Hiking and Splashing in Negro Bill Canyon, Moab, Utah

We went to Moab to celebrate a wedding of two friends. While we were there, we went on a fun hike up Negro Bill Canyon. The trailhead is located on Utah Scenic Byway 128, three miles north of the junction with U.S. Highway 191. This hike was listed as a great family activity, and they were right! The main large parking lot was full at 11 am on Sunday (we went to church first, so got a little later start). However, there was plenty of room across the highway to park.

I had the kids put on their new neoprene socks (something I decided we needed after our hike up Kanarra Creek). We tried to make good time up the trail, telling the kids we would hike in the creek on the way back down. But soon I got hot, so we started hiking sections in the creek, and the new game became to find the deepest holes. We saw some small fish in the creek.

The water was chilly, so when we got cold we hiked on the trail and soon warmed up.

The trail crosses the creek several times, sometimes with slippery crossings.

About 1.5 miles up we veered right into the second canyon and in 0.7 miles reached Morning Glory Bridge, the sixth largest natural bridge in the U.S., at 234 feet across. A group was rappelling down the wall next to the bridge. I had read about this trip, where canyoneers start out above this area and do two rappels and hike out. It sounded great, except the group had over 15 people in it and it took each person ten to fifteen minutes to rappel down and they were getting bored and rowdy and started teaching the kids new words that we preferred that they didn't know.

We had brought our lunch, so we tried to get away from that group and enjoy the view.

Water comes out of a crack and flows into a small pool under the bridge.

We knew we had a long drive ahead of us, so we didn't stay too long under the bridge. We started back, with more forays into the creek. This was definitely a hike where the trip to and from was even more fun than the destination!

We did have to watch out for poison ivy, but the kids are pretty good at spotting it. They even learned to tell the difference between the very similar-looking box elder leaves and poison ivy. It helped that the poison ivy was starting to turn a little red.

The rocks along the creek kept changing, and we alternated from shady to sunny sections.

While my husband preferred the drier route, the kids and I were happy to get wet.

We tried a selfie.

Then I gave the camera to my husband.

We hiked in the creek a lot, finding it nearly as easy as the trail and much more fun.

We still got out to warm up from time to time.

This is a great trail and lots of fun with the water. It's free so it can be crowded.

There is so much to see and do in Moab--we'll be back!

Hike to Kanarra Creek Falls near Cedar City, Utah

Since we have to take an entire day off to go to the dentist in Cedar City, I figured we should try to do something fun so we didn't just drive all day. The aquatic center didn't open until 4 pm, the bowling alley was a little pricey, no good movies at the cheap movie theater, no plays showing at the Shakespeare Festival, so I decided we would go for a little hike. I had heard that Kanarra Creek was a wonderful place to hike and wasn't far away. So after doing some errands, we drove there (directions and maps here). We could have parked at city hall for free and walked a few blocks, but it was already getting a little late in the day, so we paid $10 to park in the private parking lot. About five cars were in the parking lot. No one in the handicapped spaces next to the stairs.

The information kiosk that begins, "This is a difficult hike." The kiosk also said "Plan on spending at least four hours up and back." I was hoping we could make it a little faster, as we still had to do grocery shopping and had a long drive when we finished.

The hike starts on a steep gravel road and passes the water tanks for the town of Kanarraville.

Then we went down hill towards the creek. It was late September, so I was a little surprised by how warm it was and how green the trees still were. I was kind of hoping for lots of fall colors, but I guess that will happen in October.

The kids were definitely a bit grumbly. However, once the trail got harder and we started walking in the water more, their attitude definitely improved.

We got more and more excited as the canyon walls got higher.

In a bit over an hour, we reached the first narrows section. I had checked the forecast and there was a 0% chance of rain. Perfect, because if you were in the narrows during a flash flood, it would be a bad situation.

When Desert Boy saw the narrows, he couldn't quite believe that was our trail. I think his exact words were, "We have to hike in that?"

"Yep," I replied.

"But there's no trail."

I smiled. "That's the point."

Although I had them hiking in swim suits and some technical clothes, their feet got cold. And there was a little more whining.

But soon we reached the first waterfall, and suddenly they forgot about their cold feet and started thinking about the challenge in front of them. Desert Girl scampered up the ladder before I even had a chance to ask her if she would be comfortable doing it.

The canyon opened up a bit and we saw some smaller waterfalls. On hot summer days, I would hang out here for awhile. But it felt cooler now, so we kept going.

As we entered a second section of narrows, the water got a little deeper.

The beta I had read about the hike said the second waterfall could be harder to climb around, but on our trip the ladder there was in good shape.

