Kanab Creek Wilderness

Kanab Creek Wilderness is 70,460 acres of BLM/Forest Service backcountry cutting through the Kaibab Plateau country west of the North Rim, and it's the kind of place where you can hike for days without seeing another party. The main canyon and its tributaries — Jumpup, Sowats, Hack, Snake Gulch — carve deep into the Paleozoic layers of the Grand Canyon's western edge, with sheer red-rock walls, seasonal springs, and Ancestral Puebloan ruins and petroglyphs tucked into side canyons. It's rugged, remote, and largely unmarked — this is route-finding terrain for experienced backpackers, not a casual day hike.

Good to know

• No fees or permits required for individual visits (commercial trips and large groups do need a special recreation permit)
• No facilities — no restrooms, no potable water; treat anything you find in the creek
• Motorized and mechanized travel, including bikes, is prohibited
• Managed jointly by the BLM and the Kaibab National Forest's North Kaibab Ranger District, based in Fredonia
• Watch for private inholdings near the Snake Gulch/Kanab Creek confluence

Visitors consistently describe it as stunning and underexplored, with several noting you need multiple days to see the ruins and petroglyph sites scattered through the canyon system. Access points are reached via rough dirt roads off Highway 89A between Fredonia and Jacob Lake, so a high-clearance vehicle and a good map (cell service is nonexistent) are essential before heading in.