Coyote Gulch and Escalante River Backpacking and Packrafting Guide
a Multi-sport adventure through Utah’s canyon country
September 1st, 2024
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The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area sit squarely in the heart of Utah’s Canyon Country. To see the most possible canyons, navigate fewer shuttle vehicles, and avoid several out-and-back hikes, I did a popular combo backpacking and packrafting trip that hit several highlights of the region: Golden Cathedral, the Escalante River, and Coyote Gulch.
Here’s everything you need to know to re-create this trip or dream up your own Canyon Country backpacking and packrafting adventure.
Distance:
Golden Cathedral Trail to Escalante River at Fence Canyon (one-way): 2.9 miles
Escalante River from Fence Canyon to Coyote Gulch/Crack in the Wall trail: 36 miles
Coyote Gulch to Hurricane Wash Trailhead (one-way): 13.4 miles
Days: 4-7 days
Elevation gain/loss:
Golden Cathedral Trail to Escalante River—Descent: 1,158 ft
Coyote Gulch to Hurricane Wash trailhead—Ascent: 1,633 ft
Best season: Spring
Permits: Wilderness self-registration permits
Difficulty: Class I/II+ rafting, challenging hiking with rafting equipment
Recommended Max Flow: 100 CFS
Recommended Min Flow: 50 CFS*
*A Note about CFS on the Escalante River: The cubic feet per second (CFS) reading for the Escalante River is taken near the town of Escalante, at the Escalante River Trailhead and bridge on Highway 12. However, after Boulder Creek feeds into the Escalante River, the CFS is usually much higher than it is upriver, where the reading is taken. This is why I recommend hiking in from the Golden Cathedral Trailhead and packrafting the Escalante River.
If the gauge in Escalante reads 50 CFS, and there is still snow in the mountains, you’ll likely have more than enough water below Boulder Creek. When we did this trip, the CFS at the bridge read around 20, but there was just enough flow to paddle from Fence Canyon to Coyote Gulch.
You're responsible for your own safety — so we recommend taking a water safety course, checking current river flows, and always wearing a PFD.
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Quick facts
A packrafter soaking up the sun in the canyon along the Escalante.
This guide is for packrafting and backpacking the Escalante River and Coyote Gulch in the Grand Staircase Escalante and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. The Escalante region exists on the indigenous lands of many Native peoples with ties to the region, including the Hopi, Zuni, Navajo, San Juan Southern Paiute, Kaibab Paiute, Ute, Jemez Pueblo, and Acoma people.
The route I took started and ended at the Golden Cathedral/Egypt 3 Trailhead and involved a combination of hiking and packrafting on the Escalante River to create a loop out of what would otherwise be a river trip with a long shuttle plus an out-and-back backpacking trip with an equally long drive. This guide will tell you everything you need to know about the route I took, but can also be a resource for planning a rafting or backpacking trip in the Escalante area more generally.
This is the route we took to make a packrafting and backpacking loop. From the Golden Cathedral Trailhead, we backpacked 3 miles on the Golden Cathedral trail to the Escalante River at Fence Canyon. Then we inflated our packrafts and set off down the Escalante River for approximately 36 miles. Just before Lake Powell, we exited the river at Coyote Gulch. We deflated our boats, then hiked 13 miles up Coyote Gulch to the Hurricane Wash Trailhead.
From the Hurricane Wash Trailhead, it’s 27 miles along Hole in the Rock Road and Egypt Road to the Golden Cathedral Trailhead. We opted not to bring two vehicles and hitchhiked back to where we started. If you’re uncomfortable hitchhiking, then you’ll still have to bring two vehicles to shuttle between trailheads or account for a long, hot walk down a dirt road (not recommended). Hole in the Rock Road is quite remote, but almost everyone you’ll see is there for recreation, so as long as they have room for you, you’ll likely get picked up by one of the first cars you see.
Hiking through a narrow slot canyon is a great day-hike option in the area.
The Escalante area, and Hole in the Rock road specifically, has tons of stunning slot canyons and other hikes you can do over the course of several days. If you’re planning to make the drive to this corner of the world, you should plan to spend as much time here as you can—it’s remote, and there are tons of things to see, so it makes sense to do as much as you’re able to after you’ve already made the trip.
