Tom's Canyon Trail in Kanab

Eastbound in Tom's Canyon. Photos and trail review by Bruce on July 29, 2021. Pugh Canyon information added November 13, 2022.

Tom's Canyon
and Pugh Canyon Trail

The Tom's Canyon trail starts on the edge of Kanab, circling the edge of Tom's Canyon. The singletrack is 3 miles long and can be done as an out-and-back or as a loop with a short link on city streets. It's a nice add-on ride to the nearby Raven and Roadrunner trails above Hamblin Park. Pugh Canyon is a doubletrack trail nearby, currently joined to Tom's Canyon by the hiking-only K-Hill trail. (Pugh Canyon is discussed as the second section of this page.)

Tom's Canyon trailhead and connections

Ladera Lane trailhead

The Tom's Canyon trail starts at 5000 feet elevation on the northeast corner of the city. The trailhead is on Ladera Lane, with a bumpy dirt ramp leading up to unimproved parking where the street turns 90 degrees. (Geographically this would be around 400 East and 200 North.) The trailhead is shared with the K-Hill hiking trail. The K-Hill trail forks away to your right just a little bit uphill.

Starting out from the Ladera Lane trailhead. There's no bathroom or water. If your car can't touch the dirt, there's room on the roadside where the pavement widens as the paved road turns. Just don't block the dirt ramp going uphill!

Looking northeast at the gate on Rain Maker Road. The northern side of the trail is 90 degrees left, right through the pile of construction stuff.

Rain Maker access

A second access is at the end of Rain Maker Road. There's a gate here but no formal parking. In 2021, construction equipment and supplies littered this area. The trail starts 90 degrees to your left after going through the smaller of the two gates.

Tom's Canyon trail

Tom's Canyon is popular with local trail runners and hikers. The expected riding season is April through November. The trail can be done in either direction. Most riders will start from the formal trailhead off Ladera Lane.

Bruce's bike sits on the only "slickrock" you'll hit. Otherwise the trail is red dirt.

Eastbound up Tom's Canyon on the counterclockwise ride. For the first quarter mile, you'll be just uphill from the last homes.

The trail runs through undulating skirts of Moenkopi clay at the base of the Chinle Formation. It hugs the slope just above the small valley within Tom's Canyon. Above the trail are banded cliffs of the Chinle Formation.

The trail would rate intermediate in skill requirement. But because it's short, experienced beginners can tackle Tom's Canyon.

From the Ladera Lane trailhead, the first trail fork comes in 0.1 miles. Turn left uphill on the smaller trail. The big flat route straight ahead is a short hiking-only trail called K-Hill.

Along the southern side of the loop, the trail is constantly twisting, rolling, climbing and descending. Although the elevation change from bottom to top is only 100 feet, your overall climbing during a ride around the loop will be 250 vertical feet.

Here the trail is finishing a loop around a little hill.

Here the multi-colored Moenkopi formation is obvious.

At mile 0.7, you'll come to a four-way fork. The two trails on the valley side are the entry and exit from a small loop. Go for it. The loop is only 0.2 miles and it will bring you back to this exact spot. Circle around the little hill. When you get back to the four-way, take the eastbound uphill trail.

As you hit additional forks when riding eastbound, look for the "biker" symbol on the trail posts. The trail on your left will be a horse route or a hiking trail and will return back to the main Tom's Canyon trail. In general, keep uphill and right.

Looking back toward Kanab on the counterclockwise ride.

Approaching the neck of the valley where the trail will turn back to the west.

When the canyon narrows to cliffs above a sandy wash, the trail will turn back to the west. This is at mile 2.0 of the counter-clockwise loop. (The horse trail continues another quarter mile up the wash, and you wouldn't find it fun.) Dip through the wash and cross over to the cliffs along the north side of the valley.

The westbound trail is flatter and easier. (The clockwise ride, starting at Rain Maker Road, could be a good choice for beginners.)

At a trail fork at mile 2.4 keep right and uphill. The left option just cuts across dirt to bypass a section of trail that makes a semi-circle on the edge of a small canyon. Ignore the left fork and keep right.

Westbound.

Heading into the small canyon on the northern side of the ride. You can bypass this section with the short alternate, but why would you?

The trail reaches the gate on Rain Maker Road at mile 3.0. Consider turning around and doing the loop in reverse! To make a road return, coast down to the four-way where Los Barancos Lane meets Ladera Lane and turn left. Follow Ladera south and it will turn back west to the trailhead. The road return is 1/2 mile.

Map of Tom's Canyon.

Getting there for Tom's Canyon:
Go to 100 East in Kanab. (100 East is where US-89 makes a 90-degree turn in the middle of town, going north-south instead of east-west before turning again in a few blocks.) Drive north on 100 East to 300 North and turn right. Drive east three blocks and turn right (south) at the big traffic circle. You're now on Ladera Lane. When the road turns 120 degrees to the left, drive up the dirt ramp to the unimproved parking area. (If your car is tender, park on the road here but don't block the dirt!)

No bathroom at trailhead.

Trail resources:
Map: Load map at left for printing
GPS files (right-click and save):
Multi-track Tom's Canyon file
Multi-track for Kanab area

Pugh Canyon trail

The early morning sun hits the sandstone strata on the north side of Pugh Canyon.

The Pugh Canyon trail is a doubletrack extending 1.2 miles up Pugh Canyon. In 2016, there was a "no bikes" sign here, but the route is now listed on Trailforks and I didn't see any restriction during my 2022 visit. So I'm adding it to this trail page as a potential ride, until somebody tells me otherwise.

Pugh Canyon is joined to Tom's Canyon by the K-Hill singletrack trail, which is signed as hiking-only. I do note, however, that there are a lot of rides on Strava where bikers use K-Hill. On the other hand, not many cyclists use Pugh Canyon regularly. The route is used mostly by hikers with their dogs.

Looking east up the canyon. Note the snow on the north-facing slopes and the dark appearance of the trail surface. In an hour or so, this trail will be a sea of mud.

Gate to Pugh Canyon.

The Pugh Canyon trail begins at the end of Country Club Lane on the northeast side of town. As the pavement gives way to red dirt, a broad doubletrack turns left uphill. After 50 feet, the K-Hill trail is to the left, while the Pugh Canyon trail is to the right. Head for the metal gate, where you'll find a step-around.

The ride begins as doubletrack in sage, then the canyon narrows and the ride gets scenic. At the time of my ride, there were two major washouts across the doubletrack. The first had a plank placed across as a bridge, while the second had a ride-around to the left.

After a mile, we're approaching the end of the doubletrack as the trail narrows.

This grove of trees is the transition between established trail and wash-bottom riding.

Around mile 1.2, the trail hits the creekbottom. You can continue uphill if you want. For me, the sandy bottom was frozen solid on a cold November morning, so I rode to mile 1.5 from the trailhead before turning back.

Pugh Canyon with connection to Tom's Canyon

Getting there for Pugh Canyon:

Go east on US-89 from the center of Kanab where Highway 89 splits. (Use the main eastbound 89, rather than southbound 89A to Fredonia.) After 1/2 mile, turn left into Fairway Drive. At the T intersection, turn right. Turn right again on Country Club Lane. Park at the end of the pavement. Go left, then turn right as the routes split.

Trail resources:
GPS files (right-click and save): Multi-track area file for Kanab