Arguably, he is one of the ... Read more....

BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK ~ By VisitUtah.com

At dawn and dusk, mule deer graze the forested plateau along the road into Bryce Canyon. The alpine environment is home to dozens of species of mammals and birds, all acquainted with a spectacular truth: this is no ordinary forest. Water and wind over millions of years of freezes and thaws have carved into the plateau endless fields of the park's distinctive red rock pillars, called hoodoos, into the park's series of natural amphitheaters. Seek out the canyon floor on foot or stick to the overlooks by car. Bryce Canyon National Park invites... Read more....

Your need-to-know on Bryce Canyon National Park. By Dina, Sunset.com

Few things prove good things do indeed come in small packages better than Bryce Canyon National Park. See fantastical rock formations and experience some of the country’s clearest night skies here.

About the park. Although only 35,835 acres—compare that to Yosemite’s 761,266 acres or Yellowstone’s whopping 2.2 million acres—Bryce stuns with its...Read more...

Kodachrome Basin State Park is a love story for Garfield County couple. By Alex Cabrero

HENRIEVILLE, Garfield County — Hollywood has made a lot of money putting love stories on the big screen. But no movie was ever made about Bob and Mira Ott. Probably because no screen would be big enough. 'We were married in '51 and this year we've got 64 years,' said Mira Ott, who at 81 years old still gets around without much of a problem. “We have differences of opinion but he's still my very best friend.'

They were high school sweethearts at a time when that meant something.....Read More.... History of Kodachrome State Park.

Discover the Phantom-Like Rock Spires of Bryce Canyon. By National Geographic

Perhaps nowhere are the forces of natural erosion more tangible than at Bryce Canyon. Its wilderness of phantom-like rock spires, or hoodoos, attracts more than one million visitors a year. Many descend on trails that give hikers and horseback riders a close look at the fluted walls and sculptured pinnacles.

The park follows the edge of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. On the west are heavily forested tablelands more than 9,000 feet high; on the east are the intricately... Read more...

HOW TO EXPLORE BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK. By PATRICK HUTCHISON

Named after one of the area’s early Mormon settlers, Bryce Canyon National Park sits among an all-star cast of five stunning national parks in southwest Utah. Fewer than three hours from the Grand Canyon and about two hours from Zion, Bryce tends to be bypassed by visitors who are drawn to its larger, more accessible neighbors. But for those who make the effort, the park offers an incredible reward. Martian landscapes of pillar-shaped red rocks mesmerize ... Read more....

What to Do at Bryce Canyon National Park

Sure, in this part of America, Arizona’s nearby Grand Canyon gets much of the hype. But travelers are just as easily seduced by Bryce Canyon National Park's hoodoos: tall, skinny rock spires that spike high into the air. With their striations of red, orange, gold, and tan, they look to ....Read more....

No Pets Allowed

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Mary Jane Slot Canyon is one of Moab’s hidden gems – the “trail” is a creek the entire way, which leads to a 30 ft waterfall. This is a great trail to do when Moab is too hot, and you, the dogs, or kids need to cool off. The canyon walls get higher as you hike further into the canyon, and eventually will reach upwards of 100 ft! There are several side canyons that allow for exploring tighter slot canyons. I first hiked this trail in March 2015, and really loved it. I just had to get back to show my friends what it was like! You can check out my original article on KSL here.

One warning for Mary Jane Slot Canyon is that, like with any other slot canyon, you do NOT want to hike here during or right after a rainstorm due to the possibility of a flash flood.

You’ll want to wear water shoes for this hike – 90% of the “trail” is hiking through the creek.

Use this map if you are driving from Moab.

Use this map if you are driving from Fruita, CO.

Distance: 9 miles RT

Elevation gain: 540 ft

Time: 4-6 hours

Dog friendly? Yes, off leash

Kid friendly? Yes, but it may be too long for younger kids

Fees/Permits? None

The drive in. As soon as you turn onto the dirt road you should see a sign “Ranch Road – Dead End” but keep driving and follow the directions. You can see the LaSals peaking out from behind the mesas, and you should be able to see the famous “Priest & Nuns” rock formation to the SW.

Slot Canyon Near Kodachrome State Park

We had a Tacoma, but small cars can make it. Our friend was in a Camry and made it just fine, but slowly.

The trail starts in the SE corner of the parking lot – do NOT follow the trail head sign for Professor/Sylvester Creek. That is another nice trail, but has no shade nor water. It leads to a pass along a mesa. I hiked that one about 3 years ago, so I don’t have a blog post for that trail.

Make sure you drop down the little gully (by the no camping sign), then up and over to the other side, following the dirt path. You should see the creek within 5 minutes, and be hiking in a generally SE direction.

The entire time the trail will go in and out of the creek. So you could start hiking right away in the creek, or just follow the dry trail for another few hundred feet, and eventually it will force you to hike in the creek. Both ways work and meet up.

We followed the dry trail for about 10 minutes.

Here is where you are forced to start hiking in the creek, but hey I’m not complaining, that’s what we were here for!

It was only 70F in Moab, but the dogs were already hot. This is a great trail to do year-round since the creek always flows and cools you off.

The first mile of the trail is very open, and you can see all of the surrounding mesas and buttes. About 1/2 mile in, make sure you turn left, following the creek.

You’ll definitely want to wear water/hiking shoes. A few people wore Chacos, Keens, and I wore my Merrell’s. There are a lot of pebbles and rocks in the creek, so it’s better if you have fully closed water shoes, like the Merrell’s, so you don’t have to stop to get the rocks out of your shoes.

As you continue further up the canyon the walls will get higher and higher.

Super happy to be in the creek on a warm day!

Boulders in the creek.

The creek was never more than calf deep.

Puppy kisses!

We decided to explore a little side canyon, and it was so cool! The colors were amazing.

Finally, we reached the Mary Jane slot canyon waterfall! It takes most hikers about 2.5 hours to reach the waterfall. This waterfall is a double-tongued waterfall halted by a chockstone, about 30 feet high.

This photo was from the first time I hiked here, back in March 2015. The water level was much lower since we had a dry winter.

Jax was afraid of the waterfall – he didn’t even want to get close to his mom!

Girls Gone Hiking!

Slot Canyons Near Kodachrome Basin

King of the canyon!

Slot Canyon Near Kodachrome Basin

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