If you don’t want to raft the Escalante River, hiking the Coyote Gulch trail is well worth the long drive down Hole in the Rock Road, and there are several other awesome hikes worth checking out in the area while you’re there. But the Escalante River canyon is downright stunning and incredibly remote. Plus, there are side canyons along the Escalante River that you’d have a difficult time accessing without a boat. And who doesn’t prefer a loop over an out and back?
This route is logistically complicated, but it makes the most out of a long drive to a truly stunning part of the world. Located between Escalante and Boulder, Utah, and the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, you’ll get a taste of everything Escalante has to offer with this trip.
Highlights
Views across the whole canyon can be seen when hiking in, from day hikes, and hiking back out.
Hiking and rafting through epic canyons
Remote camping under desert skies
Completing a multi-discipline loop is extremely satisfying
Passes many arches, natural bridges, and other rock formations
Hiking slot canyons
Several waterfalls along the route
Challenges
Depending on river flows, and weather, navigating through the canyon can be challenging. Photo by Sam Schild.
The area can be very hot. We recommend only going in cooler months.
Escalante River can be difficult to navigate during high or low water. Be sure to check the weather and max and min flow before you go and be willing to cancel or postpone your trip if necessary.
Hole in the Rock Road required to access this trip is a very long dirt washboard road and might chatter your teeth off
Best season
Hiking alongside the river access with backpacking and packrafting gear.
The Golden Cathedral Trail, Escalante River, and Coyote Gulch Trail are best experienced in the spring, from March through May. The Escalante River is only runnable in late spring and early summer. Common wisdom is that you need between 50 and 100 CFS to run the Escalante River, but the CFS gauge is above where Boulder Creek feeds into the Escalante. So, even a CFS of around 20-30 at the gauge near the town of Escalante might be runnable in a packraft.
Hiking in the area is best in the spring as well because seasonal water sources are more prevalent. But you can hike Coyote Gulch, the Golden Cathedral trail, and elsewhere in the Escalante area in spring and fall.
Difficulty and skills
Our group navigating a class II+ rapid in lower river flows, trying not to get stuck on boulders.
Navigation
I only carried GPS maps saved on a smartphone with Gaia GPS for backcountry navigation on the Coyote Gulch and Escalante River Loop. I completed this route with two friends, so I didn’t carry a paper map as a backup, but I’d highly recommend having the National Geographic Canyons of the Escalante Map if you’re planning to tackle this route alone.
Boulders in river
Starting at Scorpion Gulch, approximately 20 miles upriver from Coyote Gulch, the river becomes more difficult to navigate. For these river miles, you’ll have to be vigilant to navigate around and between boulder jams, where large chunks of the rock walls have fallen into the river. Most of these obstacles are navigable but one requires you to portage around it. A few other spots might feel too dangerous, depending on your risk tolerance. It’s best to hop out and scout ahead on foot at any questionable sections.
Backpacking and packrafting in Coyote Gulch may require some portaging.
Portages
There is one required portage on the Escalante River, about 9.5 miles below Scorpion Gulch. Here, the river funnels through a chute between massive boulders. The chute is too narrow to fit through, and your boat will get stuck. The portage on the left side of the river is fairly easy, though. Look for cairns along the side of the river. If you see a cairn, pull off and scout what’s ahead.
Class II+ rapids
All of the rapids on the Escalante River are CLASS I, II, or II+. However, you should have Class III river skills because this is a very remote river. All of the major rapids are below Scorpion Gulch, and as an intermediate paddler, I never felt like I was out of my league. If the river was flowing faster, I would not have felt as comfortable, though I don’t think it would be too difficult.
Shallow and rocky river
The Escalante can be quite shallow in sections, and depending on the river’s flow, or lack thereof, you might be walking your boat through mere inches of water in places. Bring a patch kit and a small, durable boat.
Rough terrain / scrambling / rock climbing
When exiting the river into Coyote Gulch, we opted to go directly from the Escalante River up Coyote Gulch rather than go a quarter-mile downriver to where the Crack in the Wall Trail sits adjacent to the river.
