It had been close to twenty years since we last hiked the Hurricane Canal. When Dan suggested that we put together a hike for New Year's Day, it seemed like a good time to revisit this amazing engineering feat that brought water to the Hurricane Valley. New Year's didn't work out (weather), but Saturday was pretty close to perfect. The hike provided a fun way to get acquainted with some new friends and show them a piece of history that is unique to southern Utah.
The canal was started in 1893 and was built primarily using picks, shovels, and wheelbarrows. It took nearly nine more years to complete the project. It was used to provide water to the Hurricane Valley until 1985 when it was replaced by a pipeline that fed water from the Virgin River to Quail Creek Reservoir. Click
here for an interesting article that shares more details on the Hurricane Canal.
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A beautiful day for a hike . . . beginning at the Virgin Dam Trailhead
11 hikers and 2 dogs |
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Soon we worked our way down off the rim
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| Fifteen minutes later we approached the Virgin River |
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| Dan found this cool walking stick . . . Alexa carried it for the next 7 miles! |
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This section of the river was calm and beautiful . . .
Looks like a nice place to be on a hot summer day! |
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Walking beside the canal
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| Alexa and Joe standing on a headgate |
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| Pretty moss growing on the north facing cliffs |
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| A relic of some sort |
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Rick is "walking the plank"
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Looking back at the planks we all just walked over . . .
Was this a smart thing to do?? |
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These dams diverted water for the La Verkin Canal . . .
which was smaller, shorter and located on the opposite side of the river |
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Ah . . . our first tunnel . . . who's up for an adventure!
Most made it through, but a few smart ones detoured around the outside |
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| At times it was rough going |
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| Hup, two, three, four . . . trudging along |
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| Chipper seems to be enjoying the hike |
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Passing by another of the many headgates . . .
These were used to divert water back to the river so repairs could be made on the canal |
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Kobe is ready for a drink!
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| At Chinatown Wash we left the Canal to get around this section of dilapidated pipe |
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| Chinatown flume |
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| Remnants of a magazine where dynamite was stored at Chinatown |
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Back on the Canal . . .
Kobe says, "Follow me, Gary, we got this!" |
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Decision time??
Do we attempt this tunnel . . . we can't see light on the other end |
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We decided to bypass the tunnel by skirting around the outside . . .
This section was pretty sketchy . . . just ask Susan! |
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Little did we know the tunnel would have been the better route . . .
right Darrell and Mike? |
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| Our last section along the canal |
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| Working our way back up to the rim |
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| Seven miles later and we're still smiling (and alive)! |
