Distance: 1.5 miles RT
Time: 2 hours
Start: Half way up the canyon towards Maple Canyon Campground – North side of road
Difficulty: Easy at the beginning, but Moderate to the waterfall, difficult to climb the waterfall
Elevation Gain: 356
Box canyon is private property so please respect the area so it can remain accessible. We didn’t see any trail signs, but there is parking along the street. This canyon is used for rock climbing, but if you have small kids this is also a great canyon to get them an introduction to conglomerate rocks and to just have fun climbing and playing.
The deeper you get in the canyon the more difficult it becomes and you will need to start climbing under, over, and around huge conglomerate boulders. We had to lift kids up to get them through difficult spots.
I had seen pictures of the waterfall and figured it wouldn’t be too hard to climb, but boy was I surprised. It is very slick due to the water that is falling year round (although it may be just a trickle). The waterfall is probably 60 ft tall with several ropes, and I could stay out of the water until about 3/4 of the way to the top. I started thinking that if I lost my grip on the rope, the fall could be deadly. The top section was very difficult to avoid the water unless you could straddle both sides. My 15 year old son, who has no fear, climbed up and down several times – he got his time down to only 25 seconds to climb to the top. Climbing down is more difficult and was taking most people several minutes. My nine year old son made it half way up and my eleven year old daughter wouldn’t even try to climb.
Don’t miss the nearby Maple Canyon loop hike (which includes an arch and cave): http://utahtim.com/2015/07/maple-canyon-loop/
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