The Kanab Sand Caves, also known as the Moqui Sand Caves are a short distance north of Kanab Utah and are worth a stop if you’re driving up route 89.
So worth a stop that they’ve put a huge parking lot in for all of the people who stop to do the short half-mile hike up into the caves.
Rather than some amazing geological phenomenon, the caves were created for mining the Kanab sand for making molds to cast iron, and something about the quality of the sand also made it useful for bulletproof glass.
Excavation only happened from 1930-1940, but the caves make a great stop if you have an hour to spend and are looking for a leg stretch.
Don’t expect solitude – when we arrived there were 15-20 cars in the parking lot, and when we walked back down from the caves the parking lot was packed enough that people had parked right up against the RV – making a fun three-point turn backing out of the lot before hooking Jeeperz back up to continue our journey south.
We drove right past this when doing our winter loop of Zion, Bryce, Grand Staircase, Capitol Reef, but noted that it was probably worth taking a second look at and now that we’ve done it we concur with our past assessment.
We did not stop at the nearby tourist attraction ‘Moqui Cave’ as we’re not big on touristy shopping and souvenirs (other than my collection of glossy National Park/Monument/Etc trifold maps), but if you’re a T-shirt/shot glass/keychain collector then there may be something there for you.
Definitely recommend a quick stop if you’re traveling past, the hike is short and easy, and fairly interesting.
Double Cave
One big cave, or two that met up?
Nature’s Artwork
Gorgeous water staining within the Kanab Sand Caves
Inside Out
A small window to the outside world
Taking It In
Stepping out on a ledge to check things out
