Through the Squeeze: Hiking Peek-A-Boo & Spooky Slot Canyons

Hiking through Peek-A-Boo and Spooky Slot Canyons in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is nothing short of a heart-pounding thrill ride into the very soul of the desert. As you step into the narrow, twisting canyons, it feels like entering another world—one carved by time, water, and the unrelenting forces of nature. The air is thick with the silence of the canyon, broken only by the sound of your footsteps echoing off the smooth, towering sandstone walls.

Peek-A-Boo greets you first with its snaking corridors, where the rock walls squeeze in so tightly that every step feels like a leap into the unknown. The canyon opens up in places, offering glimpses of blue sky, but then it tightens again, forcing you to twist and squeeze through openings barely wide enough for your body. The colors of the canyon are vibrant, streaks of red, orange, and pink dancing across the stone, their brilliance shifting with the changing light. The further you go, the more you feel like you're venturing into a secret world—a world where every corner holds a new surprise.

Then, as you push forward, you enter Spooky—its name almost a whisper of what’s to come. Spooky doesn’t disappoint. The passage narrows to a hair’s width, with jagged walls that seem to close in on you, as if the canyon itself is testing your resolve. You may find yourself holding your breath, squeezing through gaps so tight your body feels as though it might be swallowed whole by the earth. It’s thrilling. It’s eerie. And it’s utterly unforgettable. The canyon twists and turns with wild abandon, each new passage more dramatic than the last. Shadows play tricks on your eyes, and the narrowness forces you to focus—on every step, every touch of the rock beneath your fingers.

As you move deeper into these canyons, you realize how small you are in the grand scheme of the land, humbled by the raw, untamed beauty of the desert. The deeper you venture, the more you come to understand the power of nature, how it has carved and shaped these canyons over millennia. Every twist of Peek-a-Boo and every tight squeeze of Spooky is a testament to the forces that shaped the land and a reminder that the desert, wild and unforgiving, still holds its secrets close. Those looking for an adventure that thrills the heart, challenges the spirit, and leaves you awestruck by the beauty of the earth—hiking through Peek-a-Boo and Spooky Slot Canyons in Escalante is an experience you’ll never forget.

Trailhead elevation 4,908'

Water none

Don't miss wearing a cotton or cotton blend shirt (for real)

Hiking Peek-a-Boo and Spooky Gulch

The adventure began with a drive down Hole-in-the-Rock Road, a 26-mile stretch of washboard dirt that seems to shake loose every thought in my head. The land out here is desolate in the most beautiful way—sun-scorched and silent, with distant cliffs rising like fossilized waves on the horizon. I arrive at the trailhead and find two metal poles planted in the sand, a weathered sign stretching between them reading: “WARNING: Spooky Slot Canyon – Extremely Narrow.” The message is clear—if you can’t squeeze between these poles, you won’t make it through the canyon. I step up, test the gap with a grin, and slip through easily.

The trail begins through a landscape that feels both ancient and alive—a sea of red earth laced with life clinging defiantly to the desert. Twisted junipers and prickly pear cacti stand firmly in the sand, their shadows long and sharp in the early light. The path winds forward, drawing me toward the unknown, the vast expanse of the Egypt Bench stretches before me like a forgotten kingdom. Far beyond, the Henry Mountains rise on the horizon. The air hums with stillness, the kind that only the desert knows.

Around the three-quarter mile mark, something catches my eye—a rupture in the smooth expanse of sandstone far below, a jagged wound carved into the Earth itself.

I pause and zoom in with my camera. A cluster of tiny figures stands at its mouth, dwarfed by the canyon walls, their movements slow and reverent. I pull out my map and trace the contours with my eyes. There it is. The entrance to Peek-A-Boo. 

Not long after spotting the break in the sandstone below, the trail plunges with sudden urgency, dropping me down a slickrock slope that gleams under the desert sun like polished bone. My boots skid slightly on the descent, and then the path slips into a soft, sandy ravine—a quiet, wind-carved corridor that funnels me toward the valley floor like a forgotten tributary.

