A rugged hike through a narrow canyon rewards the hiker with a close-up view of Brimhall Natural Bridge, a double span. The route is largely unmarked, so carrying a topographic map is recommended. It is extremely hot in summer and water sources are unreliable; carry adequate water. Use caution in narrow canyons during flash flood season (July-September.)
Halls Creek Overlook provides an outstanding view of the
Waterpocket Fold. From this vantagepoint, Brimhall Double Bridge is visible in a narrow canyon directly across from the overlook.
From the overlook, a steep trail, marked with rock cairns, descends 800 feet (244 m) over 1.2 miles (1.9 km) to the Halls Creek drainage. Pay attention to landmarks as no signs mark the point where this route climbs out of the canyon; it would be easy to walk past the route on your return trip. The marked trail ends here. From this point on you will need to do your own route finding. Walk down the canyon (south) 0.2 miles (0.32 km) until you reach the first major side canyon on your right (west). This is Brimhall Canyon.
The first quarter mile (0.4 km) of Brimhall Canyon is an easy hike up the wash bottom. The canyon quickly deepens as you walk toward the heart of the Fold (west). Soon you come to a point where the canyon appears to end in a steep, talus-filled crack straight ahead of you. The main canyon actually makes a 90° bend to the right (north), and you must negotiate a steep sloping dry fall to continue. A short, steep friction climb on the slickrock slope just downstream of the dry fall will get you into the upper canyon.
Mileage:
Halls Creek Overlook to canyon bottom: 1.2 miles (1.9 km)
Bottom of Halls Creek Overlook Trail to mouth of Brimhall Canyon: 0.2 miles (0.3 km)
Mouth of Brimhall Canyon to Brimhall Bridge: 0.9 miles (1.4 km)
Total round-trip mileage: 4.6 miles (7.4 km)
Did You Know?
The
Fremont River corridor sports the feathery branches and pink flowers of the tamarisk, an exotic introduced from the Mediterranean in the 1930s. It was brought to the southwest as a river bank stabilizer and is now nearly impossible to control and eliminate, despite on-going eradication efforts.
