Hiking to Kanab Sand Caves, Utah
Stopping in Kenab, Utah on our way to Capitol Reef National Park
In the spring of 2023, we went on a road trip to Capitol Reef National Park. We had been to a couple of national parks in Utah before, like Zion and Bryce Canyon and we wanted to see another one of Utah's Mighty Five. Our journey started in Las Vegas, and one of our stops was a town called Kenab in Utah. I didn't know much about Kenab, but it turns out this whole area has lots of cool places to explore. You could spend a long time here and have a lot of exciting adventures.
Quick hike to the Sand Caves fit the bill as our day activity
We didn't plan much in advance, but we did want to go for a good hike. We heard about the Sand Caves located north of the city and thought it was perfect. It wasn't a long hike, a little over a mile in total, and we really like caves! It was a really hot day, well over 90 degrees, and super sunny. So, when we got to the parking lot, we made sure to put on plenty of sunscreen and filled up our water bottles.
Sandy and meandering trail and steep rock cliffs can be challenging
The trail was covered with deep, fine sand so it can be a bit of a workout. Also, there are no signs indicating directions to the Sand Caves, so we got lost a few times. But we eventually found our way to steep rock cliffs that we needed to climb to reach the final part of the trail. Just remember that as long as you keep heading in the general direction to the caves, it doesn't matter which small paths you take; we relied heavily on google maps on our phones for this. There's a bit of climbing involved at the end, but if you take it slow and find the easiest path, it should be okay. One tip is to survey the area farther from the caves to find less steep portion of the rocks for safer routes. For detailed directions, you can refer to this blog post.
This collection of caves were originally man made in the 70s for sand mining but now is this picturesque tourist spot.
Lots of cool pictures to take here
Looking outward from what could be considered the main entrance to the caves. There are two more openings to the left of this as shown in the photos above.
These openings provide nice contrast in light when taking photos from the inside. Plus, I love all the layers and patterns on these rocks which you’ll see more of in photos below.
You are looking at the walkway inside the caves. The floor is fully covered with fine sand as the trail that we took to get here.
Check out all the fantastic patterns on the walls. This one was quite unique.
All the carvings left by tourists over the years I suppose
Check out our other adventures in Utah!