Station 5: Slot Canyon Entrance

Brian Wignall, Narrator

A Slot Canyon is a very narrow canyon.  Pat Hester, a Geologist with the Bureau of Land Management tells us more about this interesting passageway.

Pat Hester, Geologist, BLM

Amid the rock formations and in contrast to their colors, manzanita, an evergreen shrub, cling to the cracks and crevices of the cliff face.  During the spring and summer, visitors may be treated to blooms of Indian paintbrush and Apache plume.

Leading inward from the cliff is a slot canyon where, over time, wind and water have scooped and shaped the rocks forming a narrow passageway.  The canyon walls tell  the story of their volcanic past through their striations.  Here, the layering of volcanic material is interspersed with buried soils that are conspicuously more orange in color. 

Brian Wignall, Narrator

From here the trail becomes narrow and sometimes steep.  If you are uncomfortable with small spaces or heights, this would be the time to head back to the trail head.