Blue John Canyon, Utah

Information on Blue John Canyon in Utah - Sis, this is for you!  This could be my next travel destination.

Location: Blue John Canyon may be reached either from the north starting at Green River, or from the west beginning at UT 24 half way between Hanksville and I-70; the two points are linked by the unpaved, 70 mile San Rafael Road (FR 1010), which although crossing very remote, uninhabited country, is well maintained, generally fine for regular cars, and receives a fair amount of traffic, mostly to the Horseshoe Canyon and Maze districts of Canyonlands National Park. The western part of the route is the preferred approach; this starts near milepost 136 of UT 24, just south of the turn-off on the opposite side to Goblin Valley State Park, and at first heads south, across an area of sand dunes to a corral at Jeffery Well, where the road turns east, passing between the Little and Big Flat Top buttes and climbing up to the top of a wide mesa.

From here the track crosses more wide-open, treeless country to a major junction, marked by an NPS notice board bearing a topographic map of the area plus information about hiking in Canyonlands and the Blue John complex. Horseshoe Canyon (and other interesting sites such as Moonshine Wash) are north, further along FR 1010, while the Maze and the Blue John Canyons are south. The road south is a bit narrower than the main route, and more bumpy, though still fine for all vehicles except after heavy rain, which is liable to make all roads in the area impassable for several hours until the surface dries up. The track crosses a wide basin (Antelope Valley) and climbs gradually, reaching Burr Pass after 7 miles - this is the highest point around and gives the first good views of Blue John Canyon and other narrow ravines to the east.

Approaching a dark, narrow section

Narrows in a side canyon

Logs above the streambed

There are at least four possible start points for exploring the Blue John Canyon system (see map). Easiest-reached is a half a mile before Burr Pass, where a sandy track joins from the east; near the junction are several places to park/camp, beside a few trees that provide some shade. A second place, for 4WD vehicles, is half a mile down this track, where it crosses the upper west fork of the canyon. Third is a half mile south of Burr Pass, just after a west-side junction, at a parking area by the side of the road - start of a cross-country route to the top of the narrows of the main fork. The final option, 1.5 miles further south, is at the end of a short side track to Granary Spring, also a good camping spot. From here, the beginning of the narrows of the east fork lies 3 miles away to the east.

Summary: The three main branches of Blue John Canyon all have a similar layout, of a shallow wash that drops steeply down into a narrow slot, widening gradually and offering easy entry/exit routes once the enclosing cliffs recede. The two principal forks are main and east; both can be explored from the top with some difficult downclimbing and/or rappelling, or from the lower end via a longer hike that involves retracing steps when the steep part is reached.

West Fork - this is quite shallow, forming just one enclosed section about 1/4 mile in length, at the start of which is a steep place needing moderate downclimbing. The drainage is often used as an exit route after descending the main or east forks.

Main Fork - one mile of the main fork forms a deep, narrow canyon, and a quarter of this is a dark slot. The upper end descends steeply, by 100 feet over a distance of about 200 feet, so is easiest to explore in the downstream direction though even here a rope may be needed.

East Fork - the eastern branch is the longest, and its upper end has a lengthy narrow section, in the middle of which are a number of deep potholes and several dryfalls. The best part of the slot is below these obstacles.

Lower Canyon - north of the junction of all the upper forks, Blue John is a wide, sandy drainage but narrows once more to a good, dark, steeply-descending slot just before a big drop off (70 feet). It was here that Aron Ralston became entrapped by a large boulder and after 5 days resorted to severing his arm with a pocket knife. After the dryfall the drainage becomes a wide, sandy-floored box canyon, and remains similar in appearance all the way to the confluence with Horseshoe Canyon and then the Green River.

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