The Belly of the Dragon is a drainage tunnel originally built under US-89 north of Kanab, Utah, to carry runoff water under the highway. Water has been doing what water does to Navajo Sandstone ever since, carving and smoothing the interior walls into rippling patterns that catch the light in ways that make the utilitarian engineering origin feel beside the point. You walk through a tunnel whose walls have developed texture and form that rivals anything the desert carved on its own, and then you emerge on the other side into the open wash country beyond the highway.

It’s 1.8 miles roundtrip with 183 feet of gain, which earns an easy rating accurately. The tunnel itself is the experience. You’re not hiking to it; you’re hiking through it and then out into the red rock wash on the other side. The interior delivers a specific sensory experience: cool air, the sound of your footsteps changing as the sandstone walls close in around you, the light shifting as you move deeper and then back toward the opening. Short, specific, memorable.

Quick Facts

Trail Name	Belly of the Dragon Trail
Location	Near Kanab, Utah (US-89 corridor)
Coordinates	37.2118 N, 112.6846 W
Distance	1.8 miles roundtrip
Elevation Gain	183 feet
Difficulty	Easy
Time	45-75 minutes
Dogs Allowed	Yes, on leash
Fee	None
View on AllTrails

How to Get There

From Kanab, head north on US-89 for about 16 miles. You’ll pass Mount Carmel Junction; continue north past it. Watch for a dirt pullout on the left (west) side of the highway. The tunnel entrance is just off the highway from the pullout. There’s no official sign, but the entrance is visible from the road once you’re at the right pullout.

From Salt Lake City, Kanab is about 4 hours south via I-15 and US-89. From Las Vegas, roughly 2.5 hours north on I-15 and US-89. From Springdale and Zion National Park, Kanab is about 40 minutes east on US-9 and UT-89.

No permit, no reservation, no entry fee. Pull off the highway and walk to the tunnel.

Parking Information

The parking area is a small dirt pullout directly off US-89. It accommodates several vehicles and is typically uncrowded given the tunnel’s off-the-beaten-path status. No restrooms, no facilities. Plan in Kanab before heading out.

The tunnel is visible from the pullout on the left side of the highway. If you can’t see it from where you’ve stopped, drive a bit further north on US-89 and try again.

Cell Service and Navigation

US-89 north of Kanab has reasonable cell coverage through the pullout area. Download AllTrails offline as standard practice for canyon country visits. Navigation for this specific hike is simple: park at the pullout, walk to the tunnel, walk through it, explore the wash on the other side, come back the same way. The challenge here is finding the right pullout, not navigating the trail.

What to Expect at Belly of the Dragon

The Tunnel

The tunnel was originally constructed as a highway drainage culvert under US-89. Water runoff has been flowing through it and slowly eroding the sandstone walls since the highway was built, creating the smooth, curved, ripple-textured interior that earns the name. The walls have patterns and textures that look carved intentionally but aren’t: they’re the result of moving water working on sandstone over decades.

Inside the tunnel, the air is cooler than the desert outside and the sound of your footsteps echoes differently against the curved walls. The light changes as you move from the highway entrance into the deeper sections and then back toward the exit on the far side. Photography inside the tunnel works best when you’re positioned at or near one of the ends, using the light from the opening to illuminate the textured walls. A wide-angle lens captures the tunnel geometry and the light falloff from the entrance.

After rain, the tunnel floor can be wet and slippery. The sandstone is smooth enough in the wet sections to require attention. Check conditions before visiting after significant precipitation.

The Wash Beyond

Past the tunnel, you emerge into the open desert wash on the west side of the highway. Red rock formations, sandy terrain, and the wider wash environment reward exploration beyond the tunnel exit. The wash is the natural continuation of what the drainage culvert was designed to serve, and it’s scenic southern Utah canyon country in the way the highway view never quite captures. Walk a short distance into the wash before turning around to return through the tunnel.

Trail Difficulty and Length

This trail is 1.8 miles with 183 feet of elevation gain. Easy is the accurate rating. The 183 feet of gain is distributed across the approach from the highway pullout, the tunnel itself, and the wash exploration beyond. The tunnel floor can be slippery when wet; the only difficulty caveat worth noting.

