Hatch Canyon

Hatch Canyon is a nice and isolated canyon system that drains into the Dirty Devil River. The canyon is seldom visited and there are many places to explore. Sections of the canyon are deep and wide, and other sections are narrow and sinuous. Rock climbers could have a heyday out here but I know of no technical climbs that have been done thus far.

There are several driving routes that can be used to access the Hatch Canyon system. Perhaps the most logical is to come in from Poison Springs Canyon south of Hanksville. From Hanksville, drive south on Highway 95 to very near mile marker 17. Turn left on the Poison Springs Road.

The Poison Springs Road is sometimes rough and sometimes fairly smooth; it depends on how recently it has been bladed. More often than not, it requires HC 4WD. Drive the sometimes rough road 15 miles to the Dirty Devil River. You park here, but if you have a really good HC 4WD, you can get closer to the canyon.

With a good HC 4WD, cross the Dirty Devil River and follow the road on the other side. This rough road will take you around (use a map!) Point 4706 on the topo map. Park just east of the point.

You can also continue along the road and enter the canyon higher up in the system. I haven’t use this route, so use a map and you are on your own.

See the Fiddler Cove page for information on how to access Hatch Canyon via Fiddler Cove Canyon.

There are several possibilities to access the canyon system overland. One option is to follow the Dirty Devil River down canyon to Hatch Canyon. This is an easy hike, but with lots of wading.

Hatch Canyon via Point 4706
From east of Point 4706, you can scramble down into the canyon system and explore from there; this is a steep class 3 route.

Walk or drive to the trailhead from Poison Springs Canyon. From the trailhead look for the largest drainage east of Point 4706. Look for a route into the drainage and follow it down. This involves much route finding, scrambling, climbing over boulders, and there are many alternate routes available. Eventually the drainage spills over a huge cliff, turn right here and notice the exposed ledge used by bighorn sheep. There is a good bighorn trail along the ledge, follow the ledge until you can scramble steeply into Hatch Canyon. The route has a few class 3 moves.

From the bottom of the canyon you can explore up or down canyon. Going up canyon, there are several sections of the canyon with short narrow sections in shallow white rock and several sections with big red towering walls.

Going down canyon there are several interesting towers and high walls. Grandmas Teapot, a huge tower and arch is the highlight of the hike. Going down canyon you will eventually reach the confluence of Fiddler Cove Canyon (well worth exploring in itself). Not far down canyon is the Dirty Devil River.

Two days is recommended to explore Hatch Canyon using this route. Three days is recommended if exploring Hatch and Fiddler Cove Canyons on the same trip. There is water and campsites between when the route first reaches the floor of Hatch Canyon and downcanyon to Grandmas Teapot. In the cool season there is water available. The Dirty Devil River always has water and could be used if the water in Hatch Canyon dries up, but bring lots of drink mix since it tastes pretty nasty.

Another option to access this canyon is from the Red Benches and Fiddler Cove Canyon. This route will take several days, but requires less driving on rough roads. See the Fiddler Cove Canyon page for details.

Two days should enough to explore the entire canyon from the Point 4706 or the Sunset Pass Trailheads, but if you want to explore Fiddler Cove Canyon as well, three days is recommended. Three days is recommended if coming in from any other route and four is recommended to explore both canyons from these longer routes.

None.