The scramble to where the official Coyote Gulch trail starts culminates in an off-camber and very exposed scurry across sandy slick rock. The scramble up to the Crack in the Wall trail from the Escalate River is also steep but looks less exposed. Whichever way you choose to go here, you’ll want grippy shoes for the scramble.
There is other scrambling or easy rock climbing to get up and down some short rocky sections in Coyote Gulch as well. Be prepared to use your hands and feet.
Elevation gain / elevation loss
You lose nearly 1500 feet of elevation in the three miles from the Golden Cathedral Trailhead to the Escalante River. When you’re climbing up Coyote Gulch, you gain about 1600 feet of elevation over 13 miles. There is a fair amount of scrambling up and down steep rocky sections on these trails as well.
Permits
There is a self-registration permit station at the Golden Cathedral Trailhead and at the Hurricane Wash Trailhead for backcountry use within the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. No other permits are required, though.
The author's group completing self-registration for the trip permits.
Shuttle
If you don’t want to hitchhike or walk a dirt road, you should bring two vehicles to shuttle this route. We only brought one vehicle and sent one person from our group to get our car with a group of rafters from the Hurricane Wash Trailhead (we would have all gone had they had room in their car for three people). Hole in the Rock Road isn’t busy, per se, but there are other people out there probably doing something similar to what you’ll be doing, and many of them are likely willing to give you a ride up or down the road.
A hiker descends into Coyote Gulch. Photo by Sam Schild.
Route Summary
The route starts at the Golden Cathedral Trailhead, also known as the Egypt 3 Trailhead, as it’s near the Egypt 3 Slot Canyon. The road to the trailhead, Egypt Road, is bumpy and requires a high-clearance vehicle. We did it in a Subaru, but any higher-clearance AWD SUV/crossover should be able to make it down this road if you drive carefully.
The first part of the trip involves hiking downhill to the Escalante River. The trail starts with a very steep downhill on dirt. After the initial steep section, the trail levels out and turns into a gentler downhill across a massive expanse of slick rock. If you get turned around, follow the cairns and keep going downhill.
After the slick rock, the trail becomes sandy as you enter Fence Canyon. From here, it’s less than a mile to the Escalante River. If you start in the evening like we did, there is good camping in Fence Canyon.
From here, raft a short distance, less than a mile, to a small flat area on the left side of the river. This is the entrance to Lower Neon Canyon, where you can pick up the trail to the Golden Cathedral (You could also walk to Golden Cathedral from where you put in your packraft, but that requires a ford of the river plus some bushwacking).
Watch out for poison ivy as you pick your way up Lower Neon Canyon.
The Golden Cathedral is perhaps the most iconic place in all of Grand Staircase Escalante. You should not skip this.
A hole in the rock leading to the Golden Cathedral.
After you’ve seen the Golden Cathedral, follow the river another mile down, and a side canyon that leads to Ringtail Slot Canyon will be on your left. It will feel like you’ve barely been in the boat at all, but trust me, this side hike is worth it and very short.
After Ringtail Canyon, you can start cruising down the Escalante River without taking any more detours than you want. There are plenty of small pull-offs to take breaks, explore, and camp along the way.
When you get to Scorpion Gulch, which is approximately 17 miles from Neon Canyon, the Escalante cuts through the Chinle formation, which consists of a different layer of rock that’s more easily eroded. There will be massive boulders in the river for the next 20 miles, making this section more difficult to navigate.
A ½ mile after entering Scorpion Gulch is the biggest rapid, which is Class II+. If you’re in the river during a high flow time, this rapid could be considered Class III. When we went through the rapid, the water was shallow enough that it felt tame. During lower flow, the biggest challenge for the next 20 miles is navigating the rapids without getting your boat stuck on large rocks on the river bottom. During faster flow, the biggest challenge is navigating the boulders in the river without getting pinned.
Two packrafters paddling along the Escalante during lower cfs flows. Photo by Sam Schild.
Nine miles after entering Scorpion Gulch is the only required portage. It will be obvious when you see the massive accumulation of boulders. There will likely also be cairns visible from the river to mark the portage trail. The portage trail is to the left. Hop out here and portage around the massive boulder pile.
