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Zebra and Tunnel Slot Canyons

Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument, UT Escalante Area

Distance: 6.7 mi
Net Gain: 500 ft
Time: 3-5 hrs
YDS Rating: Class 2
Route: Loop

Effort: 1.9/10
Personality: 5/10
Beauty: 6/10
Solitude: 3.4/10

What do these mean? →

Route map + Trailhead

Trailhead Coordinates

37.639190, -111.445810

The directions link below drops a pin on the trailhead coordinates and lets Google Maps pick the route. If the drive has rough roads or access issues that GPS nav might get wrong, I cover that in my trip report.

Trip report

Jun 22, 2019 — This route visits the popular Zebra Slot Canyon, and the slightly less popular Tunnel Slot Canyon. From Hole in the Rock Road, I followed the official trail through more miles of desert than I thought this hike would be, the trail paralleling washes and only entering them to cross over to the other side. The trail is well traveled, but if you do accidentally follow the sandy wash rather than the trail, the only consequence is some winding back and forth. About halfway along the route, there was one spot where the trail left the wash and headed northeast in order to cross Harris Wash (currently dry) to get to Zebra Slot Canyon. Missing this results in ending up slightly upstream. After checking out the gorgeous, though short, Zebra Slot Canyon, I continued east off the trail, crossed a fence, and dropped into a side canyon that would take me to the north side of Tunnel Slot Canyon. A nice addition, I walked through the "tunnel" and continued into Harris Wash, where I continued up Halfway Hollow to meet back up with the offical trail.

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Photos

35 photos

Starting along the Zebra Slot Canyon Trail through the open desert.
The trail starts out mostly uneventful, but eventually follows a wash.
The wash gets deeper, and the canyon walls more interesting.
Back into the open desert, the trail actively stays out of the wash, only crossing it a few times.
Looking back the way I came.
Continuing northeast toward Harris Wash.
Crossing Harris Wash on the way to Zebra Slot.
Entering Zebra Slot.
Some water to maneuver before the pretty stuff.
Zebra Slot is really pretty, but super short.
A dryfall marking the end of Zebra Slot.
I returned to the entrance of Zebra and headed east through this drainage toward Tunnel Slot.
Slickrock on the way.
Entering a drainage leading to Tunnel Slot.
Within the drainage, some easy boulder-hopping.
Entering Tunnel Slot
Tunnel Slot.
South side of Tunnel Slot, looking back.
Continuing south out of the Tunnel Slot drainage.
Looking back toward the Tunnel Slot drainage.
A trail navigating around Harris Wash.
Heading up Halfway Hollow back to rejoin with the Zebra Slot Canyon Trail.

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Hire or refer me as a web developer, or send me a few bucks if you find my site useful. I'm not sponsored, so it's funded by yours truly. It also takes a ton of work to edit photos and write these reports. I really appreciate it!

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