Goblin’s Lair, A.K.A “Chamber of the Basilisk,” is a massive cavernous formation, hidden away on Goblin Valley State Park’s eastern boundary. This “lair” is not a cave but rather an intriguing slot canyon, with the entrance sealed by rockfall. Depending on the time of the day, there’s light pouring through the openings in the ceiling over 100ft high. The hike to Goblin’s Lair is our favorite hike in Goblin Valley State Park. While the trek to the entrance is easy, getting up and into the cave is considered strenuous. There’s a lot of scrambling up steep scree slopes and hands -on rock scrambling over boulders. Besides Goblin’s Lair, you can also add a 0.25-mile detour to the Goblette’s Lair, another exciting cavern.
Another option to get to Goblin’s Lair is by rappelling. To do so, you’ll need to know how to rappel, have your own gear, and a permit. Permits are available at the visitor center desk. It is $4/person. If you don’t know what you’re doing, we highly recommend getting a guide from Get in the Wild Adventures. In this blog, we’ll show you the hiker’s route.
Carmel Canyon Trailhead
38.565237, -110.702684
There is a decent-sized paved parking lot in front of the trailhead.
Goblin Valley State Park requires a fee to enter. For more information, please visit the park’s website. If you want to rappel into the lair, you can get your permit at the Visitor Center. It is $4/person.
Vault toilet at both ends of the parking lot.
1.5 miles one way
Additional 0.25 miles to the Goblette’s Lair
180 ft
Moderate to Hard. The climb into Goblin’s Lair can be strenuous for a lot of people.
Takes an average of 1.5 – 2 hours
Spring and fall are the best seasons to visit because the weather is mild, perfect for hiking. For the best lighting, we recommend stopping by Goblin’s Lair in the morning, when there’s a lot of sunlight streaming through the cave’s ceiling.
Dogs are allowed on trails at Goblin Valley State Park, but they have to be on a leash no longer than 6ft. For this hike, we don’t recommend bringing your pets if you want to climb up and into the caves.
Goblin’s Lair shares the same trailhead and a short section with the Carmel Canyon trail. The trailhead is located on the left side of the parking lot for the Goblin Overlook. We have the coordinates listed above.
After finishing the Valley of the Goblins hike, it was time for us to explore the Goblin’s Lair. The trailhead for Goblin’s Lair is on the opposite side of the parking lot from the Valley of the Goblins. There are multiple signs at the trailhead, so you’ll know you’re at the right place. By the way, it can get very hot here, so make sure to bring plenty of water!
From the trailhead, the Goblin’s Lair trail descends a wide, obvious dirt path toward the valley floor. From here, we could see the north end of Valley 1, framed by a tall, wrinkly ridgeline. The Goblin’s Lair and Goblette’s Lair are located on the back of that ridgeline.
For the first 0.5 miles, the Goblin’s Lair shares the same trail as the Carmel Canyon trail. Along the way, there are tons of trail markers, so you should be able to find your way without any issue. In this first section, the Goblin’s Trail heads toward a really interesting rock formation that reminds us of a cluster of mushrooms with their roots exposed. There’s a short section of stairs before the trail continues to get closer to the cluster of mushroom formations, before running right next to it.
Right after we passed the mushroom cluster formation, the Goblin’s Lair trail veers right to descend a steep hill. It’s not that bad, but please watch your steps. After the steep hill, the trail continues its descent along a narrow ridgeline. It’s not as bad as it seems. The view here is beautiful, with tall pinnacles and hills framing the trail.
After this steep section, we reached the valley floor as well as the junction where Goblin’s Lair trail leaves the Carmel Canyon to continue on its own. Now, we’re on the back side of that tall, wrinkly ridgeline that we saw at the beginning of the trail. From here, the trail is a mix of flat sections, steep inclines, and stretches of deep sand. The view in this section is completely different from the other side of the trail, but also very scenic.
Once we climbed up a steep sand hill, the trail got closer to the base of the overlooming wall of tall pinnacles. At the base of this wall is the entrance to Goblin’s Lair. You can either go straight to check out the Goblin’s Lair first, or go left to take a detour to the Goblette’s Lair. It is about 0.25 miles longer each way, and we highly recommend taking the detour. The Goblette’s Lair is easier to enter than the Goblin’s Lair and is also pretty cool to see.
