Canyoneering Route Description
The Old Airstrip Route into Halls Creek
The Kingdom portion of
Halls Creek area, Utah.
Time Required to travel sown Halls Creek to the junction
with Millers Creek - About 6 hours
Distance - 9.2 miles down to the junction of
Halls Creek and Millers Creek (ONE WAY). 18.4 miles
round-trip.
Rappels - Non - technical hiking / approach
route.
Elevation Range - 5030 - 3840 Feet
Vehicle - High Clearance recommended
Permit Required - No
No special gear needed since this is a non technical hiking route
also used as an approach for some technical canyons.
The old airstrip route down into Halls Creek is a route
that has been used for years as an alternate way to get down into Halls Creek.
This route has been the standard overland route used to access The Kingdom area
of Halls Creek. The name of "The Kingdom" was coined for the area that has
canyoneering routes named after animals as in animal kingdom. Smiling
Cricket (aka Poe Canyon), Happy Dog and Baboon Laughs are some of the technical
canyoneering routes in The Kingdom.
There is a shortcut route into The Kingdom that is
shorter, has less elevation change and does not need a high clearance
vehicle. The shortcut route is the preferred route and is described in
the route description pages for the canyons in The Kingdom. However
some people may want the information for this long time standard route,
which is why I created this separate page for the route.
The old airstrip route described here goes from the old
airstrip down to the junction of Millers Creek where it dumps into Halls
Creek. If you are using this route to access canyons in The Kingdom,
you will also need to refer to the route description for the desired canyon
to get the directions from the junction of Millers and Halls Creek.
The Old Airstrip Route to the junction of Millers and
Halls Creek:
Is 9.2 miles long, has an elevation range of 5030 - 3840 and may need a high
clearance vehicle.
The Shortcut Route to the junction of Millers and Halls
Creek:
Is 5.9 miles long, has an elevation range of 4400 - 3840 feet and requires
only a passenger vehicle.
To get to the Trailhead
The junction of highways 95 and 276 is about 26 miles south on
highway 95 from Hanksville Utah.
From the junction of highways 95 and 276, drive south on highway
276 for 35 miles to the turn off on the right (west) for the
south end of the Burr Trail (extBurrTairlS). Turn right
(west) to drive down the Burr Trail which is paved here.
About 2.25 miles from Highway 276 the Burr Trail is still paved
but crosses a major drainage (wBurrTrailDP01) and may be washed
out or flooded at times.
About 2.8 miles farther the Burr Trail crosses over Bullfrog
Creek (wBurrTrailDP02) and may be washed out or flooded at
times.
About 1.25 miles farther the Burr Trail goes up a couple switch
backs to climb up onto the mesa.
After the switch backs and getting up onto the mesa,
continue on the paved Burr Trail for 5.6 miles to a turn off
(extHallsCrk01) onto a dirt road on the left (west).
Note:
This dirt road is a loop road that leaves the Burr Trail here
then reconnects with the Burr Trail about 6 miles north of here.
Along this loop road is where you can access routes down into
the Halls Creek Area from the standard trailhead or via the
airstrip. This route description will cover the route in
from the airstrip.
The Halls Creek Loop road you should be aware there are multiple
dirt side roads and very little if any signage. This can
make it easy to get confused. A GPS can be helpful but a
watchful eye on the map and some descent navigation skills will
get you there.
After turning left (west) onto the Halls Creek Loop Road
(extHallsCrk01) drive 3.4 miles to a side road (extLwHalsVwPt)
on the left (south). This side road leads out to a view
point where you can look over the lower portion of Halls Creek
but is NOT the road you want to take. Pass this turn off
and continue west.
About 0.9 miles farther and a couple turns will be turn off (extHallAirStrp
) onto a faint, not so well used side road on the left (west)
side of the road. This side road leads out toward an old
airstrip and IS the side road you want to take.
Note:
There is another side road about 450 feet north of the airstrip
exit and it may be easy to confuse the two. The side road
farther north (the one you do not want) travels west. The
side road out to the airstrip (the one you DO want) travels
southwest then within a few hundred feet turns to go south.
The final side road used to go out to the airstrip area is not
very well used and high clearance is recommended although I have
had a Toyota Yaris out to the TH with some careful driving.
