These hiking poles are sturdy, and great to help keep your balance on short or longer hikes
Cathedral Gorge State Park in Nevada is home to fascinating siltstone spires that resemble European cathedrals. Within the crevices of these spires hidden interesting caves, captivating corridors, and slot canyons. One of our favorite things to do at Cathedral Gorge State Park is to explore all the caves and slot canyons in the park. Not only these caves and slot canyons are stunning, but they are also really fun to find. Exploring these slot canyons and caves has to be the best thing to do in Cathedral Gorge State Park.
All the caves and slot canyons can be found along the main road inside Cathedral Gorge State Park. From the entrance of Cathedral Gorge, stay right to stay on the Cathedral Gorge State Park Road. The first set of the slot canyons start right around the little roundabout, right after the second pay station.
There are 3 different slot canyon areas in Cathedral Gorge State Park. Moon Caves Slot Canyons and Cathedral Caves Slot are the two main areas with signages. Canyon Caves Slot Canyon area doesn’t have any signage showing where it is, so you’ll have to find it.
Coordinates: 37.819754, -114.410330
Moon Caves Slot Canyons are the first set of slot canyons that you’ll find when entering the Cathedral Gorge State Park. The main Moon Caves Slot Canyons are located about 30ft after the pay station at the little roundabout. There is a large, unpaved pullout area on the right side of the road. You’ll know you’re at the right place because there is a small “Moon Slots” sign at the beginning. Instead of starting at this pullout area, we started at the parking lot where the pay station is and worked our way along the ridgeline instead.
This area has many interesting slot canyons to explore. They spread along the entire ridgeline that follows the road. We found the majority of them behind the “Moon Slots” sign and toward the back of the pay station at the roundabout. There were at least 20 of the slot canyons that we found on this day. We’re sure there are so many more but we don’t have all the time in the world the find them.
The slot canyons at the Moon Caves Slot area vary in length and width. Some of them are very narrow. We had to take our backpacks off to squeeze through. Some slots are longer than the other. We also had to scramble up and down on a few of them. It can also get very windy here. We ran into a few sandstorms while exploring. The slot canyons are fascinating. We’ve seen all different types of slot canyon walls from the bumpy walls of Spooky Canyon, and the wrinkly folds of Buckskin Gulch, to the smooth, swirly wall of Antelope Ridge Canyon. However, there’s nothing like the canyon walls here at Cathedral Gorge. The canyon walls here remind us of the drywall. They stand straight up, reminding us of the hallways inside the big cathedral. It was really interesting.
Coordinates: 37.821017, -114.411707
Canyon Caves Slot Canyon area is located in between the parking lot for Moon Caves Slot and the C.C.C. Water Tower. There is a small pull-out on the side of the road. The texture of the walls inside these slot canyons is similar to the Moon Slots. There are a couple of deep slot canyons that lead to a dead end. We saw some pigeons there, making all sorts of noises.
The highlight for this area is a small trail, leading straight from the parking area. This small trail took us up and into the hills. There was a bit of scrambling but nothing too difficult. Once we got to the top of the hill, we could see over all the beautiful peaks and spires of Cathedral Gorge. There are also a couple of caves and openings that we could see up here. These caves have a giant drop-off so make sure to pay attention. We highly recommend doing this short trail. It offers a really unique viewpoint of the area.
Coordinates: 37.823501, -114.412677
Last but not least, the Cathedral Caves Slot Canyons area is located to the right of the picnic area at the end of the road. There is a big parking lot right before that. You should be able to find a sign for Cathedral Caves.
We explored Cathedral Caves as part of the hike along the Juniper Draw Loop Trail earlier. The main slots are tucked around the right-hand side if you’re facing the ridgeline. They are similar to the Moon Caves and Canyon Caves, but still interesting in their way. We recommend exploring all of them!
If you love caves, our favorite is Carlsbad Caverns! It’s huge and super cool to check out.
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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.
These hiking poles are sturdy, and great to help keep your balance on short or longer hikes
If you tend to have foot blisters on hikes, get this! We use this all the time.
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.
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…
It's always good to bring a GPS tracker with you. We use the Garmin inReach.
This is Vy's favorite hiking bag! It has tons of room for snacks and water!
Our favorite biodegradable, eco-friendly, reef-safe sunscreen!
This is our go-to camera for all of our adventures. It comes with us everywhere!
Compact GoPro pole that extends to 25", perfect to bring on your adventure.
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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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