This hike passes through a representative portion of the 100-mile eroded uplift (monocline) called the Waterpocket Fold, most of which lies within Capitol Reef National Park. Hikers not only experience a slickrock canyon wilderness but retrace the very steps of Mormon pioneer companies.
In 1880, Charles Hall operated the Hole-in-the-Rock ferry across the Colorado following its creation by Mormon pioneers. Due to the extreme difficulty of this trail and river crossing, he soon moved to a better site about 35 miles up-river. Probably, Hall also blazed the trail across the Fold to the new crossing.
To reach the crossing, travelers struggled east from Escalante on the Hole-in-the-Rock trail, then turned into Harrie Wash. They then crossed the river and continued east, ascending Silver Falls Canyon.
Upon reaching the crest of the Waterpocket Fold the pioneers dropped into a funnel between two cliffs, descending a thousand feet into the winding depths of Lower Muley Twist Canyon. From 1881 through 1884, this canyon heard the rumble of wheels and braying mules as companies moved through the narrow gorge to a new life in San Juan County (then a Mormon "mission"). Today, little trace remains of the pioneers' passage but you can retrace their journey.
From the trailhead parking at the top of the Burr Trail switchbacks, you descend immediately into Lower Muley Twist. The canyon winds tortouosly through its entire length, enough to "twist a mule" pulling a wagon.
These trail pictures are of the Lower Muley Twist Canyon, starting at the Burr Trail Road, through Hall's Creek Narrows back up and across the fold at the Cutoff Trail and back to the Burr Trail Road.
