Peek-a-boo and Spooky Slot Canyons

Deep down Hole in the Rock Road, past the twenty six mile mark, a rough spur leads to two of the most beloved slot canyons in Utah, Peek a boo and Spooky Gulch. They are narrow wrinkles in the earth, cut by flash floods over countless years into the Navajo sandstone. Peek a boo is a corkscrew of swirling potholes and arches that you climb up into, while Spooky is a tall, dim slit so tight that in places it narrows to barely a foot or so across, forcing hikers to turn sideways and remove their packs to squeeze through.

Together the two canyons make a loop of about three miles, and unlike many slots in this country, they require no ropes or technical gear, only a willingness to scramble and squeeze. The walls glow orange and gold where thin light filters down from far above. But this beauty carries real danger.

These are flash flood canyons, and a thunderstorm miles away, unseen and unheard, can send a wall of water roaring through in minutes. The summer months carry the greatest risk, and hikers are warned to check the forecast and never enter if storms threaten. Great Basin rattlesnakes also shelter in the cool shade.

Treated with respect, though, Peek a boo and Spooky offer an intimate, almost secret way to feel the raw power that shaped all of this canyon country.