Devil's Gate Slot Canyon in White Pine County, Nevada

 One of the trips we recently did with our visiting family from the Midwest was to a remote slot canyon near Gandy Warm Springs in Utah, 30 miles north of the Border Inn on Highways 6 & 50. Just four miles beyond the turnoff to the warm springs is an awesome little desert treasure (see map below for how to get there). The coordinates for the canyon are approximately NAD83 11S 749773 m E 4373844 m N (You cross back into Nevada, hence the 11 S.)

We parked in the wash where the road crossed (high clearance needed), and started walking down the rather ordinary wash.

After a few twists and turns, we suddenly came to huge limestone walls. Where was this canyon going?

It looked even more daunting the closer we got.

Suddenly the floor dropped out.

We had to help the kids get down an eight-foot drop.

Then they gathered on the canyon floor, finding bird feathers, a desiccated lizard, and plenty of gravel to play in.

We had brought our lunch, and it was a welcome relief from the desert heat to eat it in the shade of the 40-foot tall canyon walls.

While we ate we admired the, water-carved walls and chatted about how this slot canyon had formed.

Desert Girl had a conversation with Dad.

Then it was time to explore the canyon. My husband and I had visited it many years ago, and I had remembered it was short, but not much else about it. I didn't remember how beautiful the canyon walls were, or how well they protected the canyon bottom from the noonday sun.

My sister-in-law managed to get the baby down into the canyon (hurray!), and he seemed to enjoy it.

The girls thought it was a wonderful place to explore. Can you tell they were being a little impish?

We went to the end of the limestone cropping and came out to a wide open wash. The kids quickly decided it was too hot and turned around and went back in the canyon.

The canyon looked different coming from the other angle.

I'm not sure what the girls were doing, but they were happy, so we were happy.

We found a bird's nest in a little crevice with an egg in it and an egg next to it.

Kids are never too young to enjoy these kind of adventures!

We hung out a little more. Because the canyon is so short, it's best to travel very slowly through it. It's a great canyon for kids because it isn't real long or difficult. If you wanted more of a challenge, you could rappel in from the top (my husband did that once when he was a teenager).

I was having lots of fun playing with one of my brother's camera lenses and a little gorilla tripod.

Finally it was time to head out to our next destination: Gandy Warm Springs (post coming soon). 

  If you're already going to Gandy Warm Springs, Devil's Gate is definitely worth a little side trip. This is off the beaten path, so let someone know where you're going and keep an eye out for flash floods, as the water could get high fast. Happy travels!