High Spur Slot Canyon
Rate this Adventure 5 miles - Point-to-Point Trail
Added by Alyssa Teboda
Hidden in the desolate desert landscape on the outskirts of Canyonlands National Park, High Spur Canyon is a thrilling experience for any adventurer skilled in canyoneering. Toted as one of the most picturesque canyons in Robber’s Roost, High Spur boasts beautiful narrow slots, a lot of down climbing, stemming, and rappels up to 85 feet.
Low Spur is not a 4 star canyon, but is a great, short adventure. It works well as a canyon to do after doing one of the other canyons in the area when you still have some time left over. I can't recommend it as a destination, but do think it is an interesting canyon if you are in the area. The third section is the High Spur slot canyons located east of the Dirty Devil slots and drain from south to north into the Green River. Canyonlands National Park has an external unit that encompasses Horseshoe Canyon as there are some of the best pictograph displays in the world on the canyon walls of Horseshoe.
From Moab, the drive to the canyon is approximately 4 hours long and much of it is on sandy or rocky dirt roads so it’s best to drive a 4x4 vehicle with good clearance. Drive past Hans Flat Ranger Station on the west side of Canyonlands National Park and make your way to the trailhead on Deadman’s Trail Road. This is the road you will take to hike back to your car after you exit the canyon. If you have more than one vehicle available, you can drive past the trailhead and drop one off as a shuttle at the end of the road where you will exit the canyon.
There are many entries to the canyon a short distance from the trailhead on the canyon rim, where you can step down into a shallow section of the canyon. Once you are in the bottom of the canyon head down the canyon towards the highly sculpted walls. The canyon is broken up between several sections of narrow slots with wide open sections of the canyon in between.
The first difficult section you will encounter is a 17-foot angled chute-like drop which may require wading through a pool of water at the bottom. There was webbing at the time of our hike, however, plan to bring your own just in case it is worn down. Have one person lower into the water and hand them their pack before they cross to the other side, repeat with all other adventurers until everyone is safely across.
Continue on through another highly sculpted section of narrows until you reach the final set of obstacles. The first is a 23-foot downclimb which you can rappel down with the use of natural anchors. At the bottom of the downclimb may be another pool of water. You can bypass this pool by sticking to the edge of the canyon wall. Shortly after this downclimb is the final 85-foot rappel, which you can do from a large block on the left side of the canyon. After walking yourself over the ledge and down the first 10 feet, the canyon wall recedes and you’ll be suspended in the air for the remainder of the rappel.
Head down the canyon approximately ½ mile to a crack on the right, there is a faint trail that leads up and out of the canyon. This is your exit. Some scrambling over loose rock and large boulders is required to reach the top of the canyon rim. From the top of the canyon, head north to intersect the Deadman’s Trail Road. Having a compass or GPS with you will help with wayfinding at this point of the trip as everything looks very similar once outside the canyon and it can be difficult to find the road. Once you find it, follow the road back to your car or jump into your shuttle car if you dropped one off at the exit point!
Practice leave no trace and let someone know where you are going and when you plan to return. Robber’s Roost is a very remote region. The entire adventure will take 5-7 hours depending on how long you take in the scenery. Start early or plan to bring a headlamp since you might be hiking back to your car in the dark.
High Spur is a technical canyon and moderate to advanced skills are necessary to navigate a canyon of this nature. Those with little or no experience in canyoneering or rappelling should seek out the expertise of a guided trip.
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Difficulty Strenuous / Overnight Canyoneering $695 + tax
The High Spur is one of the most magnificent and fun sections of canyoneering in Utah. Located in the remote Robbers Roost this canyon has a little bit everything: rappels, down-climbs, pothole escapes, possible swims and beautifully sculpted narrows.
First timers are welcome on this adventure, but make no mistake this is a physically strenuous canyoneering route. Those up to the five-mile challenge will be rewarded handsomely. The hike begins cross-country and within minutes the High Spur slots up. We climb over boulders and squeeze under log jams.
As the canyon deepens we encounter the circle, a 400-yard loop of slot canyon. This section of sinuous curves is a photographer’s dream! Midway in the route is our first technical obstacle, a 20-foot drop. If this is your first-time rappelling, it's an easy spot to learn this new skill.
Continuing on, the deep narrows become even more enchanting. A down-climb into a narrow hallway takes us to the Corkscrew. At first there is light and ten feet later darkness. This photogenic section is also where the canyoneering gets rowdy. We'll escape from a pothole, some more gracefully than others, and stem across the canyon walls 'til, splash, time to break out the water wings. Water levels vary but come prepared to take the plunge.
Exiting the corkscrew brings us to a series of rappels. First a 30-foot chimney, then a 25-foot swirling pour-off. The grand finale is an 80-footer, completely free hanging. Our exit from the canyon is a strenuous scramble through the rock bands, and requires a short section of climbing. Average time for this adventure is 7 hours of pure canyoneering.
That evening we make a comfortable camp above the Maze District of Canyonlands. Guides prepare dinner as you relax with the sunset over the National Park.
After breakfast, we hike the Big Spring Slot Canyon. This lesser known canyon has very dark and impressive narrows. The slot has some sideways shuffling and is very nice. Later that day we make our way out of the Maze across the Robbers Roost flats and return to Moab.
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Trip Details:
Your two-day High Spur trip begins at 8:00 AM from the NAVTEC office in Moab. Please arrive at our office 15 minutes early. After 2 days in the canyons we return to our office at about 6:00 PM. Trip departure dates detailed below. All meals while on the tour are included. Contact us for Charter groups. Reservations are required, certain trip minimums apply.
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| Cost: | $695/person + tax |
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| Reserve Today! | RESERVATIONS & CANCELLATIONS: Call us at 1-800-833-1278
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High Spur Slot Canyon Utah Map Location
Or call us toll free 1-800-833-1278