slot canyons of the American Southwest

You could spend weeks hiking just slot canyons in this area.

The best site to get inspired is AmericanSouthWest.net .

Few places on Earth have such beauty and mystique on an intimate scale as the delicately scupltured and coloured slot canyons of the American Southwest. There are thousands of scenic canyons in this region but most are relatively wide and often descend in steps through rock layers of differing hardness; in contrast, slot canyons have vertical walls and may be hundreds of feet deep but only a few feet wide.

Most slot canyons are remote, hidden and difficult to reach and explore, but this only adds to their appeal; one can get a good idea from a photograph, but this is no substitute for visiting in person. The canyons tend to be dry for most of the year but receive occasional flash floods of great force, most frequently during the late summer months. It is these sudden torrents of water, carrying logs, stones and other debris that have been cutting through the relatively soft rock for millions of years, resulting in a great variety of colourful rock shapes and forms.

In general, true slot canyons are found only on the many rivers and their tributaries that ultimately flow into Lake Powell, in Utah. There are three main drainage systems; various creeks that cross Navajo land south of the lake in Arizona, branches of the Paria River to the west, and branches of the Escalante and other rivers to the north.

Slot Canyons of the American Southwest