Sundance Trail to Dark Canyon is a 9.1 mile lightly trafficked out and back trail located near Blanding, Utah that features a river and is rated as difficult. The trail is primarily used for hiking and is best used from April until October. Dogs are also able to use this trail but must be kept on leash.
February 1, 2021The trail can be a bit hard to follow at times but overall it seemed to be in decent shape. One pretty good scramble area, the main thing that stuck out to me was the lack of shade in some areas. Really recommend you pack more water than you think you’ll need, and then pack some more. I went in midsummer and thought I had more than enough but wound up underestimating the elevation, heat and sun exposure combo. But an absolutely gorgeous and isolated area, cannot speak highly enough of it.
June 30, 2019Loved this place! The hike into the canyon was pretty hot and dry, and the “scree field” climb down is more just a bunch of steep, well-marked trails through boulders. The river was really high, muddy, and difficult to cross, but felt great wading through. We camped in Lost Canyon, which had a perfect amount of fairly fresh water, lots of LOUD frogs, and a few boulders falling near us at night
June 17, 2019really effing hard, never attempt the trail during the hours of 9 am to 5pm. you must leave at 6 am or 6 pm. My dog barley made it and bushwhacking is a serious way of navigation during the dark canyon adventure, you never know where your path will filter out to. This is a 3 plus day trip, do not attempt in 2 days. Travel as light as possible and bring a gallon of water no matter what. Simply stunning and amazing hike but definitely not for a beginner hiker:)
July 27, 2018DOG OWNERS BEWARE! This is an amazing trail for backpacking but I really regret bringing my dogs. There were some dogs on the trail that seemed to do okay but their paws must have been well conditioned for the desert (we live in Colorado and my dogs paws were only used to shaded mountain hiking). The slope into the canyon is a steep hike with a lot of rock scrambles and loose rock and getting my very athletic dog to the bottom was one of the most miserable experiences of my life. His pads were sliced up and bloody by the time we got down and it took a few days of rest and healing before he could stand up and make it out of the canyon. Unless your dog is very used to these conditions or wearing booties I would recommend leaving the pups at home. Again some dogs out there appeared to be okay but if you're questioning how your dog will do I'd suggest leaving them behind or going somewhere else. But for humans........amazing and challenging hike!
May 22, 2018Stunning !!!! very challenging! have to go back
March 20, 2017
First to ReviewWe just make it this weekend, it's very beautiful and hard. The trailhead marked here actually is about 1.5-2 miles to the parking lot. And the road from freeway to parking lot is a bit tough, SUV is recommended, although I see several full size cars also make it, I won't try that. There are several good camping sites down in the canyon. We cannot make it to the Colorado river nor Young Canyon, it will take some time to look for the best trail, be prepared for that.
June 29, 2020June 19, 2020June 17, 2020September 23, 2019September 22, 2019September 22, 2019July 25, 2019May 24, 2019October 24, 2018October 3, 2018September 28, 2018May 8, 2018May 2, 2018February 10, 2015