Drive on the road out toward the airstrip for about 0.9 miles to
where the road goes into a wide open area (tHalls-AS-Rte) where
multiple cars can park. The parking area is only a couple hundred feet from
the top of the cliff band. Park here.
To leave the Exit Vehicle / Escape Pod
No exit vehicle is needed. You will eventually hike back to
this point after your visit to Halls Creek.
GPS coordinate information listed at the bottom. For information about waypoint naming and map symbols, refer to the
Glossary page.
Click the links for maps of the route.
Map of the entire Old Airstrip Route.
Map comparing the Old Airstrip Route and Shortcut Route.
The Approach
to The Kingdom Via
the Airstrip:
From where you parked (tHalls-AS-Rte)
walk about 275 feet
southwest over to the
top (wHalls-AS-RP01) of
a wide ravine like area
leading west down into
Halls Creek. Route
find your way west down
the rocky slope.
About 550 feet farther
you will be on the next
lower shelf and at the
top (wHalls-AS-RP02) of
the next downward drop
in the wide ravine like
area. Begin
scrambling down the
slope as it begins to
get steeper and more
like scrambling in and
around sandstone
boulders.
About 150 feet farther
is a major drop
(wHalls-AS-RP03) in the
water course which needs
to be bypassed.
Bypass the drop on the
LDC side and begin
traversing down the left
(south) side of the wide
ravine like area.
About 0.3 miles farther
you will be out of the
ravine like area and out
onto the wide open
spaces of Halls Creek on
a trail (wHalls-AS-RP04)
that is about 500 feet
before you get down to
the actual watercourse.
Turn left and head south
down Halls Creek.
Note:
Continuing south down
Halls Creek a pretty
well used trail that
allows easy travel
mostly out of the actual
water course most of the
time but does crossing
the water course in
places. In some
places there are
multiple paths but they
all end up going the
same place. It
would be impractical to
give fine detail on the
hike down Halls Creek,
so be prepared to track
your progress on a map
or GPS and use some
navigation skills.
About 3 miles south down
Halls Creek after
getting to the bottom of
the airstrip access
ravine the trail goes up
out of the wash (jHalsNrwBypsN)
on the LDC (east) side.
This is the north end of
a 2.5 miles bypass trail
to go up and bypass the
Halls Creek Narrows.
The Halls Creek Narrows
are a scenic destination
for hikers but can add
significant time to a
through hike. The
bypass trail bypasses
the Halls Creek Narrows
saving significant time.
About 1.2 miles up the
bypass trail is the top
out on the Halls Divide
where you may find a
USGS survey marker just
off to the east side of
the trail (wHalsDividUSGS).
Between the top out of
the bypass trail at the
Halls Divide and the
south end of the bypass
trail is section where
the trail navigates the
top of a short cliffy
section as it skirts
around the head of a
side drainage.
About 1.2 miles south of
the top out at Halls
Divide the trail drops
back down into Halls
Creek (jHalsNrwBypsS)
just below the Halls
Creek Narrows.
Note:
Water is flowing out of
the bottom the Halls
Creek Narrows and
continuing down Halls
Creek.
About 3.1 miles south
down from the Halls
Creek Narrows the trail
crosses over Millers
Creek (wHalsCrsMilers).
This route description
stops here.
Welcome to Millers Creek
and Halls Creek
confluence. The
Kingdom area canyons are
just south of here.
Enjoy a canyon, more
wondering around in
Halls Creek or turn
around and head back to
the cars.
Downloadable GPX files
available at
BG-Gear Store
(easier than manual entry and a great way to support
Bluugnome).
Waypoint naming convention and map symbol information can be found on the Glossary page.
Elevations are approximate.
BEFORE
manually entering coordinates set your system to WGS84 datum and Lat/Lon hddd.ddddd° coordinate format.
Inconsistent datum's and coordinate formats will result in location errors.
Click to show / expand the list of waypoints below........
| Old Airstrip Route - The drive in. |
- extBurrTairlS
Lat/Lon (WGS84): N 37.57554
W -110.71199
Elev: 3,990 Feet
Exit off of Highway 276 to start onto the south end of the Burr Trail. The Burr Trail is paved here and leaves the highway going west.
- wBurrTrailDP01
Lat/Lon (WGS84): N 37.57949
W -110.74897
Elev: NaN Feet
Burr Trail is paved here but crosses over a draiange and may be washed out or flooded at times.
