Little Grand Canyon Adventure Run – 54 miles

The San Rafael Swell is a spectacular area of Utah that is generally overlooked by all except off-road vehicle enthusiasts.   The Swell is a large geologic feature located in south-central Utah about 75 miles by 40 miles.  It consists of a giant dome-shaped fold or swell of sandstone, shale, and limestone that was pushed up millions of years ago.  Numerous valleys, gorges, mesas and buttes have formed included what is referred to as the Little Grand Canyon which has been cut by the San Rafael River.  The area is managed by the BLM and certain portions are protected as Wilderness Study Areas.  The federal government has considered designating the area as a National Monument but no action is moving forward because of local concern about the impact on backcountry travel. Regardless, the area is spectacular enough to rival other national monuments and parks.

The area in the northwest section of San Rafael Swell is nicknamed “Little Grand Canyon.”  It resembles the Grand Canyon on a much smaller scale giving an easier opportunity to experience this wonder either inside its depths or on top of the rim.  The area on the rim is called “The Wedge.”  The canyon follows the river for 18 miles from Fuller Bottom to the San Rafael Bridge.

I had never visited the Little Grand Canyon area before.  At least two races are held in the “Swell,” a marathon on dirt roads called Little Grand Canyon Marathon and the Goblin Valley 50K on the southeast end.  (The marathon doesn’t really go through the Little Grand Canyon.) For some time I had my eye on a single-track trail on the rim that was restricted to foot traffic and mountain bikes.

The region is only about 3-4 hours from the Salt Lake area.   I traveled there Friday afternoon.  As I drove the smooth dirt road east of Castle Dale, it looked so desolate and ugly, almost void of vegetation.  But I knew I shouldn’t be fooled, there would be spectacular views ahead.

I set up my camp for the night down on the San Rafael River.  This area, the east end of the Little Grand Canyon, is pretty wide open with some great views of buttes.

I was eager to get an evening run in.  I ran over the old San Rafael Swinging Bridge that was built in the 1930s.  It is now the only remaining suspension bridge in Utah.

Next I ran up the well-traveled road through Buckhorn Wash.  This is the road that the Little Grand Canyon Marathon runs down.  I ran by many ATV enthusiasts setting up their camps for the night in various locations in the canyons.

I arrived at the Indian pictographs, art paintings believed to be up about 1000 years old.  In 1996 the State of Utah did restoration on the panels which had suffered from years of vandalism.

I ran back down to my camp.  10 miles on hard dirt roads was enough for me today.  I now wanted to see if I could run up the San Rafael River into the Little Grand Canyon.   I had not researched if there was a trail that could be run without river crossings, but indeed I found one.  The trailhead was about a mile upriver from my camp near a horse corral.  There were many groups with horses setting up camp for the night.

It was already 7 p.m., so I didn’t have much time before sunset.  I wanted to see how far up the canyon I could run before dusk.  I could see that the trail was used almost exclusively by horses.  It was pretty rutty but the further I went, the better the trail became.

The rim towered above me and at time looked amazingly rugged.

I was thrilled that I found this trail.  It was fantastic running.  It rolled and winded along the river deeper into the canyon. Looking up to the rim high above, after about four miles, I could tell that I was below the area that I would be running on the next day.

I reached Cane Wash and noticed that all the horse tracks turned off the trail and went up the wash.  The trail in the canyon continued and looked like it only received foot traffic.  I continued for awhile more but finally had to turn back.  I was just about out of water and dark was approaching.

This trail is located in a protected area, a Wilderness Study area.  No bikes or motorized vehicles allowed.  I wondered how much further through the canyon it went.  It turns out that it continues for another 13 miles to Fuller Bottom.  However, it eventually requires many river crossings.  Right now, in spring, the river was at its peak and for a few weeks can be floated.  That also explains the many campers I had seen near the trailhead.  The river was flowing at 236 cubic feet per second, ideal for canoeing.  There were a few bugs at this time of year, but they really weren’t a bother.  I think an out-and back run in the fall when the river is lower would be great fun, 36 miles.

I pushed my pace faster on the way back.  I didn’t bring a light, but that wasn’t really a worry because I could see the moon already high in the sky.

