horseshoe bend from the California river in Utah, part of the Hayduke Trail

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Hayduke Trail

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About the Hayduke Trail

country

United States

length

1288 km(800 mi)

Type of trail

Thru-hike, Long-distance

difficulty

Strenuous

accommodation

Wild camping

Elevation gain

35548 m(116627 ft)

terrain

Desert

remoteness

All the time

The Hayduke Trail is an 800-mile route meandering through Utah and the Grand Canyon in Arizona. The trail is meant to encourage exploration of Utah’s wonders. It does not run in a straight line, but rather connects some of Utah’s most awe-inspiring and remote places, while offering you the opportunity to visit all five of Utah’s National Parks along the way, with a long detour through the Grand Canyon included.

You will pass through or by Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, and can make a short detour into Bryce Canyon National Park and Zion National Park. In addition, you will pass landmarks such as Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument.

Lies Dieben

Lies Dieben discovered her love for long-distance hiking in Scandinavia on the Kungsleden, but has since branched out to other long-distance hikes. After completing the Pacific Crest Trail, she couldn’t stop walking and is now trying her luck on ever more challenging trails (and on writing books about them).

You can follow Lies on Instagram @dielies or at her website: sixmillionsteps.eu

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Always read the disclaimer

The Trail

The Hayduke Trail is extremely challenging, with long stretches of very remote territory without water sources. You will cross deserts, mountains, and rivers along the way, and at times won’t see anyone else for up to a week in a row. You must be fully self-reliant and capable of navigating, scrambling, and route finding. For much of the route, there is no path or trail, requiring you to find your own way across obstacles and through canyons.

group of hikers in remote part of Utah on the Hayduke trail

©Lies Dieben

sun hitting rocks in Utah on the Hayduke Trail

©Lies Dieben

The Hayduke is divided into 14 official stages, with most stages starting near a location (i.e., a dirt road) that could be used to deliver a resupply. It is common practice to leave water and food caches for yourself before starting the trail. Though not absolutely necessary, this will eliminate the need for water carries that could be up to (or over) four days at times. The presence of water is unreliable at best, and what water there is is often polluted, muddy, or salty.

The trail offers a view of some of Utah’s finest sceneries and nighttime skies full of stars, and a sense of unrivalled solitude. The passage through the Grand Canyon section will lead you through some of the hardest hiking around, but also through some of the most magnificent scenery you will ever encounter.

Stages

This trail will take you anywhere from two to three months, depending on the number of alternates you take and how much you want to explore beyond the ‘official’ route. It might be possible to do it quicker, but don’t get hung up on the distances: A single mile could take you hours at times, due to the difficulty of the terrain. On my slowest day, I covered around eight miles in ten hours of hiking (and no, that did not include my breaks).

Alternates:

There are an endless number of alternate routes that can be taken along the Hayduke Trail. Virtually every stage has several other route options, and the creators of the trail highly encourage setting off on your own adventure. The trail is often referred to as a ‘create-your-own-route’ kind of hike. In fact, each Hayduke hiker could probably walk a different route than all the others, should they be so inclined.

Nevertheless, the most popular alternatives usually detour to include a specific must-see, such as:

Stage 1: The Devil’s Garden Loop alternate
Detour of around 5.5 miles to see more of Arches National Park than the official route will let you visit, straight at the start of the trail. Starting the Hayduke at Devil’s Garden Trailhead is recommended, as the official starting point is not marked anyway, and way out in the middle of nowhere.
Stage 1: Moab
This alternate is just a few miles longer than following the official route and will lead you back into Moab after completing Stage 1. This means you can start your hike with a smaller resupply and get back into town after the first three days of hiking, giving you the opportunity to try out gear in the first three days and making last-minute changes when needed after you return to Moab.
Stage 9: Bryce Canyon/Tropic alternate
23.5 miles longer, but will get you to the town of Tropic for a resupply, and lead you through Bryce Canyon National Park. Busy, but for a reason! Visually stunning.
Stage 14: Zion National Park – Lee Pass Finish
The official end to the HDT at Weeping Wall has been closed for several years now, due to rock slides. This would mean finishing your hike somewhere on the outskirts of Zion N.P., and that would be a shame! Take a few days extra to hike through the park, while you’re here. Around 40 miles extra, but well worth it.