Dog Friendly?

Yes. Dogs are welcome on leash. The tunnel is wide enough for dogs without any tight squeeze issues. Keep dogs leashed and aware of the wet or slippery sections of the tunnel floor after rain. Bring water: the desert north of Kanab gets hot and the tunnel, while cooler, doesn’t provide water access.

What to Bring

Water for a short desert hike. Sun protection for the approach and the wash exploration. Shoes with grip for the slippery tunnel floor after rain. A headlamp or phone flashlight if you want to explore the deeper sections of the tunnel in low light conditions.

For photography: a wide-angle lens for the tunnel geometry and the light play on the walls, a tripod or gorilla pod for low-light tunnel interior work, and a headlamp to illuminate specific wall sections when composing shots in the darker middle sections of the tunnel.

Best Time to Visit Belly of the Dragon

Spring and fall are the comfortable windows: March through May and September through November. US-89 north of Kanab runs through high desert terrain that gets genuinely hot in summer. The tunnel provides relief once you’re inside, but the approach in July and August midday is unpleasant.

Morning and late afternoon are better than midday at any time of year. The tunnel’s natural lighting is most interesting when the sun angles through one of the openings, which happens in the earlier and later hours of the day. Direct overhead light in midday sends less light into the curved interior.

Avoid visiting immediately after heavy rain: the tunnel floor gets wet and slippery and the wash beyond can be flooded. Wait a day after significant precipitation before making the trip.

Rules and Regulations

Leave No Trace principles apply. Do not carve or mark the sandstone walls inside the tunnel. The water erosion patterns are the aesthetic appeal; any additional human marks degrade what makes it worth visiting. Pack out all trash. Dogs on leash. No entry fee, no permit.

Where to Stay Near Kanab

Kanab is 16 miles south on US-89 and the natural base for the Belly of the Dragon visit. Basecamp37 in Kanab is worth knowing about. For points travelers, check available Marriott Bonvoy properties in Kanab, IHG Rewards hotels in Kanab, and Hilton Honors options near Kanab. Spring and fall Kanab availability moves with Grand Canyon and Zion traffic. Book ahead.

Camping Nearby

Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park has developed camping with hookups and restrooms, a short drive west of Kanab. BLM dispersed camping is available throughout the surrounding public land. Kanab has private campgrounds in town for those wanting facilities close to services.

Nearby Adventures

The Sand Caves are a different Kanab-area cave experience: man-made mining caves in the sandstone north of Kanab, accessible from US-89 with a short scramble. A natural companion stop for anyone interested in the carved sandstone underground experience in southern Utah.

The Great Chamber north of Kanab requires an OHV approach through Angel Canyon but delivers a massive natural alcove with a sand dune interior. The most dramatic cave-adjacent experience in the Kanab area and worth the navigation effort.

Moqui Cave, a few miles north of Kanab on US-89, is the commercial cave attraction in the area: a natural sandstone cave converted into a museum with fossils, fluorescent minerals, and Native American artifacts. Worth a stop for the geology context.

Other Kanab-area trails include Peekaboo Slot Canyon (7.5 miles, 629 feet gain), Golden Wall/Buckhorn Loop (4.7 miles, 1,056 feet gain), and Wire Pass to Buckskin Gulch. Kanab as a base puts you within reach of some of the best canyon country hiking in the American Southwest.

Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park is the other landscape character available from Kanab, OHV riding and sandboarding on large sand dunes between the pink and white sandstone country.

Plan This Hike

AllTrails has Belly of the Dragon mapped with the parking pullout location and the trail through the tunnel and wash. Download before leaving Kanab. Plan your hike on AllTrails and pull the offline map while you’ve got signal in town.

Chase the Quiet

The tunnel was built to move water under the highway. Nobody designed the interior as an art installation or a hiking destination. The patterns in the sandstone walls are accidental: water doing what water does to stone, the same process that carved every slot canyon in this part of Utah, just confined to a culvert under a two-lane highway for a few decades. What it produced is worth walking through for its own sake. That’s southern Utah’s specific habit: making something extraordinary out of what’s technically infrastructure.

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