An hour east of Kanab, just past the turnoff north the ghost town of Paria
(or Pahreah or Pria, depending upon which map you read) House Rock Valley Road turns south
off of US 89 for nearly 40 miles of a slow-going, kidney-jarring,
sometimes graded gravel road that ends in House Rock, Arizona. It’s an
adventure we might want to take sometime in the future: the scenery is
spectacular, wild, isolated, and diverse. It passes through portions of
Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Paria Canyon, Coyote Buttes, and
parallels an unusual formation called The Cockscomb. The area also
features slot canyons and a sandstone formation called “The Wave,” a
favorite of photographers who know about it and are lucky enough to win
a lottery permit to go there.[Twenty entry permits are issued each day by the BLM, ten via the internet and ten by an on site drawing at the BLM office in Kanab. We made one attempt and were among 40 people that day who were turned away.]
We withstood eight miles of the House Rock Valley Road to the Wire Pass trail head. We hiked about two miles to where the trail intersected with Buckskin Gulch. Along the way—and our reason for taking this hike—we passed through an unnamed slot canyon about a quarter mile long, maybe eight feet wide at most, and 40–100 feet high. The trail was not steep, but wedged boulders and tree trunks occasionally presented obstacles to squirm under or climb over. The dogs made the trip with us and were lucky enough to find sufficient shade to keep cool. This was definitely worth the time and effort to get there.
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