There are also several alternate routes that you can take to lead you around sections that are impassable due to snow, bad weather or high water, such as an alternate route through the Henry Mountains, the Dirty Devil River, or the Kaibab Plateau.

Hayduke Trail 14-stage itinerary

Stage 1:

Arches National Park – Hurrah Pass, 64 km | 39.7 mi

Stage 2:

Hurrah Pass – Big Spring Trailhead, 76 km | 47.1 mi

Stage 3:

Big Spring Trailhead – Hite, 109 km | 67.9 mi

Stage 4:

Hite – Poison Springs Canyon, 58 km | 35.8 mi

Stage 5:

Poison Springs Canyon – Burr Trail Switchbacks, 79 km | 48.9 mi

Stage 6:

Burr Trail – Hole-in-the-rock Road, 117 km | 72.5 mi

Stage 7:

Hole-in-the-rock Road – Round Valley Draw, 130 km | 80.8 mi

Stage 8:

Round Valley Draw – Willis Creek, 79 km | 49 mi

Stage 9:

Willis Creek – Arizona Trail Stateline Trailhead, 92 km | 57.3 mi

Stage 10:

Arizona Trail Stateline – Nankoweap Trail, Grand Canyon, 98 km | 60.9 mi

Stage 11:

Nankoweap Trail – Horseshoe Mesa, 76 km | 47.1 mi

Stage 12:

Horseshoe Mesa – North Rim Grand Canyon, 56 km | 34.9 mi

Stage 13:

North Rim – Hack Canyon, 140 km | 87.2 mi

Stage 14:

Hack Canyon – Weeping Wall, Zion N.P., 112 km | 69.9 mi

Photo gallery

two tents pitched in green forest on the Hayduke trail

colorful rock formations in Utah with dark sky incoming

beautiful pink and orange sky above the landscape of Utah

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Accommodations

You will be wild camping the entire way. There are only a few sections where you can exit the trail for a rest day, and getting to towns almost always requires hitchhiking out of remote terrain; sometimes not a single car will pass by for hours. (My longest wait for a hitch was 10 hours from the Arizona Strip to Colorado City, not a single car passed by in that time).

Possible town stops

Stage 1:

Moab (start/end stage 1, the only town you can walk to from the trail)

Stage 2:

Hanksville (18 miles off-route)

Stage 3:

Escalante (30 miles off-route, on a very isolated dirt road)

Stage 4:

Tropic (13 miles off-route)

Stage 5:

Kanab (29 miles off-route)

Stage 6:

Jacob Lake Inn (2 miles off-route – not really a town, only a hotel)

Stage 7:

South Rim Grand Canyon (6 miles off-route)

Stage 8:

North Rim Grand Canyon (1.3 miles off-route)

Stage 9:

Colorado City (5.5 miles off-route)

Stage 10:

Springdale (12.5 miles off-route)

Best time of the year

The best time of the year to hike the Hayduke Trail is either spring or fall. Summer is too hot, and there will be even less water available, while winter will bring snow and bad weather that will make the higher regions, such as the Kaibab Plateau, the North Rim, and the Henry Mountains, impassable.

You will need to carry many liters of water, as water sources are few and far between. There are no water caches except for the 60 miles that the HDT overlaps with the Arizona Trail. You will mostly be scooping water from seasonal springs, streams, cow troughs, or water puddles. Many natural water sources are ‘alkaline,’ meaning they have a high mineral/salt content and can not only taste awful, but also cause stomach upsets. Creeks, pools, and streams can also be fouled by cattle (which you will encounter frequently) or contain algae.

