02 May 2026 4 min read Road Trip

Getting Sideways at Cathedral Gorge State Park | The Big 2025 Parks Tour, Part 6

A spontaneous detour delivers my first taste of that iconic Southwestern U.S. scenery.

The hiking at Great Basin National Park felt familiar, like a high desert hybrid of the Sierra Nevada mountain range and the Spring Mountains near Las Vegas. But I was about to get my first taste of that iconic visual identity the Southwestern U.S. is known for, and experience my first slot canyon.

And it happened because of another spontaneous detour.

I have a love/hate relationship with social media, but places like Mastodon always prove invaluable for great recommendations. (Like me, people are eager to share the wonders of nature with others.) One such recommendation persuaded me to take an alternate path into Utah so that I could visit Cathedral Gorge State Park.

The entrance to one of several slot canyons here.

Cathedral Gorge’s slot canyons look AND feel like something from another planet. They formed from a mix of ancient lakes, soft clay, and tons of erosion. Millions of years ago this area was the bottom of a lake. When the water disappeared, it left behind thick layers of clay and volcanic ash. Over time, rainstorms carved narrow channels through that soft material, and those little cuts kept getting deeper and twistier with every flash flood.

(DO NOT be here when there’s a flash flood. Check the forecast in advance)

The result is these towering, slim, snaking canyons. Don’t worry, you’ll probably fit, but you may have to get sideways like I did:

Join me on a short walk through one of the slot canyons at Cathedral Gorge State Park

I walked and scooted and inched my way through 5 or 6 of them, thankfully realizing I’m NOT claustrophobic! The first time I reached one of these slot canyon’s dead ends, I looked up. Way, way up, gazing into the sky, and just kind of stood there, awestruck.

I felt tiny and dumbfounded.

View upwards through a narrow slot canyon, showing vertical striations in the rock walls against a blue sky.

The surfaces of these walls had a variety of textures, but mostly felt like something between sandstone and clay. Some of the surfaces were smooth, especially the towering walls near the dead ends of the slot canyons.

Others had complex surfaces that reminded me of some bizarre mashup of coral, honeycomb, and eroded bones. All these irregular bumps and cavities everywhere. Absolutely incredible:

"Vertical view inside a slot canyon with walls featuring a coral-like, eroded surface of nodules and cavities." — The complex surface of this slot canyon reminded me a bit of coral.

I have to imagine this is a very dynamic area that can be affected by rain and flash floods. It felt fragile, volatile, and wondrous. Perhaps some of this won't even be standing in 100 years. At the very least, a future adventurer's experience could be subtly different than the one I had.

Aside from the obvious appeal of exploring slot canyons, the surrounding landscape is striking. Drive it. Hike it. Whatever. But definitely take the time time to soak it all in.

Striking arid landscape with layered red rock formations, sparse vegetation, and a clear blue sky.

Layered rock formations with striped splashes of earthy, rusty, red and cream colors that have been sculpted by erosion, looking sort of chaotically symmetrical with pillars, spires, and hoodoos everywhere. (I would quickly start falling in love with hoodoos.)

Thanks for letting me take you on this journey. Coming up next time: Cedar City, Utah and highlights from Cedar Breaks National Monument!

Happy trails,
~Jason

PREVIOUSLY ON THE 2025 PARKS ROAD TRIP: