Coyote Gulch Trail is a 16.9 mile moderately trafficked point-to-point trail located near Lake Powell, Utah that features a lake and is rated as moderate. The trail offers a number of activity options and is best used from April until November.
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area charges a fee to enter. Fees are $30 per vehicle/vessel or $25 per motorcycle. If you are entering on foot or bike the fee is $15 per person. You can also purchase a park specific annual pass for $55.
1. Carry more water than you think you need. 2. Remember the first part of the hike is a desert, much of it slick rock.
Oh man. What an amazing hike!! Did this a few days ago as a day hike but every other person we ran into did it as an overnight. Started at Water Tank trailhead, did the sneaker route, ended at Crack in the wall and hiked the 3 miles back from coyote trailhead to water tank. Clocked under 20 miles, but we did get lost a few times as the trail is super hard to follow counterclockwise. A few notes - definitely need AWD or 4WD to get to Water Tank trailhead. We went about 35 MPH on Hole in the Rock rd and took us about an hour to get to Forty Mile Ridge. Dropped into the gulch via the sneaker route from water tank. There are cairns to guide the way to the drop in. Definitely bring rope - it’s worth it because it’s a pretty steep descent. Ran across a few others who were stuck and needed to borrow our rope to get out. There are a few places in the rock face to tie off, but I would suggest 250 feet if you want the rope to reach the bottom. I read other reviews that said it wasn’t a hard climb but it’s definitely not easy. We only ran into one natural spring about 3/4 of the way in, so bring lots of water. I wore shorts but I’d recommend long pants - there’s a lot of brush and bamboo. This trail is entirely sand and water so be prepared with water shoes if you don’t want to walk in soggy boots. The hike from the bottom of the gulch up to Crack in the Wall is all sand! We lost the trail here and had to do a steep climb up the red hill to the main trail. And the Crack in the Wall is so hard to find going counterclockwise even with the AllTrails maps. There are cairns at the top of the hill, but not in the correct spot. Hint: look further to the right of the cairns to find the opening to Crack in the Wall. If you have a large pack you’ll need to bring extra rope to get your pack up through it. This was the hike of a lifetime. Absolutely beautiful views, waterfalls, and parts of the river were breathtaking, very diverse scenery. If you’re looking to be off the grid and find some adventure I’d recommend this hike!!
The last 2.2 miles back to the parking lot was the worst, no trail and rock and sand
Backpacked this May 2018 The dirt road was long and bumpy, took our Honda civic to the first trail head and then switched to our friends 4X4 truck to get to 40mileridge trail head. Started at crack-in-the-wall and came out at Jacob Hamblin Arch The hike to the gulch is full sun and sandy. The trail is not well defined but we used AllTrails to help keep us on track. You need at least 50ft of rope to lower your backs down the cliff side and then you can climb down through the crack. Coming down the trail you’ll see a big plateau on the right you can see part of the lower gulch but there isn’t a way down. Take the trail that leads to the left of the plateau. It will slowly work your way down into the gulch. We had a group of 6 and stayed 2 nights in the gulch. There is 1 out house when you get to the first falls coming from crack in the wall. About 4-5 miles from the trail head. We had a hand pump water filtration system and that seemed to work wonderful for us. It was very hot so remember lots and lots of water. We wore chacos through the gulch but ended up going barefoot since it was mostly river bottom. Lots of technical climbing to get up and around the multiple water falls. We climbed out by JHA but it is A LOT steeper than it looks. You feel top heavy with your packs trying to climb out. We took our packs off and used our rope to ladder pull them up and climb our selves out. Over all it was BEAUTIFUL! We do it again in a heart beat. However very hot and no cell reception in case of an emergency. Be smart. Hike careful. Be responsible.
This was a beautiful hike absolutely loved it. Happy I brought along my water shoes for all the river crossings. Absolutely amazing hike. PSA - Between Coyote Natural Bridge and Cliff Arch my group lost a pair of black Smith mirrored sunglasses. If you happen to find them could you contact Shane Mogan (NOT Morgan) on Facebook or Instagram.
Absolutely phenomenal!! Backpacked this hike with my college class. Loved the experience and the views. Started at Crack In The Wall and stayed about 3 nights and 4 days. We did 18 miles total. At crack-in-the-wall we had a rope which we used to levy our backpacks down, which was handy to be able to scale the wall without the packs on. I wore sandals most of the trip which was nice for all the water and sand you have to walk through. I would recommend bringing a pair of comfortable waterproof hiking shoes because your feet will get waterlogged with sandals.