Safety & Gear

Preparation is key for this trail.

Water: You will need a water carrying capacity of at least 8-10 liters, more if you drink much or if the temperatures are high. In addition, bring a water filter and something to pre-filter your water with (a bandana worked well for me). I would not recommend a SteriPen here, as some water sources are very muddy, which will hamper the working of the UV light. Download and use the water report for information on water sources.

SOS: If you will ever bring a personal locator beacon (PLB) or satellite tracker anywhere, this is the trail to do it on. There will be no one to help you should there be an accident. Be prepared to have to wait days for rescue, even after an SOS call. Also, take into account that you will not have any reception, even for satellites, when you are down in a slot canyon, which is a regular occurrence on the HDT.

First Aid: Bring adequate first aid supplies and know how to use them.

Navigation: Physical maps, compass, GPX tracks. Make sure you have more than one way of navigating. I did most of the trail using a GPX track on my phone, but kept physical maps as a backup and made sure I always knew where I was on these maps. Download all necessary information and maps onto your phone before you leave, as you will not have cell phone reception for most of the way.

Rope: Bring a rope (paracord) to lower your pack down rocks or haul it up when needed. There are several sections where you won’t be able to climb up or down with your pack on your back.

Difficulty

This trail is for experienced hikers only!

The Hayduke Trail will lead you straight through very isolated terrain and will frequently have you getting lost or trying to find your way through, over, or under obstacles. There are scrambles up and down scree slopes, chimney climbs that will require you to haul your pack up on ropes, and many slot canyons with a high danger of flash floods. You must carry up to 10 liters of water and 8 days of food at a time to overcome long dry stretches and remote terrain with no resupply options. Rivers might be too dangerous to cross at certain times of year, which could require lengthy detours or backtracking. There are very few other people around these parts, and temperatures can easily soar to above 40 degrees Celsius, even in spring or fall. An accident or mishap here could soon prove to be fatal. Hiking this trail is not possible during winter or summer due to snow and heat.

You also must be proficient in navigating and able to anticipate dangerous situations.

Good to know

Permits are needed for backcountry camping in the National Parks. Plan ahead or make sure to apply for these permits well in advance. The hardest permits to get (and also the only ones you can’t avoid by camping just outside of park boundaries or doing big miles in one day) are the permits for the Grand Canyon. You will be in there for around 10 days, and the permits are strictly regulated. Make an approximate plan; you can always change the dates later on. You will need to arrange this about 5 months in advance of your hike. Email the Grand Canyon backcountry office with your itinerary to apply for a permit, as the Hayduke route is so unusual and hard that it is not offered as a standard option on the registration site. The rangers will want to know what hiking experience you have and which safety gear you will bring, so they won’t have to come haul you out later when things go wrong.

There is relatively little information available about the Hayduke. The guidebook is old (2008), outdated, and lacks some essential information. Andrew Skurka’s Trail Bundle, which was put together in 2016, is also getting older, but the printable maps and the water report he provides are extremely useful.

Make sure you download the water report to your phone before departure so you can check it offline at any time. It is the only indication you will have about where water can potentially be found. Do not count on the water always being there, though! The information is infrequently updated and relies on hikers to update it. In 2025, the lowest water year on record, I found several ‘reliable’ water sources had vanished or were dry.

Plan in advance to leave water (and food) caches along the route. This will make your hike much easier, but it does mean you will need to rent a car both before and after your hike to leave the caches and (!) pick them up again afterwards. Do NOT forget to clean up after yourself, and label your caches with your name, phone number, and expected pick-up and removal date. If you plan to leave caches in National Parks, you must apply for permission from the Park Service beforehand and give them the exact cache location (GPS coordinates).

Route

point-to-point

highest point

3.480m (11.419 ft)

Useful links

Official trail page Trail

Local weather website Weather.gov

Hayduke Trail group Facebook

Website with great information on alternatives Across Utah

Guidebooks

Hayduke Trail

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