Over the next 10 miles, you’ll experience some of the most remote and beautiful canyons in the world (at least they’re some of the most beautiful I’ve seen). The rafting is engaging as you continue to paddle around boulders and other obstacles in the river. There are several small rapids, where the flow picks up considerably, but nothing too difficult for an intermediate rafter.
There are a couple more spots where we got out of our boats to scout after the first portage, but no other rapids required us to portage. However, since this river floods regularly, that might not be your experience. Always scout ahead on foot if you’re unsure of what’s ahead.
Paddling beneath a massive arch along the canyon route. Photo by Sam Schild.
When you see a large arch high up on the canyon wall, you’ve reached Steven’s Arch in Steven’s Canyon. It’s only a short distance to Coyote Gulch from here. There is a large sandy bank on the left side of the river where you can deflate your boat and transition back into hike mode.
To reach the Coyote Gulch Trail, you can scramble up a steep bank on the right side of the river to get to the Crack in the Wall Trail, which connects to the Coyote Gulch Trail. This is the preferred way to connect with the Coyote Gulch Trail, but if you follow Coyote Gulch up from the river, you can also connect to the Coyote Gulch Trail. Following Coyote Gulch up from the river leads to a scary off-camber ledge, though. Grippy shoes and no fear of heights are required to go this way.
Once you’re on the maintained Coyote Gulch Trail, you’ll see it’s not one but several use paths that go in the same general direction. Don’t worry, you can’t get lost since all you have to do is follow the canyon uphill. There will be several waterfalls and plenty of swimming holes.
As you follow the gulch up, you’ll see Cliff Arch on a cliff to your right. A few miles later, you’ll pass under Coyote Natural Bridge.
Navigating in the creekbed along the route beneath the Coyote Natural Bridge. Photo by Sam Schild.
You can scramble up onto the top of this natural bridge as well if you follow the faint trails up the hill. From up there, you’ll get stellar views of the area.
After the natural bridge, you pass Swiss Cheese Falls and then Jacob Hamlin Arch. From Jacob Hamlin Arch, there is a side trail that leads to Jacobn Hamlin Arch Trailhead. This trailhead is another option to end at, or you can do a day hike that starts and ends here if you don’t want to hike a wash before entering Coyote Gulch.
Views from the hike to the top of the canyon above. Photo by Sam Schild.
After Jacob Hamlin Arch, you’ll find yourself in a rapidly drying gulch. Just before it fully dries up, there is a trail junction. At the junction you can head left to Hurricane Wash Trailhead, as we did, or go right to Red Well Trailhead. Hurricane Wash Trailhead is three miles further down Hole in the Rock Road, but it’s directly on the road, whereas Red Well is about two miles off Hole in the Rock Road.
Whichever way you return to Hole in the Rock Road, the trip is almost over. You only have a few more miles of trudging through sand to go!
When you get to Hurricane Wash Trailhead, make your way north on Hole in the Rock Road to the Golden Cathedral Trailhead, where you started.
A packrafter moves through shallow waters in Coyote Gulch. Photo by Sam Schild.
Maps and Guidebooks
GAIA
Gaia GPS is my favorite backcountry navigation app. With this app, you can download maps to use when you don’t have a cell signal, create and upload routes from a desktop computer, and much more. You can download tons of different map layers that show everything from topography and trails to current snow depth.
Maps
The National Geographic Canyons of the Escalante Map is a useful tool for planning and navigation.
Guidebooks
Falcon Guides’ Hiking Grand Staircase-Escalante & the Glen Canyon Region: A Guide to the Best Hiking Adventures in Southern Utah will be a useful tool for planning the hiking portions of this route. It will also provide inspiration on what else to do while you’re in the area.
The River Runners’ Guide To Utah and Adjacent Areas is a useful guidebook for the river portion of this route.
Farout App
There isn’t a FarOut Guide for the Grand Staircase Escalante/Hole in the Rock Road/Glen Canyon Recreation Area yet, but I bet that will change soon.
Getting there
A very bumpy washboard dirt road is required to get to the trailhead.
Disclaimer: getting to Grand Staircase Escalante is a long trip from almost anywhere.
By car
We drove from Moab to the town of Escalante, UT in a little over four hours. It’s another hour or more to the Golden Cathedral Trailhead down Hole in the Rock Road.