Large fires were burning at the horse camps near the trailhead.  It became dark for the final mile of my run back to the camp.  I could see my shadow in the bright moonlight.  Back at camp, I washed up and cooked a big dinner, and went to bed.

I was up before 4 a.m., looking forward to a long run up on the rim.  I drove to my starting point near Group Camp #1 where the Good Water Rim trail starts on the east side.

I began my run at dawn and immediately fell in love with the trail.  It was a soft, smooth single-track trail worn by mountain bikes. This amazing serpentine trail in mostly level and follows the contour of the rim above the Good Water drainage, a side canyon.

I could see in the distance some campers just a mile away as the crow flies that were camped at the head of the canyon.  I marveled to think that I would need to run seven miles to reach that location. The trail constantly weaved, presenting a fun challenging trail running experience.  There were rocks in the trail but most of them were very broad, flat rocks that were easy to run on.

What is really cool about this trail is that I could look across a gorge that I was running on and see the trail ahead, just 100 yards away, yet it would take me another mile to reach that location.  I could envision many runners on the trail racing.  It would be very cool to constantly see runners ahead and far behind you only yards away.

I ran past several group camping areas.  One contained a very large group on a father-son’s campout.  They were starting to get up and gave me curious looks as I ran closely nearby on the trail.

I started to seriously ponder how I could put together a 50K on this trail and out along the rim of the Little Grand Canyon.  I spent a lot of time thinking about this as I ran.  The major issue would be finding a start/finish location that could handle 50+ cars and would be accepted by the BLM.  I spent the rest of my run searching for that location and also identifying portions of the trail that would need markings.  If I do get ambitious and find some help, the Little Grand Canyon Rim 50K could become a reality.

I reached the head of the Good Water drainage where the trail runs only a few yards away the main dirt road.  There, I had stashed some stuff, so I stopped to rest and refill.

On my way again, this time on the west side of the Good Water, the gorges were even more spectacular on this side and I could tell it receives more bike traffic.  I came across two bikers who looked surprised to see a runner on the trail.   As I got nearer to the Little Grand Canyon, the cliff drop-offs became deeper and deeper.   I never had fears of tripping and falling off a cliff.  While the trail does follow very closely along the rim, it usually was at least ten feet from the edge.

After 15 miles, I finally reached the end of the Good Water Rim single-track and ran on dirt roads along the spectacular views down into the canyon.

At the Little Grand Canyon viewpoint I stopped to refill at another stash location.  On my way again, now wanted to run along the rim as far west as the dirt road would take me.

I would stop several times to peak over the rim revealing spectacular morning views.  I looked down and could see where I had run through the canyon yesterday evening.

Along the rim road were many people who had set up camps near the rim.  I could see many chairs out on the rim where people had enjoyed the sunset last night.

I continued on and finally reached the far west end where the road ended at a remote view point.  I could see a storm coming in but I wasn’t concerned because it was warm, in the low 60s.

This run along the rim gave me great ideas about a spectacular race course.  Since we can’t hold an ultra at the real Grand Canyon, how cool would it be to hold one above the Little Grand Canyon?  One problem, runners would be delayed along the way because they would often want to peak over the rim and take pictures.

On the way back, the wind really picked up as the storm neared.  I had to hold onto my hat as I again ran on the Good Water Rim trail.   But the rain stayed away, just a few sprinkles.   I came across five bikers on the trail, not a lot of bike traffic to worry about.  But I realized with my green shirt on, each time they were surprised.  Next time I’ll wear a bright color.

After about eight more miles on the trail, I was ready to quit, not really wanting to do the remaining six winding miles to my car.  The solution was easy, I just went a quarter mile cross-country to the dirt road that took me two miles straight to my car.   I did a little more exploring along the rim to the east and then drove back to pick up my two stashes.

At the Little Grand Canyon overlook, I took more pictures and a video of the panorama.  As I looked down, I could see a couple blue tents.  Looking closer I could see several kayaks playing in the river near that camp.  It looked like great fun.

It had been an amazing 54-mile adventure run, including 31 miles of sweet single-track.  I returned home, being away for only 30 hours.