Today may be our last morning with temps in the 80's for a while, so we headed out to Sloan Canyon. This was our first trip back since the new paved road and visitor center have been installed. It definitely makes the trip to the trail head much less of an adventure, but the days of diving up and parking at the entrance of the canyon are over. The new trail head sits up on a hill and adds a decent amount of extra mileage to the hike.
On the positive side, the new visitors center is a great addition. We were greeted in the parking lot by an extremely cheerful and knowledgeable ranger that answered all of our questions. They have also added an portable restroom outside the visitor center and that is always a good addition.
With the changes to the trail configuration, the Sloan Canyon hike now starts out heading downhill on solid footing. Once you get to the y-intersection and head up the wash on trail 100, the footing becomes less solid and is almost sandy. This is still a rather easy hike but the loose ground definitely makes you exert a bit more energy.
Eventually we reached the old parking lot at the beginning of the canyon. From this point forward, the trail remains the same as it has always been. I believe due to BLM conservation /wilderness area rules, no new signage or man-made structures can be added, so this area should remain natural and wild.
We decided not to do the full trail 100 to 200 loop today. Instead we hiked up to the petroglyph gallery, spent some time looking at the immense rock art collection,
hiked a little way up around the corner and then retraced our path back down the wash. Just a heads up to anyone who also only hikes the the gallery then turns around, going down the dry pour-overs is a bit more challenging than climbing up them. We made it down without incident but you should mentally map out your path down as you are heading up the pour-overs.
Today was a great hike, as Sloan Canyon always is. With all the new improvements, I would recommend people head out as soon as possible to this trail. Soon there will be subdivisions completed all around Sloan Canyon and I anticipate BLM will be advertising the new accesibility of this trail. All of that adds up to crowded trails and a loss of solitude. The rock art on this trail is so amazing and really is a treasure that needs to be appreciated by all Valley residents but getting out and hiking Sloan Canyon in the lonely, peaceful morning is something special.