You can get relatively up-to-date road condition information for Hole in the Rock Road online.
By plane
The closest major airport to Grand Staircase Escalante is Cedar City Regional Airport. Escalante has a very small airport, Escalante Municipal Airport, but it’s only used by private aircraft. Kanab Regional Airport, Page Airport, and Grand Junction Regional Airport are also relatively close. But nothing is really all that close in this part of the country.
Salt Lake City has a large airport you can fly to from most other airports in the United States. From there, you can rent a car.
If you’re flying in to explore Grand Staircase Escalante and the surrounding areas, it’s probably best to use the town of Escalante as basecamp. There is a small outfitter and guide service in Escalante.
Another town, Kanab, UT, has slightly more services. Cedar City and St. George have even more services.
Bus and shuttle services
Utah Canyon Outdoors offers shuttle services in the area.
Trailheads
A backpacker with all their gear takes a photo with the Glen Canyon National Rec Area sign. Photo by Sam Schild.
Golden Cathedral Trailhead is the northernmost trailhead on Hole in the Rock Road. From here, you can hike three miles to the Escalante River.
Red Well Trailhead is 25 miles south of Golden Cathedral Trailhead, one of three possible trailheads you can end your trip.
Hurricane Wash Trailhead is 3 miles south of Red Well Trailhead, but directly on Hole in the Rock Road. This is where we ended our trip.
Water Tanks Coyote Gulch Trailhead is the shortest way into and out of Coyote Gulch. This trailhead is farther south from Hurricane Wash, down Forty Mile Ridge Road. To enter Coyote Gulch from this way, there is a steep scramble down slick rock. There may or may not also be a rope anchored above the steepest parts of the scramble, but the National Park Service does not maintain this rope and you shouldn’t rely on it.
Post-trip favorite restaurant / bakery / brewery
A Michelin-star restaurant in Boulder, Utah, near Escalante. Photo by Sam Schild.
Escalante Outfitters has pizza and beer. They’re a hub for outdoorsy people in the area as well.
The 4th West Pub in Escalante has beer and bar food if the Outfitters isn’t open.
Chihuahua Garcia Mexican Grill has good Mexican food, but it wasn’t open the last time we were in Escalante.
Strangely enough, the nearby town of Boulder, Utah, has a Michelin-star restaurant, Hell’s Backbone Grill & Farm. We were told that it was relatively affordable, so we went to eat there on our way in. The menu is a rotating selection of local food, and it is very good. However, it’s “affordable” depending on your definition of the word — the plates are $30 to $60. The food is very good, and we didn’t feel out of place dressed like dirtbags, but this isn’t the place to go for a cheap post-trip burger.
Regulations
An image of some waterfalls and river flows in spring in Coyote Gulch. Photo by Sam Schild.
Follow Leave No Trace Ethics.
You must pack out all human waste in a wag bag in Grand Staircase Escalante and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. That means you’ll need to use wag bags for the entire trip — plan ahead and pack enough for the number of people and days on your trip.
Dogs or other pets are not allowed in Coyote Gulch.
Only camp in established sites.
Group size must be limited to 12 people or fewer.
Camping
Two rafters enjoy the views of the canyon from a campsite along the river. Photo by Sam Schild.
You can camp in established campsites anywhere along the route.
Water Planning
A waterfall in the gulch.
During peak runoff, the Escalante River may be too silty to filter. We didn’t have this issue late in spring, though. If the river water is too silty, you can filter from the many springs and creeks that run into it.
There is plenty of water in Coyote Gulch as well. Your feet will be wet most of the time you’re in Coyote Gulch, in fact, so that’s the kind of water planning you must account for. Bring a durable boat, and also capable water shoes.
Bears and food storage
Bears are not a concern in this area, but you should store your food off the ground to prevent mice and other rodents from getting into it. See REI’s Food Storage resource or Bear Canister resource for more information.
SIDE TRIPS
From the Escalante River, hiking to Golden Cathedral is a short side trip that you shouldn’t pass up. This is one of the most famous spots in the area, and you’ve likely seen pictures of the Golden Cathedral in guidebooks, tourism brochures, or online.
Another short side trip from the Escalante River is the Ringtail Slot Canyon. This short side trip leads to a very narrow slot canyon that leads all the way to the top of the canyon if you bring the right equipment.