- wBurrTrailDP02
Lat/Lon (WGS84): N 37.59983
W -110.78411
Elev: NaN Feet
Burr Trail is paved here but crosses over Bullfrog Creek and may be washed out or flooded at times.
- pkKingdomSrtCt
Lat/Lon (WGS84): N 37.61615
W -110.79873
Elev: 4,150 Feet
A large dirt turn-out on the west side of the road. This is where you park if using the shortcut route into "The Kingdom". The Kingdom is the area with the animal named canyons (Smiling Cricket, Babbon Laughs and Happy Dog). To start on the route walk slightly north of due west from the parking area and cross over a small drianage about 450 feet away.
- extHallsCrk01
Lat/Lon (WGS84): N 37.67946
W -110.85078
Elev: 5,081 Feet
Exit from the Burr Trail to a side road that leads over to the Halls Creek area then reconnects with the Burr Trail about 6 miles north.
- extLwHalsVwPt
Lat/Lon (WGS84): N 37.68645
W -110.90230
Elev: NaN Feet
Exit to a side road leading toward a view point where you can look down at Lower Halls Creek.
- extHallAirStrp
Lat/Lon (WGS84): N 37.68806
W -110.91191
Elev: NaN Feet
Turn onto the side road here goiong west / southwest toward an old airstrip to get to the start of the route down into Halls Creek using the Airstrip route.
Of note there is another side road about 450 north of this point and the two may be easily confused. This airstrip road goes southwest for a few hundred feet then turns to go south. The road farther north travels west.
- tHalls-AS-Rte
Lat/Lon (WGS84): N 37.67812
W -110.91473
Elev: 5,030 Feet
This is the start of the Airstrip route down into Halls Creek. To Start the route walk about 200 feet over toward a ravine like area dropping down to Halls Creek.
|
| Old Airstrip Route - The Hike down to Millers and Halls Creek Conf. |
- tHalls-AS-Rte
Lat/Lon (WGS84): N 37.67812
W -110.91473
Elev: 5,030 Feet
This is the start of the Airstrip route down into Halls Creek. To Start the route walk about 200 feet over toward a ravine like area dropping down to Halls Creek.
- wHalls-AS-RP01
Lat/Lon (WGS84): N 37.67744
W -110.91517
Elev: 5,010 Feet
Top of a wide ravine like area leading down into Halls Creek.
- wHalls-AS-RP02
Lat/Lon (WGS84): N 37.67659
W -110.91675
Elev: NaN Feet
This is the start of the second dropping section in the wide ravine like area. Route find your way down about 150 feet to a major drop in the water course which can be bypassed on the left (south).
- wHalls-AS-RP03
Lat/Lon (WGS84): N 37.67653
W -110.91727
Elev: 4,703 Feet
Very definite drop in the water course that needs to be bypassed. Traverse left (south) and route find your way down to the bottom of the ravine like area.
- wHalls-AS-RP04
Lat/Lon (WGS84): N 37.67386
W -110.92055
Elev: 4,271 Feet
On a trail about 500 feet east of the actual water course.
- jHalsNrwBypsN
Lat/Lon (WGS84): N 37.63926
W -110.89669
Elev: 4,170 Feet
This is the North end of a 2.4 mile bypass trail to go up and around the Halls Creek Narrows. The trail leaves the wash here and goes up on the LDC (east) side to bypass the Halls Creek Narrows. The bypass trail saves a lot of time if you want to get up or down halls Creek quickly.
- wHalsDividUSGS
Lat/Lon (WGS84): N 37.62757
W -110.88145
Elev: 4,200 Feet
USGS Survey Marker near the top out of the Halls Divide.
- jHalsNrwBypsS
Lat/Lon (WGS84): N 37.61517
W -110.87116
Elev: 3,935 Feet
This is the South end of a 2.4 mile bypass trail to go up and around the Halls Creek Narrows. The trail leaves the wash here and goes up on the LDC (east) side to bypass the Halls Creek Narrows. The bypass trail saves a lot of time if you want to get up or down halls Creek quickly. Of note there is year round water flowing out of the bottom (south) end of the Halls Creek Narrows.
- wHalsCrsMilers
Lat/Lon (WGS84): N 37.57711
W -110.86952
Elev: 3,840 Feet
The trail down Halls Creek crosses over Millers Creek here.
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