Pariah -- trail with a history Part One

One of the saddest events in the settlement of Southern Utah is closely connected with the fabulous Pariah Canyon, a slot canyon running roughly from north to south into the Colorado River. In 1871, settler John D. Lee and his family settled at a remote outpost which came to be called Lonely Dell. He established a ferry across the Colorado River near the confluence of the Pariah and the Colorado. The location came to be called "Lee's Ferry."

John D. Lee's exile to this remote region came about as a result of his participation in the infamous Mountain Meadow Massacre. But the ferry he established was one of the very few places where travelers could cross the Colorado. The location remains today as the Lonely Dell Ranch Historic District and is located adjacent to the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness.

Access to Lee's Ferry, before the roads were built, was from Kanab down through the pass between Buckskin Mountain (the Kaibab Plateau) and the Vermilion Cliffs or directly down Pariah Canyon itself. (the name is variously spelled Pariah or Paria and you can tell if someone is a local by the way the name is pronounced). In 1929 the Arizona State Highway Commission built a bridge across the Colorado just below Lee's Ferry called Navajo Bridge. From the end of the Grand Canyon near the Arizona/Nevada/Utah border, across Arizona to the Four Corners at Mexican Hat, there are still only four ways to drive or walk across the Colorado River or its tributaries; Hoover Dam and the bridge being built there, Navajo Bridge, the two bridges at the bottom of the Grand Canyon near Phantom Ranch, and the bridge over the San Juan at Mexican Hat. (In Utah there is a seasonal shuttle/ferry between Halls Crossing and the Bullfrog Marina but that doesn't count).

The Navajo Bridge was rebuilt in 1995 so there are now two bridges crossing the river, the old one is open to foot traffic only.

The northern end of Pariah Canyon can be approached from either the White House Trailhead along the river itself or from Buckskin Gulch. None of these hikes are for the inexperienced. Entry into these narrow slot canyons at the wrong time can be deadly. Permits are required and can be obtained from the Bureau of Land Management.

There are some pretty good photos at Pariah.