False Kiva

Not all hikes are listed on a map or have a designated trail to follow. Some, like the False Kiva hike in Canyonlands National Park require a little research and root finding to navigate. The hike, which starts on the side of the main road in the Island in The Sky District of the park follows a route along the cliff edge down to a naturally formed cave with a stone circle of unknown origin believed to potentially be a Native America Kiva. The site, listed as a Class II archeological site, does not appear on any park maps and no designated trail leads to it. I was made popular from a photo by the photographer, Wally Pacholka.

The hike in.

I had wanted to visit the site on my last trip to Canyonlands but due to time constraints and an inability to find accurate information on its location, I wasn’t able to. This time however, I did find directions on how to get to the trail-head and where to follow it down to the site. So on the afternoon of our last day in Utah we headed into the park and parked the car at the location listed in the directions and started off for False Kiva.

Pondering.

The trail itself was worn in most sections and despite a few instances of back tracking we were able to make it down to the cave without too much of a problem. The Kiva was hidden until the very last moment, which made the discovery even more dramatic. After a few pictures we ate dinner and watched the storm clouds roll over the valley below before heading back to the car the way we came. Some of the best hikes I have done have been off the beaten path, and I try to find at least one hike per trip that requires some research in order to locate it.

Storms.

In other news, I just returned from 10 days in Iceland and it was absolutely amazing. I’m in the process of editing the photos and writing up some blog posts, so stay tuned!

Mileage: 3 Miles

False Kiva.

Checking out the scene.

Valley below.

Kendrick descending.

Lookout.

Cacti.