Woodenshoe Trail

The Woodenshoe Trail #165 is 14.8 miles long.  It begins at Forest Road #340 (Woodenshoe Point) and ends at Forest Trail #006 (Dark Canyon West).  This trail descends into a shady forest of ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, aspen, and Gambel oak.  In 4.75 miles Cherry Canyon enters Woodenshoe Canyon from the east.  Here beautiful slickrock cliffs rise 1,200 feet to the canyon rim.  At 9.6 miles the trail enters and then follows a narrow limestone ledge above Woodenshoe Canyon.  At about 12.8 miles, the trail returns to the canyon bottom where a perennial spring is located as well as good campsites.  Continue another 1.2 miles down canyon to the Dark Canyon West Trail (#006).  Continuing on Dark Canyon West (#006) to the west leads onto BLM land and the Sundance Trail which can be traveled to its end point (14 miles) at its trailhead off of Co Rd. 209A or to Lake Powell.  This trail travels through Dark Canyon Wilderness, designated in 1984. The Wilderness was designated for its deep canyon graced with unique steep sandstone cliffs and a vast archeological record.  Please leave what you find for future users to enjoy as well as for further research by archeologists.  It is against the law to remove or disturb archeological resources.  This trail is in designated wilderness.  This trail is very steep and narrow with some rocky drop-offs and unstable surfaces.  Be sure that you are comfortable in this type of terrain.  This trail is often combined with other trails in Dark Canyon Wilderness for in-and-out and/or loop backpacking trips.  One of the more popular multiple night loops is to combine this trail with Forest Trail #006 (West Dark Canyon). Trails it may be combined with include: #006 (East and West Dark Canyon Trail), #007 (Trail Canyon), #023 (Brushy Knoll), #025 (Horse Pasture), #026 (Kigalia Canyon), #157 (Peavine Canyon) and #161 (Rig Canyon).

Elevation Change:

South End (Road #340):  8,057 feet

North End (Trail #006):    5,803 feet

Click here for graph of Elevation Change

At a Glance