Slot canyons come in many shapes and sizes, in many different depths and widths and colors and difficulties. Some of them are super skinny, while others are wide and comfortable. Some are really deep, while others are shallow and friendly. Sometimes they have dangerous "keeper" potholes, and other times they are very friendly. Willis Creek is one of those. It's beautifully sculpted narrows and slots are short and sweet, with very little in the way of obstacles and within reason for just about anyone from small children to the elderly.
Located in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Willis and it's local cousins, Lick Wash and Bull Valley Gorge, are found in a fairly unique area not replete with bountiful slots. There are some quality ones in the upper Paria drainage a ways downstream, but up here there is a neat slice of Navajo exposed on the lower slopes of the Paunsaugunt Plateau, and several slots have been carved into it, mixed in with the ponderosa pines and the pinion-junipers. |
This slot is really nice for beginners and non-technical hikers because it is easy to start. The road literally crosses the wash 50 yards above where the slot begins. The first narrows begins with a small waterfall that may or may not have water in it- the creek here tends to usually have water in all but the driest year. There is a ramp to get in just below the waterfall. Expect to get your feet wet in this section. The canyon opens up briefly, a trait that it will continue to show the rest of it's run.
The canyon alternates back and forth between open and tight for the rest of the "good" section. It never gets really deep; it starts no more than 3 or 4 meters deep, and even though it gets deeper as you go on, the bottom narrows is really no deeper than about 30 meters or ~100 feet. However, the walls are quite sculpted and have lots of lines and striations, so they are always quite beautiful. Sometimes Navajo doesn't always stripe so well and can be quite boring, but here it is definitely much more striated.
My dad in roughly the same spot one years apart.
There are some neat things to see in the canyon. There is another small waterfall (~12') about 1/3rd of the way down, but there is a super easy bypass to the right. A little lower down there is a very interesting rock formation on the left, where a neat pinnacle detached from the cliff still stands. Throughout the canyon, in the open parks, there are a whole lot of ponderosa pine trees, some of them of pretty epic size, and they make the hike much different from a lot of sandstone canyons around Utah.
By far the best of the narrows sections is the last. It's the deepest and the darkest, but it also has a very beautiful sculpture pattern, with lots of swirls and holes and cavities and alcoves. It's what a slot canyon should look like. The only unfortunate thing about this canyon is that it is so short. The narrows and slots are fun to walk through and enjoy but before you know it, you find yourself in a long straightaway with no narrows in sight and you know it's time to turn around and walk back through it to your car.
All photos copyright Kit Davidson unless otherwise noted.