Slickhorn Canyon Camp
A layover camp at mile 58 near the mouth of Slickhorn Canyon — one of Cedar Mesa's deepest drainages, with narrows, perennial pools, and Puebloan ruins.
Also known as: Slickhorn Camp
Slickhorn Canyon Camp sits near mile 58 on the San Juan River, at the mouth of Slickhorn Canyon — one of the deepest and most complex side drainages in the Cedar Mesa system. The camp occupies a sandy bench on river left where Slickhorn enters the San Juan, shaded by mature cottonwoods. Slickhorn Canyon is a multi-fork drainage that extends miles back into the Cedar Mesa plateau, with perennial pools, pouroffs, Ancestral Puebloan ruins, and some of the finest slot canyon narrows accessible from the San Juan. The full exploration of the canyon system requires multiple days; even a half-day hike up the lower fork reveals polished Cedar Mesa Sandstone narrows, hanging gardens, and reliable pools. The camp is a natural layover point on the Bluff to Clay Hills run — groups with time spend a full day in the Slickhorn system. From camp the canyon walls are near their maximum depth, and the San Juan's entrenched gooseneck meanders frame the river corridor in both directions.