Hunter Canyon is a nice little canyon down Kane Creek outside Moab, Utah. It’s a quiet hike with a campground at the mouth of the canyon and tons and tons of bike, side by side, and jeep traffic. It’s best to hike in the spring in fall unless you want to be eaten alive by mosquitos as you also bake in the extreme heat. Ah, the desert. Such fun.

 

 

We decided to try to make it up to the arch instead of just following the trail in the bottom of the canyon. You could tell almost no one goes up there since there wasn’t much foot traffic evident. I didn’t even realize the arch was there until I had hiked the canyon a few times and finally saw it.

 

 

The canyon hike itself can be really nice since it offers a little shade and water which is always appreciated in the desert. It also usually isn’t too busy and is a good place to let the dog run.

 

 

It was a relatively easy hike until we got close to the arch. Most of it was just walking on sandstone ledges. Close up, it got steep with loose sand, lots of boulders, and big prickly bushes. No defined trail in the slightest.

 

 

You can really get an idea of how steep it was here. Behind me is more of the same: steep, loose rocks, and inconveniently located prickly bushes. The dog had to be helped in a couple of places, but she made it most of the way herself.

 

 

I decided not to climb the final 20 feet. It was really, really steep bare slick rock and I don’t really do heights if I can help it. My husband climbed up it and the dog cried and whined because it was too steep for her to follow. She hates it when she can’t follow. We didn’t stay long since a lot of little rocks kept falling on us from above for no reason. It was a little creepy, like the arch would go at any minute and us with it since we were on the steep hillside below it.