ATV Adventures: Riding the Kitchen Corral Trail at the Kanab Red Rock Jamboree
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- Riding the Kitchen Corral Trail through a section of unusual rock formations at the Kanab Red Rock Jamboree.
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- No Man’s Mesa. The trail the sheepherder used is straight up the left side of the mesa.
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- The rock formation that looks like a Chinese warrior.
Being a foodie at heart, I was interested in riding the Kitchen Corral Trail. It was the first day of the Kanab Red Rock Jamboree, and our guide was Gary Tarbet. The staging area for this ride is 27.4 miles east of Kanab on Highway 89 at Kitchen Corral Wash. Imagine my disappointment when I learned that it had nothing to do with food.
After a briefing on the ride, we lined up 17 machines and headed north into the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. Riding through Kimball Valley, we turned northwest, joining a trail in the Buckskin Wash. We stopped at a point below White Rocks, where two large rock-crushing wheels lay beside the road, evidence of the mining history in this area. The King Mine was above us. Remnants of a manganese mining operation.
Mining history was only one of the sagas we came across on this ride. We stopped by a rock about the size of a house that had fallen from the top of the butte ages ago. Evidence of the Anasazi era was carved into the rock face. Toward the north, our guide pointed out an ancient granary high on a cliff.
Stopping at the base of Kitchen Corral Point, we saw the Kitchen Corral Ranch. It is still in operation today. Established by early pioneers Robert and Mollie Kitchen, some of the area’s landmarks were named by them. Mollie’s Nipple is one of these located northeast of the ranch.
The Buckskin Wash Road then took a turn to the northeast. The road turned sandy, and the scenery changed. We were riding through a section of curious rock formations. Atop one of these massive brown-and-black structures was a small rock shaped like a Chinese warrior.
The road changed to slickrock as we continued. The trail went straight, then turned on a spur that stopped at a turnaround. We were looking at a panorama of the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, and the view was breathtaking. We could see the steps of the staircase and the ranks of mountains that stretched for miles.
We headed back to the main trail and turned northwest, where we came to the base of No Man’s Mesa. Gary told us a story about a sheep herder who would run his sheep to the top of this mesa, hiding them to avoid taxes. He figured that if the government didn’t know he had sheep, he wouldn’t have to pay taxes on them. The trail he used to move the sheep to the top was an important part of the story. It consisted of steep and narrow switchbacks, and the size of his flock was not small.
We stopped at a shady alcove in the rock for lunch, and then continued to the Spring Ranch Road, where we turned south. I had been on this road before when I led a five-day ride from Kanab to Kamas. We saw a lot of longhorn cattle that the ranch stocks. Once again, these longhorn brutes were witnesses to our passing.
Continuing south, we crossed Lower Podunk Creek in Lick Wash. It was after this crossing that our guide did something I am famous for doing – he took a wrong turn. He hoped to connect to another trail, but the further we advanced on this track, the closer the trees were to the trail. We were dodging tree limbs, doing our best to avoid scrapes and scratches. I looked in my rearview mirror and noticed that one of my whip lights had been knocked askew. Gary finally realized that it would be futile to continue. We cheered and turned around.
Back on the Deer Springs Road, we successfully made the correct turn onto the road Gary was trying to reach. We passed through Adams Wash and rode on the east side of Little No Man’s Mesa through Nephi’s Pasture. A little before we got to Timber Mountain, we made a sharp left, heading east.
This was a fun section of the trail. It was sandy and had some big dips, and we enjoyed the ups and downs as we headed back to the trucks. Turning south into Park Wash, we soon rejoined the road we had come in on, passing the places we had stopped on our way in. We finished a ride of about 72 miles in a beautiful and diverse country. When you go, take plenty of water, keep the rubber side down, and enjoy this national monument’s history and beauty.
Lynn R. Blamires can be reached at quadmanone@gmail.com.
