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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.)
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 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!
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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.
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. |
| 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.
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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.
Eastbound up Tom's Canyon on the counterclockwise
ride. For the first quarter mile, you'll be just uphill from the last
homes. |
| 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.
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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.
Here the multi-colored Moenkopi formation is obvious. |
| 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.
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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.
Approaching the neck of the valley where the trail
will turn back to the west. |
| 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.
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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.
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? |
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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 |
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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.
The early morning sun hits the sandstone strata on
the north side of Pugh Canyon. |
| 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.
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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.
Gate to Pugh Canyon. |
| 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.
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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.
This grove of trees is the transition between
established trail and wash-bottom riding. |
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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 |
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