Dark Canyon: Lean-to -- Youngs Canyon 5 day Loop

[reverse_dyno]

August 30 to September 3. 2012

I am always a little apprehensive before heading out into the desert. I do most of my backpacking in the woods, where water is plentiful and shade is everywhere. My wife and I have been getting a little bored with the Uintas and we wanted to go somewhere farther away for the Laborday weekend. We decide to make it an extra long weekend. We left Salt Lake City on Wednesday evening for Dark Canyon, just East of Hite Marina.

We followed Steve Allen’s, Canyoneering 2: Technical Loop Hikes in Southern Utah, directions to the Sundance Trailhead. It also contains a description of this loop. The last mile to the trailhead requires a clearance of 6 inches, the rest of the road is fine for a car. You do not need a 4WD vehicle, just the clearance.

Itinerary:
Travel Time: One way driving time was 6 hours. One hour of which is on the dirt road from Hite Marina to the Sundance Trailhead.

Day 1, 6.5 hours hiking time: Hike down into Dark Canyon via the Sundance trail and to the last water source in Lean-to Canyon which is a very nice spring and is marked on the map. Camp at the spring.

Day 2, 7.5 hours hiking time: Hike out of Lean-to Canyon to Sweet Alice Road. Then across the plateau and enter the head of Youngs Canyon near the line shack. Camp at the large pot hole, just before you have to leave Youngs Canyon for the plateau to get around a large dry fall.

Day 3, 6 hours hiking time: Hike out of Youngs Canyon and then 30 minutes across the plateau. Then back down into Youngs Canyon following a well marked trail. One section of the trail has been washed out, and is very steep and loose. It is only a 20 foot section, but a slip could send you tumbling hundreds of feet. We camped at the confluence of Youngs and Dark Canyon.

Day 4, 5.5 hours hiking time: Hike to Lost Canyon and camped at the confluence of Dark and Lost Canyon.

Day 5, 3 hours hiking time: Continue to hike down Dark Canyon. Then pick up the Sundance trail and hike back to the car.

It had recently rained a lot according to the USFS office. It rained for a few hours 3 out of four evenings. All the pot holes were full and we never had a dry camp. Even if it had not been so wet, the only time we camped at a pot hole was on Day 2. That pot hole was large enough that it probably has water in it year round. On the other days we camped at running water. Day 2 was the only day where we had to carry all our water for the day. All the other days there were numerous water sources along the way.

We only saw people on the first day. They were also heading down into Dark Canyon. The trail register mentioned another group of 3 people and a dog that were going to camp in Dark Canyon. We never saw them.




Looking into Dark Canyon just before desending into the canyon on Sundance Trail.


Dry fall in Learn-to that you need to pass on a trail RUC.


Bear tracks in upper Learn-to near the spring?


Random pot hole.


View of the Henry Mountains.














One of the many waterfalls that appeared during one of the thunderstorms.


One of the many waterfalls that appeared during one of the thunderstorms.


Creek in the bottom of Dark Cayon.


Creek in the bottom of Dark Cayon.


Creek in the bottom of Dark Cayon.


Creek in the bottom of Dark Cayon.


Picture of the face that Sundance trail goes up to get you out of Dark Canyon.


One of the easy climbing sections on Sundance Trail going into Dark Canyon.


View of the Henry Mountains.


View of the near the Sundance Trailhead plateau.

[Don]

This trip is very near the top of my to-do list. Thanks for sharing!

[Scott P]

Cool. Youngs/Lean-To is the best loop in the Dark Canyon area, IMHO. It's easier to start on the north side though instead of the Sundance Trail.

Did you see the petroglyphs at the mouth of Youngs?

[Sandstone Addiction]

Excellent pics and TR!

[reverse_dyno]

Hi Scott,

I did see the petroglyphs near Youngs Canyon entrance. I was not expecting them. There is a nice swimming hole very close to them and I went to take a dip and there they were. I guess I wasn't the first one to think it was a good place to spend some time at :).

If you start at the North Side from Sweet Alice road you can completely avoid going in/out of Dark Canyon via Sundance trail. That would remove a total of 6 hours walking time from the trip. I wasn't sure how bad Sweet Alice Road was going to be, as I had heard it had rained a lot recently.

The longest time we had without water was crossing the Plateau via Sweet Alice Road. If we had parked over there it would have decreased the amount of water we would have needed to carry during that stretch.

[Shan]

Great report! I've always wanted to see a TR from Dark Canyon!

[Slot Machine]

Nice report!! Thanks for sharing!

[Byron]

Very nice...it's a great place and I've been all over it. Indeed, coming in from SA road would be better. The only times I've used the Sundance is just to get down to the creek for a quickie, lazy weekend. Also, consider driving down SA road and exploring Bowdie Canyon. It's an awesome wilderness experience with lots of surprises. I've been poking around there for 25 years and I'm still discovering...things. Fable Valley has some really good ruins, too.

[jman]

I need to repeat this journey. Great stuff. Thanks for the memory lane.