Iron Wash to Mormon Tanks Canyon | Friday – Sunday, November 14-16, 2025
I was originally hoping to spend this weekend searching for ruins and rock art on Cedar Mesa, but a wet and snowy weather forecast wasn’t looking good for that area, so instead I decided to stay a bit closer to home and head over to the San Rafael Reef Wilderness where I could explore a few new canyons. I left after work on Friday afternoon, topped off my gas tank in Green River and then made my way over to the foot of the San Rafael Reef where I found a campsite after dark, read for a little while and went to bed early. On Saturday morning I got up before sunrise and started hiking up Iron Wash at dawn. Although I have hiked up Iron Wash before, I don’t recall going very far, and besides it was so long ago that and I don’t remember much about it and was looking forward to checking out this canyon again and going further this time.
Although it was mostly cloudy this morning, the sun did briefly make an appearance.
A touch of light on the sandstone walls in Iron Wash.
Once the sun quickly disappeared it stayed cloudy and overcast for the rest of my hike to the other side of the San Rafael Reef.
I would not see the sun again until I was hiking up through the more open landscape of Lone Man Draw.
I scrambled up through a steep side canyon and then turned around when I reached a pass between Lone Man Draw and Ernie Canyon.
Hiking back down Lone Man Draw.
It wasn’t long until I was hiking back down Iron Wash through the San Rafael Reef again.
Hiking around a shaded bend in Iron Wash.
I liked this patch of desert varnish stripes high up on the canyon wall.
There were a few colorful leaves still holding on in the cottonwood trees.
Iron Wash Point
The canyon was looking a little nicer without the overcast light during my hike back.
Cracked Mud
I stopped by to revisit this 1894 inscription before retunring to the trailhead.
By the time I reached my vehicle at the trailhead I had ended up hiking about 17 miles and my legs were pretty tired. I had not planned to hike that much in this canyon, but that’s just the way it worked out after I kept checking out different side drainages along the way. Even so, I still wanted to visit another nearby unnamed canyon, so after a little rest I went on another short and easier hike.
The canyon was shallow and sandy when I started.
The hiking got much easier on my tired legs when I reached the sandstone floor, although I was still moving slower than I usually do.
It wasn’t long past this point that I reached an impassible pourover and turned around.
Hiking back down the canyon.
Before leaving the canyon I climbed up to a ridge above for a different perspective.
Here’s a final view from the ridge above the canyon.
After all the hiking I had done today I was feeling pretty hungry, so instead of sitting around camp for a few hours before going to bed, I decided to drive down to Hanksville to get Stan’s for dinner to help kill some time. I’m not a huge fan of the long nights at this time of the year.
Even though the weather forecast for this area had been better than Cedar Mesa, it was still supposed to start raining sometime later this morning so I was up before sunrise to hike up Mormon Tanks Canyon before the wet weather arrived. Before going up the canyon I hiked up to a ridge above the canyon so I could watch the sunrise, which turned out to be a good decision since it was a nice one!
Sunrise on the San Rafael Reef
As I descended a steep route into the canyon the light turned the sandstone golden and then disappeared behind the clouds again.
Hiking though the narrowest part of the canyon before it opened up again.
Mormon Tanks Canyon
When I got stopped by a pourover in the canyon I climbed up to the south rim and continued following it through the Reef. Along the way I passed by this old mining claim marker and shovel.
A little light started breaking through the clouds as I hiked around the backside of the Reef towards Old Woman Wash.
When I reached an overlook of Old Woman Wash I saw rain in the distance and it was moving my way quickly, so I turned around and headed back the way I had come. It started to rain on me when I was about halfway back to the trailhead.
I passed by this little pool shortly before it started to rain, and then I put my camera away and didn’t take any more photos.
Rock Art of the San Rafael Reef
Although I was hoping to come across some new rock art sites during my hikes this weekend, I didn’t end up seeing anything new and only stopped to revisit two sites that I have been to before.
This is a very faded Barrier Canyon Style pictograph panel that I used DStretch to help bring out the details in the following image.
The Buried Site
Wow – this is so beautiful. Lovely post!