Sulphur Creek Route

Sulphur Creek is a 5.8-mile, one-way canyon hike from the paved UT-24 pullout to the visitor-center area. The route starts in a dry wash, drops into Sulphur Creek, then follows water through narrows and three waterfall obstacles before coming out near Fruita. It’s a hard, hands-on crossing, and it is not an official maintained trail. Allow about four to five hours for the canyon route, then add any return to your vehicle.

Set up a vehicle at each end before you start. The park does not provide a shuttle; walking back to the upper pullout adds 3.3 miles along UT-24. If that commitment or the scrambles don’t suit you, a separate short walk from the visitor-center end reaches a small waterfall in about 0.7 mile each way. That out-and-back is not the full Sulphur Creek route.

Use the designated paved pullout 0.3 mile west of Chimney Rock Trailhead, not the Chimney Rock parking area. A short hiker-made track drops over a low hill into a small wash. Follow its bottom downstream, then bear right (south) into the larger wash. The approach has two roughly six-foot pour-offs before the creek junction; both require careful downclimbing. Staying in the wash bottom also avoids trampling the sparse plants on its banks.

At Sulphur Creek, turn left (east) and continue downstream. The canyon deepens quickly. About half a mile below the junction, you can see the Goosenecks Overlook fence high above the creek; the first waterfall is roughly another mile along the narrows.

The first waterfall’s south-side bypass crosses angled slickrock and ends in a hands-on scramble down an approximately ten-foot pitch. The second is only about 750 feet farther. Its south-side route passes under a large rock and drops down three short pitches; it’s more involved than the first. Beyond it, the narrows usually mean walking in the creek.

The third waterfall is about 1.7 miles farther downstream. It is only around eight feet high, but the bypass traverses a slippery narrow ledge on the north side before a short downclimb. There is also a faint, hiker-made bypass on the south side. Don’t count on unofficial cairns to guide you: they may be missing or misleading, and floods or rockfall can change the route.

Expect wet feet and uneven rock for much of the canyon. Water depth and the bypasses change after floods, so don’t assume that a route described by another hiker will be passable on your day. Flash floods are a serious danger in this wash; skip the hike if rain is possible. Warm spring and fall weather are the best fit. Summer is only sensible when rain is not in the forecast. No pets are allowed on the trail or in the park’s off-trail backcountry areas.

This creek cuts through some of the oldest rocks exposed in the park. Cinnamon-colored Moenkopi beds show layers of sediment left by ancient rivers, deltas and tidal basins; farther down, the canyon exposes older Kaibab limestone and White Rim sandstone. The Goosenecks section gives you a close look at the creek’s tight bends beneath towering walls, with dark desert-varnish streaks on the red rock. Look up now and then: the overlook railing sits about 800 feet above the creek.

The last 0.7 mile follows the creek toward park headquarters and the visitor-center area. Near the lower end, a hiker-made track passes an old lime kiln built by early Fruita residents before dropping back to the creek. It’s a fragile historic structure, so leave it alone and don’t climb on or inside it. The route then exits behind the visitor center. Gifford House, known for pies, is a separate seasonal stop in Fruita rather than a trail amenity.