• Tent Rocks Slot Canyon Hikes
• Tent Rocks Slot Canyon Hike Grand Canyon
• Tent Rocks Slot Canyon Hike South Rim

Slot Canyon Trail

Tent Rocks Slot Canyon After climbing to the base of the cliff face you come to the trailhead to the Slot Canyon Trail. Slot canyons are so named because they are incredibly narrow compared to most canyons. If you have the Grand Canyon or Copper Canyon in Mexico at one end of the canyon spectrum you have slot canyons at the other.

Tent Rocks Slot Canyon Hikes

1. There are a couple route options: the Cave Loop (1.2 mi, easy) and the Canyon Trail (3.0 mi, moderate). I ended up doing both, starting with the loop, a nice jaunt with great vistas of the tent rocks. The Canyon Trail is really fantastic, with close up views of the rock formations and a trek through the narrow slot canyon.
2. Tent Rocks Hike Description Slot Canyon. The first half of the trail is winds through a shady slot canyon. The slot has beautiful examples of rock strata, hoodoos, the effects of wind and water. It is so narrow you can touch the walls on either side. Moreover, you might have to walk sideways. You can feel the cold and damp walls, their smooth surfaces.
3. The second and one of the best hikes in New Mexico is Slot Canyon Trail. It is called Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks Hike. There is only one trailhead to Slot Canyon Trail and Cave Loop Trail. So, go straight to the Slot Canyon.

Tent Rocks Slot Canyon Hike Grand Canyon

The 1.5 mile (one-way) Slot Canyon Trail is rather more interesting, one of the best short trails in the state. This branches off the Cave route and joins a stony wash that soon narrows to a proper slot canyon through the tuff. The ravine has curvy walls just a few feet apart but many feet deep, long, shady passageways through generally smooth rocks containing embedded pebbles, and just a few obstructions caused by dryfalls and chokestones; the maximum height is about three feet. The pretty slot opens out quite suddenly after a quarter of a mile, to a still narrow gorge that contains a few tall trees growing in the streambed, after which the canyon ascends more steeply, through another brief narrow part then climbs even more sharply to the top of the plateau, where it splits into several paths that lead to viewpoints looking out over the Tent Rock formations, down Peralta Canyon and across to the far away Sangre de Cristo and Jemez Mountains. The total elevation gain is 640 feet. The plateau is more sparsely vegetated than the valley floor, bearing grasses, wildflowers and manzanita bushes. The most spectacular rocks are all around the last part of the trail, where they rise up to 90 feet, pure white, smoothly tapering and altogether very impressive. The path is popular, and despite the above average difficulty, most people manage to get to the end.

Tent Rocks Slot Canyon Hike South Rim