Goblin Valley State Park

Goblin Valley

We left Capital Reef and continued down Utah 24 which is another scenic byway. Our primary stop for the day was Goblin Valley State Park. It had been my intention to camp here, but we soon discovered you can explore the entire park in about 2 hours. The goblins or mushroom shaped stone figures are made of Entrada sandstone. Fracture patterns within the bed create zones of weakness, and the erosion begins. The edges and corners of these fractures weather more quickly producing spherical-shaped goblins.

The narrows of Little Wild Horse Canyon

Just down the road is another slot canyon, Little Wild Horse Canyon. The hike is primarily in a wash so it was fairly easy, until we came to a dry fall. Here we had to skirt the side of the wash and the climbing got a little too much for Mary. She decided to wait it out, while I explored the canyon. While not as spectacular as Antelope Canyon, this one gets very narrow. For several hundred feet, you hoped you didn’t meet anyone going the other way, because there was nowhere to pass. It was a fun canyon to hike. If you want to make it a round trip, you can also hike down Bell Canyon.
Given that it was only 2:30 PM, we decided to head into Moab for camping that night.