Poison Spring Canyon 2.5

This trail goes from Highway 24 through Poison Spring Canyon, then fords the Dirty Devil River and climbs to Sunset Pass  before reaching the Flint Trail in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.  Very enjoyable trip.

We ran the trip from east to west so the sun would be at our backs, but it can be done in either direction.  We went from Hanksville to Hite then up the Flint Trail to this trail.  It was about 8 hours round trip from Hanksville back to Hanksville.
​
I would have rated the trail at 2.0 if it were not for fording the Dirty Devil River.  There are only a couple spots on the east side that have any challenge, and I do not believe they reach 2.5.  These spots do make the east side unsuitable for a family SUV.  No problem on the west side if you have a bit of extra clearance.


There is a GPS - gpx track file at the bottom of the page.

Dirty Devil Canyon south of ford

It is at least an hour and a half along Flint Trail 2.0 from Highway 95 to the start of this trail, but the scenery is stunning.

To do Poison Spring Canyon you first go over Sunset Pass then drop down into North Hatch Canyon.  You will follow this canyon all the way to Dirty Devil River.

Sunset Pass on right

Down into north Hatch Canyon

Follow the well used road down the wide and gentle canyon bottom and come to a 1950 Hudson.  There is a trailer hitch on the front and tires on the back.  We have no idea what it was used for.  Do you?

Down North Hach Canyon

1950 Hudson

Closer to Dirty Devil River, Hatch Wash becomes much deeper and more rugged.  The road moves from the bottom of the canyon to high on the side.

Hatch Wash close to Dirty Devil

Road high up on side

The view is spectacular when you first see the Dirty Devil River.  The river is serpentine near the ford but a few miles downstream the canyon becomes narrow and tortuous such that you cannot tell where the river is located.  You are truly on a shelf road, but it is a wide one.

First view of Dirty Devil River

Looking south

There was a family swimming in the river just upstream of the ford.  Do you think they were having "good, clean fun"?

The river was flowing at 80 cfs according to the USGS Flow Gauge.  Look at the gauge level on the web before you leave to decide if you want to ford the river.  You certainly cannot tell the depth by looking at the water.

Swimmers in the Dirty Devil River

Ford at 80 cfs

The west side of Dirty Devil River is not nearly as interesting as the east side.  There are numerous rock art panels along the canyon but we did not have the waypoints that would have allowed us to find them.

There is a walled up spring on the north side of the road.  This must not be the poison spring of lore, as someone put a fair amount of work in it.

Going up Poison spring Canyon

Walled up spring

Page updated 2017.

---

---

poison_spring_canyon_2.5.gpx
File Size:	357 kb
File Type:	gpx

Download File

---