Box Canyon -- A Geographical Delight

                                                           The mouth of Maple Canyon.

SANPETE COUNTY boasts a magnificent slot canyon that is still relatively unknown.

Box Canyon, an offshoot of Maple Canyon, southwest of Fountain Green and northwest of Manti, is a geographical delight and has been since it was first characterized as such in the 1930s.

                                              The entrance to Box Canyon is almost hidden.

Where Roger Arave is pointing is where Box Canyon branches off northward from Maple Canyon.

Indeed, an October 2, 1936 report in the Ephraim Enterprise newspaper stated that Snow College students  annually visited Maple Canyon and especially studied Box Canyon.

Snow College Professor H.R. Christensen gave students a geology lecture in Box Canyon, since its narrow width and 200-foot high canyon walls was an oddity for the area.

                               One of the many side scrambles awaiting hikers in Box Canyon.

The students also explored upper Maple Canyon, which contains an arch. Their visit was concluded with a bonfire program and a cookout.

FINDING Box Canyon can be tricky. To best locate it, drive 0.8 of a mile up Maple Canyon after the pavement ends and then park on either side of the "washboardy" road. Walk less than 100 yards up the dirt road and look north for the almost hidden entrance to Box Canyon. Cross a small stream and then you enter the slot canyon.

                                       Like to scramble up boulders? You'll love Box Canyon.

Box Canyon contains conglomerate rock and features a lot of scrambling opportunities over giant boulders. The canyon walls also contain some pitons, evidence than many advanced rock climbers have scaled the walls there.

The canyon is rocky and usually dry. The canyon ends about 600 yards up, where in early spring or wets spells, a sparse waterfall might be flowing down from above. Otherwise, a few wet areas in the upper canyon are all the moisture that is visible, as most of the water runs underground.

Hikers have to decide if they want to scramble up a large boulder in the upper canyon in order to continue until its end.

                                        One of the pitons left by rock climbers in Box Canyon.

Kids age 8 and up will love all the rocks here. Younger children, may need assistance over the rugged terrain.

                           Roger and Taylor Arave are dwarfed by the immense rock walls of Box Canyon.

Is any of the area in Maple or Box Canyons private property? There were 2 makeshift wooden donation boxes near the head of Box Canyon spotted on trees in mid-May of 2021. USGS maps show Bureau of Land Management property solely in the area. Private land here may be possible, but unlikely.

                            A makeshift donation box at the head of Box Canyon.

-To reach Box Canyon, go the Fountain Green, Utah. This small town is east of Nephi's middle I-15 exit. In Fountain Green, turn right on 400 South (west) and then head south down West Side Drive. You will pass through the extremely small towns of Freedom and Jerusalem. After about 6 miles, there  is a prominent sign for a turnoff to Maple Canyon.

The road then curves by several turkey farms before entering Maple Canyon. 

                                              One of the turkey farms near Maple Canyon.