Southwest Backpacking

Southwest Backpacking info, ideas, and photos

Backpacking in the American Southwest in Grand Canyon National Park
Photo: TJK, through a Creative Commons Attribution License

Backpacking in the Southwest U.S. provides some of the most extraordinary backpacking in the U.S. Backpacking here requires some degree of boldness, as water is scarce, but in the right time of year, many desert canyons become lush oases. Both Zion National Park and the Grand Canyon have great trail systems which help backpackers to access areas of the park far from the crowds. On the Havasupai Reservation, immediately west of the Grand Canyon, backpackers can trek to beautiful Mooney Falls on an overnight backpack adventure.

Other lesser known wilderness areas offer the very best backpacking in the Southwest. The Needles District of Canyonlands National Park has multi-day backpacking options among extraordinary red rock arches and rock formations. Utah is also home to Buckskin Gulch and Paria Canyon, where hikers can hike the longest slot canyon in the world at 13 miles, to its junction with the Paria River and continue on several days to Lake Powell. Grand Gulch Primitive Area in Utah offers multi-day advanced backpack trips among a vast array of Native American ruins.