Fish and Owl Loop

Combine Fish and Owl canyons for a leisurely backpacking trip or strenuous day hike on Cedar Mesa!

Trail description

Cedar Mesa, which includes Fish and Owl canyons, is known for its concentration of archaeological sites. Throughout your hike, watch for cliff dwellings high on the canyon walls. If you visit any of these special places, please remember to leave all artifacts in place, don’t enter rooms, and avoid touching rock art.

You can hike this loop in either direction, but this description details the route going down Fish Creek and up Owl Creek. The trail to Fish Creek starts at the north side of the parking area near a brown trail sign. Continue northeast, cutting across a piñon and juniper forest for about 1.5 miles to the canyon rim.

Dropping into Fish

A cairn marks the beginning of your descent into a tributary that leads to Fish Canyon. After making a few switchbacks, you drop down to a flat bench. Follow cairns across patches of slickrock and cryptobiotic soil to the crux — a 15-foot downclimb. Bring a rope to lower packs, and scramble down the crack.

Past this point, the trail is hard to follow. Cairns mark an approximate route down a very steep slope. Dirt, scree, and loose rocks are like ball bearings beneath your feet, so be careful not to lose your footing. By 2 miles, you reach the tributary floor.

Skirt a pouroff on the right side of the canyon, and continue to burrow your way through willows, Gambel oaks, and horsetails. Fish Creek comes in from the left in a half mile, and you keep making your way past periodic pools, junipers, and cottonwood trees.

Eventually the gravel wash gives way to slickrock, and you enjoy easy walking for about a mile. The canyon walls display interesting indentations, pinnacles, and knobs. Around 6.8 miles, look for an arch about two-thirds of the way up the left canyon wall. It blends into the rock wall behind it and can be easy to miss.

Beyond the arch, you find a few good campsites along the flat creek banks. The canyon walls diminish as you near the confluence, and at around 9 miles you meet Owl Canyon. There is a good campsite just downcanyon on a rock bench shaded with cottonwood trees.

Note: If you camp at the confluence, consider walking about 1.5 miles downcanyon to see several archaeological sites near the mouth of McCloyd Canyon (first tributary on your right).

Up Owl

Otherwise, head northwest up Owl Canyon. The gravel wash bottom makes for slow hiking, so look for a path that cuts across the right bank. Similar to Fish Canyon, piñons and junipers creep up the canyon walls while tamarisk and rubber rabbitbrush line the creekbed. Two miles past the confluence you arrive at Nevills Arch, a prominent feature in a skyline of pinnacles.

Continuing north, the canyon becomes messy with flood debris and boulders. The rest of the hike follows this pattern: rock hop along the canyon floor, climb partway up the canyon wall to avoid a pouroff, get thrashed by thicket, arrive at the top of a pouroff, and do it all again. Three times to be exact.

To skirt the first obstacle, follow a cairned route on the left to avoid a small pouroff. Good campsites soon follow on the right bank near a grove of Gambel oak and juniper trees.

The second bypass route branches off from the canyon floor a ways before you can see the pouroff. Try not to curse the thick brush, steep trail, and seemingly unnecessary detour. When you get to the top and see the huge plunge pool below, you’ll be happy you avoided backtracking. Walk northeast upcanyon, and where Owl Canyon splits, veer right towards the north fork. Continue negotiating your way around boulders and ledges.

As you approach the final pouroff, the trail cuts into a side canyon on the right. Boulder hop up the steep drainage, climb up the west wall, and turn back towards the main canyon at the small trail sign. The trail curves around an exposed ledge on the canyon wall, placing you at the top of a beautifully sculpted pouroff in Owl Canyon.

Around 14.5 miles, the north fork of Owl Canyon branches again. Switchback up the middle but eventually swing into the right fork. The final ascent up to the canyon rim involves steep climbs up slickrock; cairns mark the way. Look for an alcove on your left that protects an archaeological site of four structures. You will find interpretation materials and information on the site in an ammo can.

Zigzag up a chute formed by terraced ledges of sandstone. Stay to the right of huge boulders, and reach the canyon rim around 15.25 miles. Continue north on patches of slickrock, veering to the left on a well-worn trail. Reach the trailhead in about a quarter mile.

Directions

From the junction of UT 95 and UT 261, drive south on UT 261 for about four miles. Stop at the Kane Gulch Ranger Station (open seasonally) on your right to get current weather reports, road conditions, and permits. Continue another mile south, and turn left on the dirt road signed for Fish and Owl Creek. Drive to the road’s end (about 5 miles) and reach the trailhead. Park near the information boards and self-pay station.