October 17, 2023

By Tim Briese

9.1 miles, 400’ elevation gain, 5:15 roundtrip time

Lick Wash had been on my radar for a few years after I had seen it featured in various guidebooks and also online. If it was noteworthy enough to write about, I surmised, then it must be well worth seeing.

I left Kanab at dawn on a nice clear morning. Teresa decided to sit this one out and stayed in town. I went east on US 89 about ten miles, then north on the paved Johnson Canyon Road about sixteen miles, then east on the graded Skutumpah Road 14 miles to the marked trailhead. This latter road can be troublesome when wet, especially if one comes in from the east via Cannonville, but the western stretch of the road I was on today was in excellent condition. It took about an hour to get to the trailhead from Kanab. It was chilly with a bit of frost as I embarked on the nice trail and headed southeast toward the entrance to Lick Wash.

at the trailhead

Within minutes the canyon narrowed to about 25 feet and soon it became even narrower.

shortly after i entered the canyon

There were interesting layered strata in the rock and the early sunlight hitting the walls was very scenic. As a bonus there was colorful fall foliage too.

After a half mile or so the canyon began to widen out, especially on the right side, with towering domes and cliffs that rose several hundred feet. It was reminiscent of nearby Zion National Park.

It was an easy hike, right down the drainage on sand and rocks. The mounting sun quickly took the chill out of the air and soon it was rather warm. I was fascinated by the towering walls and the pretty fall colors as I strolled along.

it looks like the profile of a face on the right ridgeline about halfway up

an interesting alcove

After about four and a half miles I came to a broad valley where Lick Wash reaches its confluence with Park Wash and I decided this was a good place to turn around. In hiking down Lick Wash I had descended almost imperceptibly about 400 feet.

near my turn around point

It was interesting going back up the drainage seeing it all again in different lighting conditions. I thought about how southern Utah has so many scenic out of the way places like this one that would be worthy of national park status elsewhere.  But Utah already has five of them.

on the way back

there were quite a few pretty maples

When I was within a mile of the trailhead I met two other fellows coming down the wash, the only other hikers I saw today.

I got back to the trailhead around 1 pm and headed back to Kanab.