A Circular Backpack in the Kanab Creek Wilderness, Grand Canyon Area, Arizona

The Trip

The Kanab Creek Wilderness Area, bordering the north and western side of Grand Canyon National Park, contains a labyrinth of canyons converging, ultimately flowing into the Colorado River deep in the Park. While only a short segment of our hiking is in Grand Canyon National Park proper, it would be impossible to know that this is National Forest and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land, not National Park land. On our journey we will hike through the finest redwall narrows in canyon country. While camping on huge Esplanade terraces (a wide, flatish Grand Canyon expanse on top of the Supai Formation), we will be treated to dramatic panoramic views. This is a unique wilderness adventure.

The United States Congress designated the Kanab Creek Wilderness in 1984. This roughly 75,000-acre wilderness that is administered by the Forest Service and the BLM has its northern boundary roughly 30 miles south of Fredonia, Arizona.

Kanab Creek is the largest, longest, and most complex drainage on the north side of Grand Canyon National Park. Beginning in southern Utah, Kanab Creek and its numerous named and unnamed side canyons have cut a network of complex canyons deep into the Kanab and Kaibab Plateaus. Numerous springs and the appearing and disappearing Kanab Creek (it goes underground) provide sustenance for a variety of plant and animal life.

The canyon is home to desert bighorn sheep and peregrine falcon (endangered species). While it is unlikely we will see them, black bear and mountain lions live in the higher elevations. The white-tailed Grand Canyon squirrel, which we may see, is an interesting twist in evolution that we may talk about.

Elevations where we will be range from 2,000 feet in Kanab Creek to higher than 6,000 feet at Sowats Point, where we will begin our hike. It snows in the winter at our trailhead and part of the road to our trailhead is even higher.

While grazing is allowed in most wilderness areas, the grazing allotments in the area where we will be hiking are owned by a subsidiary of the Grand Canyon Trust (a sister conservation organization). As such, with forest service approval, the Trust has focused on a restoration and renewal strategy for the land, so it is unlikely we will see any cows in the wilderness area.

Our day-to-day itinerary requires flexibility due to issues regarding terrain, weather, and water accessibility among other things. Obviously, group safety will be the first priority.

Day 1: While our backpack trip will not start until tomorrow, we will meet in Kanab, Utah, in the leaders’ hotel room mid-afternoon where we will hand out community gear and have a pre-trip meeting. Accommodations are on your own (campgrounds or motels) and we will have an optional no-host dinner early that evening.

Day 2: Today we start with an early morning drive to our trailhead at Sowats Point, roughly a two-hour ride. We then hoist backpacks, ascend to the top of Kwagunt Canyon on the Esplanade and either go down Kwagunt or head north along the Esplanade toward Mt. Sheep Springs Canyon. 

Day 3: We will be hiking on the Esplanade (Jump-up /Ranger Trail) over much of the next day and a half to Lawsen Canyon, where we will possibly descend to Kanab Creek. It is possible we may go further on the Ranger Trail depending on water availability.

Day 4: Heading downcanyon along Kanab Creek we ascend Chamberlain Canyon on the west to the Esplanade and staying on the Esplanade, possibly getting as far as Flip-off Canyon (not named on maps) . 

Day 5: This is likely a part exploration day combined with going down Flip-off to Kanab Creek and continuing to the mouth of Jump-up Canyon. This includes a several hour walk in Jump-up to the mouth of Kwagunt through the finest redwall narrows in all of Canyon country. We will camp in Jump-up near water or possibly head over into Indian Hollow canyon.

Day 6: Exploring Indian Hollow we will camp somewhere within that drainage.

Day 7: Backpacking up out of Indian Hollow we will travel mostly cross country to our last camp near on the Esplanade near the trail back to Sowats Point.

Day 8: With an early start, we will ascend the trail back to Sowats Point arriving at our vehicles well before noon. Those flying out of Las Vegas should be able to make flights leaving after 7 PM that day.

Getting There

We will meet on the first day in Kanab, Utah. Please do not make non-refundable travel arrangements until notified to do so by the trip leader.

