Many Pools Trail

Many Pools is an informal out-and-back of about 2 miles round trip through the lower East Root Canal wash. Allow roughly 2 hours for sandy flats, slickrock ramps and about 600 feet of climbing. Go for the water-cut hollows and sculpted sandstone; skip it if you want a marked park trail.

The usual start is the Many Pools pullout on Zion-Mount Carmel Highway, about 0.9 mile east of the small tunnel. The way from the pullout into the north-side drainage is not settled: accounts describe an informal dirt entry, crossing the highway, or using a culvert. I couldn't verify a safe, official approach. Confirm access with the park before setting out, and don't cross traffic or park outside designated spaces.

Once in the wash, sandy stretches alternate with sloping slickrock ramps. Pothole basins interrupt the easiest line, and a dryfall may need a short bypass. There is no maintained tread or signed junction. The lower outing turns back where the drainage narrows, about a mile from the road. The steeper, brushier scramble above heads toward Deertrap Mountain and the East Rim; that is a separate, much harder trip. West Root Canal is another drainage, not an alternate way to do this one.

Flowing water has worn shallow hollows in the Navajo Sandstone, which is why hikers call this drainage Many Pools. Local guides also call the east wash East Root Canal; the paired drainages resemble molar roots on a map, behind the nickname “The Root Canals.” Some potholes hold water after runoff, while others dry out; seasonal tadpoles are reported in spring and summer. Look for cross-bedded rock, hoodoos and the broad view back south from the upper wash. When water is present, frame the potholes with the sandstone shelves around them.