We were a team now, overcoming obstacles in the canyon.

The canyon was absolutely gorgeous.

After the second waterfall the canyon opened up again and we found a geocache, had a snack, warmed up in the sun a little, then headed back downstream.

Desert Boy was ready to tackle the ladders on his own. (By the way, some of the ropes and webbing tying the ladder in place and for handlines are really worn--inspect them before you commit all your weight to them.)

Desert Girl wanted a belay, so I tied a full-body webbing harness for her and attached some accessory cord.

The belay gave her a little more confidence, and she did great going down.

The trickiest spot turned out to be this log, where Desert Girl slipped off and landed in a puddle, getting quite wet. I had a rain jacket that I put on her and that helped warm her up.

Going down the ladder by the first waterfall was a piece of cake.

Then it was time for more hiking. I've already ordered neoprene socks for the kids so they can do this again and enjoy it a little more.

They dried out quickly once we reached the road and headed back. It took us 3.5 hours to go up above the second waterfall and back. We saw about 20 people in the canyon on a weekday afternoon. According to reports I've read and the size of the parking lot, I imagine it can get super busy on weekends, with probably ten times that amount of people. But I have to say, the canyon is worth visiting, it's a beauty.

A Visit to Big Warm Spring, Duckwater Shoshone Reservation

 The kids had an extra day off of school due to teacher training, so I decided we should go somewhere fun for the day. We decided on Big Warm Spring on the Duckwater Shoshone Reservation. The spring is shown in the new Great Basin National Park movie and looked gorgeous. We didn't exactly get an early start, but the plus side of that was we got to eat lunch at Twin Wok in Ely, which is a special treat. Then we headed west on Highway 6. At the old bar in Currant (don't blink or you'll miss it), we turned north to head up Railroad Valley.

This is what the road looked like:

It might look boring, but I was fascinated seeing the ranches and geology. In 20 miles the pavement ended and we went a quarter mile on a dirt road before veering to the left towards these trees and a fence. There we saw a sign identifying the location as the Duckwater Shoshone Reservation Big Warm Spring. I especially appreciated that they stated, "Water is Sacred." The Duckwater Shoshone allow the general public to visit the spring, as long as they abide by the rules.

A little closer to the spring are some interpretive signs, mainly about the native Railroad Valley springfish (Crenichthys nevadae), which has survived for thousands of years after Lake Railroad dried up. They are listed as threatened by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and a host of partners have worked to keep these little fish surviving.

Then it was time to get into Nevada's largest geothermal hot spring. Did you know that Nevada not only has the most mountain ranges of any state (over 300) but also the most hot springs (also over 300)? It's also the driest state in the country, so those hot springs are extra special. Big Warm Spring is about 91-93 degrees Fahrenheit, so warmer than the average swimming pool but cooler than a hot tub. In other words, perfect for just enjoying.

A stairway leads into the spring, and those handrails are helpful as you tread the algae-covered steps. That algae is important, it's one of the main food sources for the Railroad Valley springfish, but it's also slippery.

The water is extremely clear, but at the bottom the sediment is very fine. There's a sulfur smell to the water, a reminder that this spring exists because of heat deep within the earth and the plumbing that is taking this water by that heat.

Not so long ago, the spring faced some hard times, and in 2007 the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Duckwater Shoshone tribe signed a Safe Harbor Agreement to protect the fish and restore the spring. The joint effort led to digging out the pond, placing boulders around it, removing non-native catfish, reintroducing the native springfish, fencing around the springs, and some new diversion structures. (This Safe Harbor Agreement has lots of great information about the spring and area, so is well worth reading.)

We took a little walk to view more of the spring channel. I liked seeing the milkweed, host to monarch butterfly caterpillars.

We could see additional places where water was bubbling up from the bottom, adding to the flow.

A viewing platform was a little farther down.

I also went and checked out the USGS stream gauge. The spring channel is pretty consistently 14-15 cfs year round.

After I returned home I found out if we had continued downstream we would have reached a waterfall. I guess we'll have to go back!

We went back to the springhead and swam. One man came to look for a lost item and graciously took a photo of us. The water is up to about 10 feet deep in places, so I was glad Desert Girl had her life jacket on. Desert Boy has gotten good enough at swimming he was fine without one.

We even took some time for a little swim lesson practice, trying to get his front crawl ready for an upcoming triathlon.

I imagine most weekends are quite busy here, but we were visiting on a weekday when area schools were in session. It made for a very relaxing afternoon. This is truly a special place, and I hope to visit again.