Directions » From Hanksville, take State Road 24 west for about 28 miles and turn south on Notom Road. From Capitol Reef National Park, Notom Road is just east of the park boundary. Take Notom Road for about 11 miles and stop at the road sign marking Five Mile Wash.

You can see geology at work in this slot canyon. In the summer and fall when it's dry, the trailhead is the mouth of a wash that's filled with silt, but the silt gradually stops and you find yourself on slickrock. The canyon walls are slowly eroding. At about the third mile, look on your left and you will see some large rocks barely hanging inside a wall eroding from the inside out. The trail -- and wash -- end when the canyon narrows to a close.

Nate Carlisle