The outer most cliff bands are known as the San Rafael Reef, and it contains many jagged fins, towers, and peaks. The scenery is fantastic, and contains towering mesas and mountains, thin rock pinnacles, slot canyons, larger deep canyons, huge rock walls, arches, slickrock, etc. Exploring Utah's Canyons part 4: San Rafael Reef. April 12, 2018 by Catherine Forest in Utah, Canyons, Hiking, Camping spots. It is undeniably the most beautiful slot canyon we have seen when taking in consideration the minimal approach and how easy it is to hike it (no technical challenge at all). Opportunities for hiking a number of extensive slot canyons that cut the San Rafael Reef (e.g., Little Wild Horse and Bell Canyons) and are accessible directly on route. Sightseeing in nearby Goblin Valley State Park and riding the network of newly constructed mountain bike trails within the park.

San Rafael Reef
Highest point
Coordinates	38°55′19″N110°26′17″W / 38.922°N 110.438°WCoordinates: 38°55′19″N110°26′17″W / 38.922°N 110.438°W
Geography
Location of the San Rafael Reef within Utah
Location	Emery County, Utah

Ding and Dang Canyons are slots in the San Rafael Swell, located in central Utah. Information includes directions, photos, and descriptions of the hike. Utah's San Rafael Swell features a vast landscape of winding gorges carved deep by rivers, and you'll find multi-colored sandstone mountains and mysterious slot canyons. Here's a quick guide to some of the best trails to explore the region.

The San Rafael Reef is a geologic feature located in Emery County in central Utah, part of the Colorado Plateau. Approximately 75 miles (120 km) long, it is the name given to the distinctive eastern edge of the San Rafael Swell. Composed primarily of steeply tilted layers of Navajo and WingateSandstone, it has been eroded into tall fins, domes, cliffs, and deep canyons.

The San Rafael River, Interstate 70, and Muddy Creek all cut through the San Rafael Reef. There are also numerous slot canyons that twist their way through the flanks of the San Rafael Reef, among them Crack Canyon, Chute Canyon and Straight Wash. These spectacularly beautiful canyons are often just a few feet wide and can be hundreds of feet deep. Much of the San Rafael Reef has been determined to possess wilderness characteristics and the Crack Canyon and Mexican Mountain Wilderness Study Areas, or WSAs, currently protect several thousand acres of the most worthy areas of the San Rafael Reef, and are awaiting designation as BLMWilderness by the Congress.

Shadows of contrails over San Rafael Reef —
San Rafael Swell, Reef (perimeter), and San Rafael Desert at south & southeast. The Reef is most of the southeast, and east perimeter of the 45-mile-wide (72 km) (west-to-east) San Rafael Swell, which trends southwest-by-northeast.
Approach to the San Rafael Reef's eastern end, from Interstate 70, which crosses through the Reef onto the San Rafael Swell, east-to-west looking.
Interstate 70 cuts through the impressive San Rafael Reef from the east.

References[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to San Rafael Reef.

San Rafael Reef Slot Canyons Golf Course

San Rafael Reef Slot Canyons Map

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