Along Hole in the Rock Road, there are several other side trips worth checking out.
Sunset Natural Arch is a short hike away from Water Tanks/Jacob Hamblin Arch Trailhead.
From the Upper Dry Fork Trailhead, you can hike to Peek-A-Boo and Spooky Slot Canyons as a part of a loop hike that is about 6 miles long.
The Hike to Reflection Canyon is worth the drive to the very end of Hole in the Rock Road.
TRIP VARIATIONS
If it isn’t the time of year to raft the Escalante, you can still hike Coyote Gulch on its own. You’d have to do it as an out and back, but it’s pretty enough that doing it twice isn’t a bad thing. You could also enter and exit at different trailheads to mix it up, especially if you had cars to shuttle or plan to catch a ride.
GEAR RENTALS
There isn’t anywhere to rent gear nearby. Backcountry Packraft Rentals rents packrafting gear, and they’ll ship it to you as well.
GEAR LIST
This is a list of gear we used on the Escalante River and Coyote Gulch Packrafting and Backpacking trip.
What I carried and why
Backpacking with extra paddling and packrafting gear. Photo by Sam Schild.
PACKRAFT
I used a Kokopelli Nirvana Self Bailing raft. This raft weighs 9.2 pounds, is durable, and very capable in Class II-III rapids. It's a winner in our Best Packrafts guide.
PFD
I used an NRS Ninja PFD. See our guide to Best Personal Flotation Devices and Life Jackets for more recommendations.
TENT
I used a ZPacks Hexamid Pocket Tarp because I didn’t think I’d need a tent, and this tarp is really light.
See our Best Backpacking Tents guide for more recommendations. For something lighter, see our Best Ultralight Tents guide.
BACKPACK
I use an Outdoor Vitals CS40 backpack for trips where I need to carry more than four days' worth of food or large items like a packraft and rafting equipment. For more recommendations, see our Best Running Packs and Fastpacks or for other pack options, see our Best Lightweight Backpacking Backpacks guide.
DRY BAGS
I used Sea To Summit Big River Dry Bags to keep all my gear dry inside my pack while lashed to the packraft.
SLEEPING BAG
I use a Cedar Ridge Outdoors Leconte 20F quilt for this trip (Unfortunately, Cedar Ridge Outdoors no longer exists). Someday I’ll get a new one, but for now, this is a high-quality down quilt that has reliably kept me warm for thousands of trail miles.
See our Best Backpacking Quilts guide for more recommendations. If you're interested in a dedicated sleeping bag instead of a quilt, see our Best Backpacking Sleeping Bags guide.
SLEEPING PAD
I used a Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XLite NXT. It’s reliable, keeps me warm, and Therm-a-Rest’s lifetime warranty is no joke. The XLite NXT is our overall winner in our Best Backpacking Sleeping Pads guide.
TREKKING POLES
I used Komperdell Carbon Cloud Vario trekking poles on this trip because they’re lightweight, fold down small, open automatically, and Komperdell has an awesome no-questions-asked repair program.
For more recommendations, see our Best Trekking poles story.
COOKING SYSTEM
MSR Pocket Rocket 2 stove, which is the overall winner in our Best Backpacking Stoves guide
Snow Peak Titanium Spork
COOKING POT
I use a TOAKS 750ml pot, which is the overall winner in our Best Backpacking Cookpot guide.
See our Best Cooking Pot section for other cookpot recommendations.
HEADLAMP
I carry a Petzl BINDI Headlamp, which is affordable, bright, and lightweight.
See our recommendations in our Best Headlamps story.
SATELLITE MESSENGER
There isn’t much cell reception in the Escalante area. I carried the Garmin InReach Mini because it allows you to send and receive messages from anywhere, including contact search and rescue. You can also use the Inreach Mini to coordinate rides for pick-up after your trip.
The InReach Mini 2 is the overall winner in our Best Personal Locator Beacon and Satellite Messenger guide. You can read our in-depth review of the Garmin InReach Mini 2 here.
FOOD STORAGE
I used an OPSAK for food storage.
WATER PURIFIER
I used a Platypus QuickDraw filter on this trip, which is the overall winner in our Best Water Filters and Purifiers guide.
