Parking
Start at Chimney Rock Trailhead in The Maze. Reaching it requires a high-clearance four-wheel-drive vehicle in low range; the roads are extremely remote and difficult.
Overview
About Shot Canyon Route
Why go
- A primitive sandstone descent into Shot Canyon’s open floor.
Heads up
- A long, cairn-marked route with little signage.
- The remote 4WD approach is difficult in its own right.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Canyonlands map
Full mapElevation4,606–5,443 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
2 active Canyonlands alerts
- ClosureRain-damaged Needles backcountry roads impassableRecent rains have made several Needles backcountry roads impassable; do not drive these routes.Official details
- CautionMaze access roads require high-clearance 4WDOnly use high-clearance 4WD to reach Hans Flat or Horseshoe Canyon in The Maze; low-clearance vehicles are not recommended on these damaged, rutted, muddy routes.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Canyonlands Tour Guide
Your drive to Shot Canyon Route, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Canyonlands National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Canyonlands audio tour- 43 audio storiesacross Canyonlands’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Bighorn Sheep, Mule Deer, Coyote, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 63 trails, 65 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Shot Canyon Route
A remote out-and-backShot Canyon Route is a 10.
Shot Canyon Route is a 10.1-mile out-and-back from Chimney Rock to the eastern connection with the Colorado and Green River Overlook route, then back along the same primitive path. The 5-mile line crosses slickrock above Shot Canyon, drops about 400 feet into the canyon, and continues northeast over an open grass-and-sage flat toward the wash. Allow about eight hours on foot, plus the remote drive; this is a hard backcountry day, not a quick canyon stop.
Follow the cairns eastFour cairned routes leave the Chimney Rock area, and there are no signs at the start.
Four cairned routes leave the Chimney Rock area, and there are no signs at the start. The Shot line is the second-to-last route on the right. It meanders over slickrock for about 0.6 mile to the canyon rim. Stacked rocks brace a sloping slickrock face at the descent, followed by switchbacks to the floor. The open flat heads northeast, with more of the route entering the sandy wash near the eastern connection. Turn around there and retrace the same corridor.
Prepare for The MazeThis is a primitive path marked mainly by cairns.
This is a primitive path marked mainly by cairns. Carry a topographic map, be comfortable finding your way on slickrock, and bring all the water you need; water in The Maze is scarce and unreliable. Getting to Chimney Rock takes a high-clearance four-wheel-drive vehicle in low range on very remote, difficult roads. Pets are not allowed in The Maze.
The Shot–Water loop is a different hikeA longer circuit crosses from Shot Canyon to Water Canyon, follows the sandy drainage toward a…
A longer circuit crosses from Shot Canyon to Water Canyon, follows the sandy drainage toward a spring, and climbs out on exposed ledges with steep slickrock scrambling before returning to Chimney Rock. That is a separate, more technical itinerary. The route shown here stays on the Shot Canyon path to its eastern connection and returns the same way.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Canyonlands
48 sightingsBighorn SheepMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
47 sightingsMule DeerMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
12 sightingsCoyoteMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
30 sightingsWestern RattlesnakeMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
18 sightingsTurkey VultureMost seen around 11 AMSighting map
18 sightingsWild TurkeyMost seen around 7 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Canyonlands. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
