Conditions Right Now
Use sunset as your turnaround alarm.
Why Hike This
This is a narrows walk with none of the usual costs. No permit, no wading, no climbing, just a flat gravel floor running between walls that climb hundreds of feet straight up. The floor is the drainage, which is the whole point and also the whole risk: the Park Service calls Grand Wash a narrow, steep-walled canyon subject to dangerous flash floods that often arrive with little warning. Check the forecast, and skip it if rain is anywhere in it.
The Trail
Flat gravel wash through 500-foot narrows. Watch weather - flash flood country.
Pack Loadout (Easy)
Water bottle, sunscreen, hat, snacks, comfortable shoes.
Getting There
Make it a weekend: Fruita Campground (Camping, 2 mi) · Singletree Campground (Camping, 15 mi) · Boulder Mountain Lakes (Fishing, 22 mi) · Fish Lake (Fishing, 33 mi)
More hikes nearby: Hickman Bridge (Hike, 2 mi) · Cassidy Arch (Hike, 2 mi) · Navajo Knobs (Hike, 3 mi) · Capitol Gorge & The Tanks (Hike, 5 mi)
Quick Answers
- How long is the Grand Wash hike?
- 4.4 miles round trip with 200 feet of elevation gain.
- How hard is Grand Wash?
- Easy. Kid rating: 4 out of 5.
- When should I hike Grand Wash?
- Best season: Spring-Fall.
- Why hike Grand Wash?
- Grand Wash gives you deep canyon narrows without any scrambling, on a flat gravel floor that families and casual walkers can handle. The trail runs 2.2 miles each way, so you can walk in from either end and turn back whenever you want. Do not enter if rain is in the forecast.