SEPTEMBER 2023
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| BANNISTER HOUSE |
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| BANNISTER HOUSE |
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| BIG POUR OFF SPRING |
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| BIG POUR OFF SPRING |
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| DEER CANYON |
Collins Canyon is a lesser-used entrance into Grand Gulch accessed from Highway 276. From the highway, you will need to travel approximately 6.5 miles down a dirt road, that gets a little rough the last couple miles, though I was able to make it okay in a Ford Escape. From the trailhead you will follow some cairns down into the canyon, and pass by a old cowboy camp on the left after about a half-mile that still has a lot of rusted tools and equipment scattered around it. After continuing down the canyon another 1.5 miles you will reach Grand Gulch, where you will take a left.
After a little over a mile walking in Grand Gulch there will be an inaccessible granary tucked high up on the canyon wall to the right. There will be some faint pictographs on the left about a half-mile past the granary, and about a half-mile past the pictographs you will come to Bannister House. Bannister House is also inaccessible, but you are able to get some nice views of it from below. After visiting Bannister House, I continued another two miles or so and turned right into Deer Canyon. There are three ruin sites in Deer Canyon located along the left side of the canyon, but the first is the only well-preserved one. The last two are not really worth going out of your way for. Also, the entrance into Deer Canyon is a bit overgrown, so entering it will require a little effort.
After visiting Deer Canyon I continued up Grand Gulch to Big Pour Off Spring. There are supposed to be six different archeological sites between Deer Canyon and Big Pour Off Spring, but I was only able to find two, a crumbling dwelling site located along the far wall of the first bend in the canyon after Deer Canyon, and a couple well-preserved granaries located just north of Big Pour Off Spring, which was completely dry when I visited the last day of September in 2023. I'm not sure what the other four archeological sites entail, so I don't know if they are worth going out of your way for. I was already going to be hiking sixteen or so miles that day, so I was too beat to spend much time searching for them.
I remember being completely exhausted, dehydrated and out of water when I finally made it back to the car. While the scenery through Grand Gulch was amazing, this hike requires a lot of effort to reach just a few average quality ruins (compared to other hikes in the area). As such, it doesn't appear to receive many visitors. I only saw one other group of hikers when I visited. When hiking Grand Gulch, Bullet Canyon, Sheiks Canyon, Government Trail and Kane Gulch likely provide better access to archeological sites for less effort, but if you want a nice, long, secluded walk to yourself, which I was looking for that day, Collins Canyon may be a good option.