Trip Difficulty

This is an adventure with physical obstacles that sometimes require pack passing and short climbs where you need to use your upper body to get around. There is modest exposure on this trip and those with a fear of heights should talk with the leaders first. While previous Grand Canyon experience is not a prerequisite for this trip, it would be helpful. And certainly, trip participants must carefully and honestly understand their abilities as leaving in the middle of the trip would be very difficult.

As with any backpacking trip, you should be in good physical condition before attempting this trip. Aerobic conditioning is a huge plus. You should have experience adapting to the unexpected. We will have large elevation gains and losses. Based on mileage (which is not a very useful guide for telling you much about a trip in canyon country), terrain, and time on the trail each day, this is a moderately hard trip.

Equipment and Clothing

We will likely have a couple of dry camps that will require us to ferry water to our camp. You need to have the capacity to carry five quarts of water. If you have a dromedary bag, please bring it. A very lightweight day pack for the layover day is a must. A possible gear list will be provided to those interested in seeing one.

Your leaders will bring all the pots, stoves, and food, which will equal approximately 10-12 pounds of group food and gear for each participant to carry at the beginning of the trip.

References

Maps:

• The following USGS 7.5 maps cover our trip: Jumpup Point, Kanab Point, Fishtail Mesa, and Gramma Springs. Maps can be purchased from Map Express 800-627-0039 or http://mapexp.com/
• The Kaibab National Forest Map-North Kaibab Ranger District map also covers the area we will be traveling in. It is available for sale by calling the Kaibab National Forest office in Williams, Arizona at 602-635-8200.
• There are iPhone apps (most work on other smartphones) that let you download individual 7.5 minute maps and can tell you exactly where you are and where you have been. (The specific maps must be downloaded prior to your going into the wilderness via a Wi-Fi connection.) One of the trip leaders uses the Endicott Topo Map App on his iPhone and finds it incredibly helpful. Other tracking/location phone apps are available. GAIA is very popular.

Books:

• Ranney, Wayne, Carving Grand Canyon. Grand Canyon Association, 2005. Read about how the Grand Canyon may have come into existence.
• Osborne, Sophie A. H., Condors in Canyon Country: The Return of the California Condor to the Grand Canyon Region. Grand Canyon Association 2008. An epic attempt to save a great bird.
• Childs, Craig, House of Rain: Tracking a Vanished Civilization Across the American Southwest. Back Bay Books, 2008. A non-fiction cultural adventure about the Anasazi.
• Price, L. Greer, An Introduction to Grand Canyon Geology. Grand Canyon Association, 1999. An accessible book with plenty of illustrations and photos about Grand Canyon geology.
• Anderson, Michael F., Living at the Edge. Grand Canyon Association, 1998. About the colorful people who explored and settled in the Grand Canyon.
• Houk, Rose, An Introduction to Grand Canyon Ecology. Grand Canyon Association, 1996. A brief primer on the complex web of life in the Canyon.
• Coder, Christopher M., An Introduction to Grand Canyon Prehistory. Grand Canyon Association, 2006. A short overview of the early people of the Grand Canyon area.
• Huisinga, Ann, Lori Makarick & Kate Watters, River and Desert Plants of the Grand Canyon. Mountain Press Publishing, 2006.

Websites:

• The Grand Canyon Association is a good resource with many books of interest: http://www.grandcanyon.org

Conservation

There are numerous conservation issues regarding the Grand Canyon and the surrounding area: among others, these include noise from sightseeing aircraft, air quality over the park, uranium mining threats, operation of the Glen Canyon Dam and its effect on downstream resources (beaches, endangered fish, etc.), visitor management (including backcountry use), and -- most recently -- the accelerated decline in the amount of water in Lake Powell.

The Sierra Club, along with its conservation partners, has a long, extremely strong, and impressive history of protecting the natural and historic cultural values of the large Grand Canyon watershed; we will talk about some of these issues.

Sierra Club National Outings is an equal-opportunity provider and when applicable will operate under permits obtained from U.S. federal land agencies.

Pictures in this brochure were taken by participants from the 2022 Kanab Creek Wilderness trip.