Hog and Box Canyon Trails

The Trails
This post is actually about two very short and easy out-and-back trails right next to each other in the Dinosaur National Monument. The Hog Canyon Trail is roughly .8 mile long one way while the Box Canyon Trail is about .3 mile one way.

Both trails end where the rocks get steep, but it is possible for more adventurous hikers to continue climbing up the canyons where the trail ends. This is particularly true of Hog Canyon, which continues north much further. We did climb up both canyons a short way from where the trail ended, and this is reflected some in the maps and graphs below. The main trails are actually very flat if you decide not to climb up past where they end. Exploring off trail is permissible in Dinosaur National Park, so long as leave no trace practices are used.

Please note that the trail information as displayed in the maps and graphs below are only rough approximations due to the fact that our GPS did not function well in these deep canyons.

Topographical Map (blue = Hog Canyon; red = Box Canyon)

Graph of Elevation for Hog Canyon

Graph of Elevation for Box Canyon

Trails in Google Earth (red = Hog Canyon; yellow = Box Canyon)

The Hog Canyon Trail starts out just west of Josie Basset Morris's cabin, which was a nice home by homesteading standards. This area is the site of her homestead, and she used hog canyon as a natural corral in which to keep her pigs by building a fence at its opening to keep them in.

Josie Morris's cabin

The trail passes Josie's old chicken coop and a small pond she built to retain water.

There are some nice shady spots along the trail. Eventually the trail up the canyon disappears. You can keep climbing up the rocks if you want to continue, or you can turn around and head back. Beware of poison ivy in this area.

Looking down the canyon after climbing some rocks

Looking north up the canyon after climbing up some of the rocks

The Box Canyon Trail starts on the north side of the parking lot, across from the Hog Canyon Trail. This trail goes up into a short canyon that ends abruptly with wall. The trail does not go all the way up to this rock wall, but it is possible to scramble up the rocks to it if you want.

Box Canyon

Looking down Box Canyon from a rock up past where the trail ends

Dogs are not permitted on these trails. There is an outhouse available at the trailhead.

Directions
This trail is located in Uintah County in Dinosaur National Monument near Vernal, Utah. To get there from Vernal, take US-40 east to UT-149. There is a visitor's center at the corner of this intersection. Turn left onto UT-149 and continue to Dinosaur National Monument. There is a a $10 entrance fee/passenger vehicle. Once in the park, continue along the main road (Cub Creek Rd.) until it end and splits up two unpaved roads. Take the left/north fork up the Josie Ranch Rd. until you reach the parking lot. Both trails start from there.