What to wear
Shoes or boots
I used the La Sportiva Jackal II trail running shoes on this trip because they’re comfortable, fit my feet well, have a super grippy outsole, and are lightweight. They used to be our overall winner in our Best Men’s Trail Running Shoes guide and upgrade winner in our Best Women's Trail Running Shoes.
I also carried and wore Bedrock Cairn Sandals while on the river, which are the winners in our Best Hiking Sandals guides.
If you’d feel more comfortable in boots, check out our Best Hiking Boots story or our Best Lightweight Hiking Boots story.
A nice footwear compromise between running shoes and hiking boots are hiking shoes, which are designed to feel like a trail runner but have stability more like a boot. See our Best Hiking Shoes story for footwear that’s more durable and stable than trail runners but not as heavy as a boot.
Rain jacket
I brought an Ultimate Direction Ultra Rain Jacket for this trip because it’s crazy light and has waterproof flip mitts to keep my hands protected in storms. See our gear review of the Best Lightweight Rain Jackets for other recommendations.
Rain pants
I didn’t carry rainpants on this trip because the forecast looked good. I carry the Ultimate Direction Ultra Pants when I want rainpants because they’re lightweight and have zips at the ankles to put on and take off with shoes on. See our Best Rain Pants guide for more recommendations.
Down or synthetic jacket
I used the Mountain Hardwear Ghost Whisperer Down Vest down vest for an insulating layer because it’s incredibly lightweight and warm. See our in-depth review of the Ghost Whisperer jacket for more details.
See our recommendations in our Best Down Jackets or Best Down Vests guide. If you prefer synthetic insulation, especially in wetter conditions, see our Best Synthetic Jackets story for ideas.
Fleece or midlayer
I carried an Outdoor Vitals Ventus Active Hoodie as a midlayer because it insulates when wet. See our guide to Best Fleece Jackets for more recommendations.
Sun shirt
I used a Free Fly Apparel Elevate Hoodie because it’s a bamboo and synthetic blend fabric that doesn’t stink and dries quickly. In colder conditions, I wear an Ibex Indie Hoodie, which is slightly warmer but has a quarter zip to vent if it gets too warm.
See our Best Sun Shirts guide for more recommendations.
Hiking pants
I didn’t carry hiking pants on this trip because it was going to be hot.
See our guides to the Best Women's Hiking Pants and Best Men's Hiking Pants for more recommendations.
Shorts
I used the Patagonia Strider Pro Shorts on this trip because they have lots of pockets and dry quickly. Patagonia also has some of the best environmental practices of any company.
For more recommendations, see our Best Men's Trail Running Shorts guide, Best Women's Trail Running Shorts guide, Best Men's Hiking Shorts guide, or Best Thru-hiking Shorts guide.
Base layer
I carried the Rab Conduit Tights in case the water in the Escalante was very cold because they’re lightweight, and fleece is warm when wet.
For more recommendations, see our Best Base Layers guide or our Best Women's Baselayer Bottoms and Best Men's Baselayer Bottoms guide.
Hiking socks
I wore Darn Tough Hiking Socks because they’re extremely durable. Check our Best Hiking Socks guide for more recommendations.
Warm hat
I carry an MYOG Polartec Alpha Direct warm hat because it’s extremely lightweight. Since I carried a hooded down jacket and hooded alpha mid-layer, I didn’t need a very warm hat.
Sun hat
I wore a Hoka Performance Hat because it’s comfortable and tightens with a shock cord so it won’t blow off on windy ridges. Check out our Best Sun Hats guide for more recommendations.
Gloves or mittens
I didn’t carry gloves on this trip because I know it would be warm. For more recommendations on lightweight but warm gloves, see our Best Winter Gloves guide.
Miscellaneous gear items
First aid kit
4 squares of gauze
Antibiotic ointment
Alcohol wipes
2 large square adhesive bandages
Ibuprofen
Sun protection
Sunglasses
Trucker hat
Sun Hoody
Sunscreen - see our Best Face Sunscreen and Best Sunscreen for your Body guide for our recommendations
Pocket knife
I carried a Classic Mini Swiss Army Knife on this trip.
