Willis Creek

Willis Creek is the drainage behind one of the most popular slot canyon hikes in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, named for early settler William Patterson Willis. The creek rises on the flanks of the Pink Cliffs inside Bryce Canyon National Park, then cuts a narrow slot with 200- to 300-foot slickrock walls for about 2.5 miles down to its confluence with the larger Sheep Creek Canyon, near Cannonville.

Good to know

• Managed by the BLM as part of Grand Staircase-Escalante, so expect the monument's more permissive backcountry norms rather than national park rules
• The walls here narrow to within about 4 feet in spots without ever becoming a technical squeeze
• Flash flooding is a real hazard in any slot canyon — check the forecast before heading in, especially during the July–September monsoon window