Eric called me up and wanted to go for a hiking trip since his girlfriend was working and my lady was having her bachelorette weekend in Vegas. We originally thought of doing the Barracks, but after the weather looked dismal, we went to a Plan B. I used my TOPO software and found Squirrel Canyon that seemed to lead to the cliffs high above the famous polygamous community of Hildale and Colorado City. It seemed like a nice spot with chances for some unique views of Zion. Eric had been to the area one time before, so he was able to find the trailhea
d easily. It was a sandy slog up Short Creek until we came to the turn for Squirrel Canyon. There was an excellent ATV track that lead us high into Squirrel away from the brush and the water flowing through. Soon we got to where the walls should stop us, but they did not. It seemed to have a path blasted out of the wall. The trail lead us up right under a pro
minent sandstone monolith called the Beehive. That is where we popped out into the higher plateau. We turned left and soon we were walking on the slickrock. It was a path similar to that of the east side of Zion. There were many hoodoos rising above us with sandstone formations to rival any interesting place such as the popular Wave. We followed the slickrock until it seemed to give way to an area that looked a bit more challenging. We checked our map, headed up and eventually ran into the trail again. The onl
y thing bad I could say about this hike is that all the ATV use, which impresses me that those vehicles can make it up certain places, has created a trail that is so sandy it makes walking quickly a difficult prospect. We walked along and came to a significant sandstone section. It was a brilliant white color and was one of the best outcrops of sandstone tha
t I have ever got to enjoy. We took many pictures and ran around on the rocks. I was so impressed with all the sandstone on this hike. I believe that this hike has scenery that would rival the Wave. If someone publicized it and made it into a big deal, soon Colorado City would be having some issues with tourism. Eric took a ton of 
pictures and some of them came out just excellent. We continued on and we were in for more surprises. Moqui marbles littered the landscape. These are round rocks that remain because of their weather resistant ability with a higher portion of iron compared to other sandstone. Soon we realized that it was a layer of rock rather than just pockets in the sandstone. It was not a thick layer, maybe only a couple of feet thick at the thickest. It just survives and makes for some
fun stuff to look at and play with. Soon we became a little curious when the end of this hike was going to come. Both of us were getting sore legs from fighting the sand all day. We finally found the end of the road as it hit the cliffs. We were supposed to find some spring, which we eventually did, but it was not much to see. What was exciting to see were the a
mazing views that we got of Zion. A different angle than we are used to seeing. Instead of looking up and wondering what could be up there, I was looking down from that spot on where I usually am looking up. We turned around and called it good. We seemed to fly on the way down taking less pictures and going downhill through the sand. On the hike down Squirrel Canyon, we ran into a couple that hiked from Zion through Pahrunaweap to Hildale. They asked us if we were from Hildale. Eric said he had relatives there and I could not stop from laughing. The closest we will ever get is parking and driving through town as that place is no country for monogamous men.
d easily. It was a sandy slog up Short Creek until we came to the turn for Squirrel Canyon. There was an excellent ATV track that lead us high into Squirrel away from the brush and the water flowing through. Soon we got to where the walls should stop us, but they did not. It seemed to have a path blasted out of the wall. The trail lead us up right under a pro
minent sandstone monolith called the Beehive. That is where we popped out into the higher plateau. We turned left and soon we were walking on the slickrock. It was a path similar to that of the east side of Zion. There were many hoodoos rising above us with sandstone formations to rival any interesting place such as the popular Wave. We followed the slickrock until it seemed to give way to an area that looked a bit more challenging. We checked our map, headed up and eventually ran into the trail again. The onl
y thing bad I could say about this hike is that all the ATV use, which impresses me that those vehicles can make it up certain places, has created a trail that is so sandy it makes walking quickly a difficult prospect. We walked along and came to a significant sandstone section. It was a brilliant white color and was one of the best outcrops of sandstone tha
t I have ever got to enjoy. We took many pictures and ran around on the rocks. I was so impressed with all the sandstone on this hike. I believe that this hike has scenery that would rival the Wave. If someone publicized it and made it into a big deal, soon Colorado City would be having some issues with tourism. Eric took a ton of 
pictures and some of them came out just excellent. We continued on and we were in for more surprises. Moqui marbles littered the landscape. These are round rocks that remain because of their weather resistant ability with a higher portion of iron compared to other sandstone. Soon we realized that it was a layer of rock rather than just pockets in the sandstone. It was not a thick layer, maybe only a couple of feet thick at the thickest. It just survives and makes for some
fun stuff to look at and play with. Soon we became a little curious when the end of this hike was going to come. Both of us were getting sore legs from fighting the sand all day. We finally found the end of the road as it hit the cliffs. We were supposed to find some spring, which we eventually did, but it was not much to see. What was exciting to see were the a
mazing views that we got of Zion. A different angle than we are used to seeing. Instead of looking up and wondering what could be up there, I was looking down from that spot on where I usually am looking up. We turned around and called it good. We seemed to fly on the way down taking less pictures and going downhill through the sand. On the hike down Squirrel Canyon, we ran into a couple that hiked from Zion through Pahrunaweap to Hildale. They asked us if we were from Hildale. Eric said he had relatives there and I could not stop from laughing. The closest we will ever get is parking and driving through town as that place is no country for monogamous men.
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