A Hoodoo for You

If you’ve spent any time wandering around Southern Utah, then you are probably familiar with hoodoos. They are some of the strangest geological formations in the deserts of the American West. Shaped by eons of erosion, hoodoos are strange, little towers of sandstone that rise up from the surrounding desert. A lot of people are aware of the really famous hoodoos in Southern Utah, those in Bryce Canyon National Park or Goblin Valley State Park. But there are other, less famous, and stranger hoodoos out there, like the hoodoos of Wahweap Creek.

There are lots of strange sites the American West. Photo by John Fowler via unsplash.com

Ghostly Towers

Nicknamed the “white ghosts,” the Wahweap Hoodoos are far weirder than the more familiar hoodoos of Bryce Canyon. The vertical pinnacles of the Wahweap Hoodoos are composed of white sandstone – instead of the usual red sandstone – and atop each pinnacle sits a dark purple sandstone block. The area was once part of a large, fresh water lake, and what we see today are the different layers of the lake bedrock eroding at different rates, creating these unusual rock formations. The sight is strange, otherworldly, and a bit eerie. So it’s perfect to talk about at Halloween time! The Wahweap Hoodoos are scattered along the cliffs of Wahweap Creek for about a half-mile stretch, clumping together in certain more concentrated spots.

Happy Halloween! Photo by John Fowler via unsplash.com

How to Visit

The Wahweap Hoodoos are part of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. They are located about five-miles north of the town of Big Water, Utah, on the west side of Wahweap Creek. Vehicle traffic is no longer allowed in the area, so if you want to see these hoodoos, you’ll need to hike.

The trail is easy, with some sandy terrain, and minimal elevation change. Round trip, the hike is almost ten-miles and will require about five-hours to complete. (There are a few narrow side canyons as you hike up Wahweap Creek, but they aren’t really very exciting, so we don’t recommend you take the time to explore them.) You can refer to this hiking map made yourhikingguide.com if you need help finding the Wahweap Hoodoos.

Southern Utah has many strange and fascinating sights. But the Wahweap Hoodoos are, to us anyway, some of the weirdest formations in the American West. For more detailed information about reaching these strange sites, check out the very excellent guide from yourhikingguide.com. And happy Halloween!