At around 1.5 miles, a sign emerges from the sand pointing toward the canyons ahead. Time is slipping, so I make the call—Dry Fork Narrows will have to wait. Today, it’s all about Peek-A-Boo and Spooky, the legends that have drawn me into this wilderness.

Just a few hundred feet later, I arrive. The entrance to Peek-A-Boo Gulch looms before me, not as a trail, but as a challenge—a ten-foot sandstone wall, smooth and sunbaked, scarred with the remnants of countless climbers before me. Carved into the rock are Moqui steps, shallow and precarious. I grip the warm stone, haul myself up, my heart pounding with excitement—and with one final pull, I slip over the lip and into the canyon’s embrace.

Inside the slot canyon, the world is twisted. The walls aren't just red—the glow, sculpted by water into smooth, flowing shapes. I scramble under arches, duck through holes, and climb through winding chutes where the sandstone narrowed like the inside of a giant shell. I feel like I was walking through the ribs of a sleeping giant.

The deeper I go, the quieter it gets. The wind stops. My footsteps echo softly, like I'm treading through memory. Every turn is a surprise—a chamber lit by a shaft of sunlight, a tunnel so narrow I had to press my arms against both walls just to pass in spots.

As the canyon stretches open before me, something ignites deep inside—a fierce, almost childlike need for this moment to go on forever. Wonder floods my senses, raw and overwhelming, as if I’ve stumbled into a dream I never want to wake from. Every bend, every sunlit wall calls to me like a siren song. I’m riding the edge of pure joy, and I want more.

However, Peek-A-Boo eventually releases me back into the sun, onto a high desert plain of slickrock and sand. The thrill of one of the most beautiful slot canyons on Earth is over, yet there's still so much more adventure ahead.

After a long walk above ground, I reach Spooky—and the real challenge begins. The entrance to Spooky is small. Subtle.

Once I step in, it's clear this canyon has a different character. Spooky doesn't welcome me—it swallows me whole. The walls close in fast. Within minutes, I'm sidestepping through passages barely a foot wide. The rock brushes my chest and back simultaneously. I think to myself, had I worn my synthetic fabric shell jacket, it would be ripped to shreds by now. The air is cool and still. Every sound—the scrape of my backpack, my own breath—seems amplified.

I have to remove my pack and hold it sideways just to squeeze through several of the tighter bends. At one point, I drop down between narrow walls, feeling blindly with my feet for the next ledge. It is dark. It is silent. It is unnerving. And I love it.

Spooky is less of a hike and more of an ordeal—a maze of twisting stone that messes with your sense of direction and scale. There’s no trail, no signposts, just rock and instinct. Time stretches. So does my patience. Halfway through the canyon, a large boulder jam obstructs the path, making the already tough slot canyon even more difficult. I attempt to climb over it, but fail. The only option left is to crawl beneath, though that brings its own form of agony.

Beyond the chaotic tumble of boulders, the canyon stretches onward, twisting and writhing in a relentless dance between suffocating narrow passages and brief, fleeting expanses of open air. The walls close in with a maddening sense of urgency, only to pull back, allowing me a moment’s breath before the next embrace. With each turn, I’m gripped by an aching curiosity—when will this labyrinth finally yield? Not that I wish for it to end, not yet, but when will the unyielding wilds relent?

Then, finally, the stone loosened its grip. The canyon widens, the light returns, and I step back into the sun like a diver surfacing from deep water. Phew.

The hike back up to the trailhead is demanding—steep and sandy and exposed. But my mind was still below, somewhere in those winding corridors of stone. Peek-A-Boo and Spooky aren’t just hikes. They’re experiences that change you. They remind you that the Earth is alive, that it moves, breathes, carves, and waits. These canyons don’t care if you’re ready. They demand presence, humility, and a bit of nerve. I left the desert scraped up and a little awestruck. I also left feeling more grounded—like I’d been deep into the heart of something ancient and had come back carrying a piece of it inside me. If you go, go early. Go prepared. And when the rock closes around you, breathe deep. Don’t rush. Let the stone tell its story.