Little Wild Horse Canyon to Bell Canyon Loop, Crack Canyon Wilderness, Green River, Utah
After having a fun day hiking the Crack Canyon trail the day before, Mike and I decided we were up for another slot canyon hike in the San Rafael Swell. The Little Wild Horse Canyon to Bell Canyon loop stood out to us because it didn’t involve an out and back and would be a loop instead.
We got to the Little Wild Horse Canyon trailhead around 8:30 am on a weekday morning and the lot closest to the trailhead was nearly already full (there’s some additional parking across the street that was mostly empty). The signs at the trailhead informed us that this was the busiest hike in the San Rafael Swell, which the parking situation supported. After packing up our bags and putting on sunscreen, we set out on the trail. We decided to do the hike in a counter clockwise direction because it wouldn’t require us to walk through Little Wild Horse Canyon later in the day when we assumed it would be even busier. This assumption turned out to be correct so this is the direction I would recommend taking if you are doing this loop.
The canyon started narrowing pretty quickly and before we knew it, we were in a canyon as wide as our shoulders. The canyon had so many turns in it, at some spots you couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of you. There was one section that was as wide as our shoulders that had water in it that we decided to walk through with our shoes off (the water went up to our knees at the deepest part). It was in the high 60s that day, but that water was cold - probably somewhere in the 30s. After putting our shoes back on, we continued through the squiggly canyon, which started to open up after a while. I was genuinely impressed at how long Little Wild Horse Canyon remained so narrow. Many of canyons we’ve hiked typically have short stretches that are shoulder width, but Little Wild Horse Canyon had walls that were shoulder width for what may have been over a mile. I understand why it’s so popular!
It seemed like most people turned around once the canyon started to open up, which I believe was a mistake on their part. The canyon was beautiful with big walls all around us. We found ourselves alone and unbothered by others for much of the rest of the hike, which we really enjoyed. When we were walking through Little Wild Horse Canyon, we overheard a woman saying they would just do the out and back because she read that Bell Canyon was boring. I’d like to thank whoever wrote that because of how much solitude it brought for the rest of the hike, but I’ll also say that I completely disagree with that statement. Bell Canyon is different, but beautiful in its own way.
I truly enjoyed this entire hike. It was a great hike to experience a variety of desert landscapes. There was very little scrambling required in the hike, and I would say most people that are comfortable with the distance would be able to complete this hike, but be sure to bring more water than you think you’ll need! I’d highly recommend doing this hike on a weekday if you can.
Stats: 8.6 miles, 965 ft of elevation gain
