Zebra Slot Canyon Trail Map
Zebra Slot Canyon Trail Intermediate. Map Key Favorites Check-Ins. 2.6 Miles 4.2 KM 98% Runnable 5,337' 1,627 m High 5,153' 1,571 m. The Zebra Slot Canyon trail is an unmarked trail, so there aren’t signs to guide your way as you make this hike. The trail is pretty well established up to the point where you get to the wash, where the trail becomes a little more difficult to navigate. But small discoveries like these can be quite enjoyable. Crawling through the striped sandstone of Zebra Canyon offers a pleasant break from hiking the unshaded Harris Wash. From Escalante's Hole-in-the-Rock Road, a trail along Halfway Hollow leads to Harris Wash. This popular route straightens out most of the riverbed meanders.
The trailhead for Zebra Slot Canyon is located 7.8 miles down Hole-In-The-Rock road from Highway 12 in Escalante Utah. The parking lot for the trailhead is located on the west side of the road just south of the 3rd cattle guard. Hole-In-The-Rock road is passable in a passenger car for the first 40 miles or so but they say it does get quite rough near the end of the road.
The hike to Zebra Slot Canyon is around 2.5 miles one way on a well-trod footpath until you reach the mouth of the canyon itself. You can follow Harris Wash for the last part but it was filled with deep sand and is much more tiring to hike in than the trail. Once inside the canyon the fun really starts. If you are claustrophobic this hike may not be for you as this is a very narrow canyon. The most photogenic section of the canyon is the last 30 yards, which requires some scrambling to get there. The most difficult section to negotiate is about 50 yards from the end of the canyon and is so narrow you cannot actually touch the bottom of the canyon. Instead you need to chimney or wedge yourself between the walls staying above the floor all while carrying your camera and tripod. Your camera and tripod will need to either be in front or behind you because both you and your gear will not fit through this section together.
The best time to shoot Zebra Slot Canyon is in the morning before the light hits the back wall of the canyon. If you arrive too early in the morning th light will be pretty flat since there will not be much light reflecting into the canyon. The later in the morning the more the light fills and defines the canyon.
Zebra Slot Canyon Trail Map
Zebra Slot Canyon Trail Map Texas
Zebra Slot Canyon Map
Even if you arrive in late afternoon you will definitely need a tripod. Shutter speeds in this canyon are quite long especially since you will be using small apertures to get as much DOF as possible. The canyon is so narrow that tripod placement becomes an issue, there isn’t enough space to get all of your legs firmly on the ground so you will more than likely have at least one leg on the wall itself.