Since Goblin’s Lair is the highlight of this trail, we decided to check out Goblette’s Lair first and save the best for last. To get to Goblette’s Lair, we went left to follow the worn trail circling the base of the pinnacle wall. This trail can get narrow in a few spots, so make sure to watch your steps.
Close to 0.2 miles, the trail started to weave through a pile of boulders and led up the hill. From the bottom, we could see a small opening for the Goblette’s Lair. It looks like a small slit in the rock. Even though it is easier than Goblin’s Lair, the entrance to Goblette’s Lair is still hard. It is a steep climb up, along with some scrambling over boulders. The trail can be slippery, so be careful, especially on the way back down. Once you get to the entrance, it is an easy scramble into the cave. Goblette’s Lair is a triangular cave with ragged walls. It kind of reminds us of the cave at Cathedral Gorge. It is decently big, but we didn’t need our headlight until we reached the last half of the cave.
After spending some time at Goblette’s Lair, we traced our way back to the entrance of Goblin’s Lair. From the bottom, we couldn’t see the cave opening. All we could see was a steep trail leading up to a big pile of boulders. The trail to Goblin’s Lair is a lot more slippery than the one to Goblette’s Lair. It’s probably worse if the trail is wet. We highly recommend wearing hiking shoes with great traction. As we get closer to the top, the trail disappears. You just have to find the best scrambling path for your ability to go up. There are times when you’ll need to use both your hands and feet.
Once we got to the top of the boulder piles, we could see a dark opening below. From here, we had to scramble our way down into the lair. The way down is not that bad for us, but it can be difficult for some people. You’ll definitely need to be comfortable with downclimbing in certain spots. But it was really fun, definitely our highlight of this hike. When you’re facing the cave entrance, we found that the right side is easier to downclimb.
Goblin’s Lair is bigger and a lot darker than Goblette’s Lair. It is about 100ft tall. You’ll need to use your headlight here. If you go earlier in the day, lights are streaming in from the vents on the ceiling. We visited later in the day, so there wasn’t any light. So, the cave was pretty dark. It was such a cool spot. It would have been fun to rappel into the cave. Maybe next time!
If you like caves, check out the Goshute Cave in Nevada. That one is really fun. Gandy Warm Spring is another cool one with an underwater cave. We also love Tabernacle Hills Lava tubes. This place has tons of really neat lava tubes and tunnels.
Happy Adventuring. Don’t forget to check out the related posts below for more inspiration on your upcoming adventures. While at it, follow us on Instagram and subscribe to our YouTube channel! We’ll love you forever!
These are the gear that we personally use and find helpful for this particular adventure. Don’t forget to check out our Recommended Gear section as well.
Our favorite biodegradable, eco-friendly, reef-safe sunscreen!
This is Vy's favorite hiking bag! It has tons of room for snacks and water!
It's always good to bring a GPS tracker with you. We use the Garmin inReach.
This jacket is packable into a super small and light little ball. Perfect for when you just need a little…
This jacket is packable into a super small and light little ball. Perfect for when you just need a little…
Our favorite hiking/travel jacket. It's warm and packable, perfect to bring on a hike or a road trip.
Our favorite hiking/travel jacket. It's warm and packable, perfect to bring on a hike or a road trip.
If you tend to have foot blisters on hikes, get this! We use this all the time.
These hiking poles are sturdy, and great to help keep your balance on short or longer hikes
Compact GoPro pole that extends to 25", perfect to bring on your adventure.
This is our go-to camera for all of our adventures. It comes with us everywhere!
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Hi! We are Dustin & Vy, the proud creators of Live That Adventure. We created this website because we wanted to inspire others to live their lives to the fullest. On here, you’ll find everything from hiking, canyoneering, kayaking, and snorkeling to adventure and travel tips, gear reviews, and bucket list items such as bungee jumping or wing walking. We’ll show you the ropes so you can do them too!
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