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Casto Canyon 50″ OHV Trail

  • Garfield County - Panguitch

Trail information

Easy

Out & Back

No width limit

gravel roads

rocky

Single Track

50" Vehicle

Moving Time
0 hrs
Avg Speed
0 mph
Distance
0 mi
Ascent
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Descent
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Large Fenced Parking Lot, Vault Toilet at Trailhead. There is no fee to park or ride.
50″ and under ATV’s, UTV’s, MC’s
Mostly gravel and dirt roads with some rocky areas.
Plenty of Signage and mileage updates at intersections.
The closest medical help is Garfield Memorial Hospital only a few due west in Panguitch. 200 N 400 E St, Panguitch, UT 84759 Dial 911 for Emergencies or (435) 676-8811.

Garfield County Sheriff Dial 911 or (435) 676-8811

BLM Office in Kanab Utah (435) 644-1300
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  • Description
Would you like to ride your ATV through the bottom of Bryce Canyon? Unfortunately, you can’t do that but you can ride the next best thing, the Casto Canyon Trail. Casto Canyon trail cuts through the same formation as Bryce Canyon National Park, the scenery is stunning and the trail is considered Easy for most riders young and old alike.

Casto Canyon is located due East of Panguitch Utah about 12 miles. Following Hwy 89 south from Panguitch turn east on Hwy 12 towards Bryce Canyon National Park for approximately 2 miles. Watch for a sign that says “Casto Canyon”, the turn will be to the north of Hwy 12 onto a well-maintained gravel road that most vehicles can travel nearly year-round. Follow this gravel road north for approximately 3 miles to the Casto Canyon Trail Head.

The Trailhead is well marked with Kiosks and mileage signs with a large parking lot with enough room to turn any vehicle/trailer combination.

A vault toilet is available at the trailhead but none are available after leaving the trailhead.
Maps

Trail Route

Hardscrabble OHV Trail gaia comp

We recommend to download the GAIA App on your mobile device.

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You can view and download the route from GAIA as well as see photos with their location geotagged on the trail.

View GAIA Route

360 Street View

Click “View 360 Map” to explore the trail in Google Street View and “See the Trail Before You Ride the Trail.”

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Flyover Map

Casto Canyon flyover cp

 Experience a bird’s-eye view of the trail to get a better understanding of elevation changes and the surrounding terrain.

Download Route

The GPX or KML files are available for you to download and use on your preferred app or device. 

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Key Points

Within our Key Points you will discover trail head parking, trail markers, points of interests, intersections as well as terrain and obstacles.

Click on the links below to reveal images and information

This is the 50″ barrier. PLEASE do not attempt this trail in any vehicle over 50″ wide.
Keep in mind that this trail follows the bottom of a canyon and may potentially have considerable flowing water at times that could be dangerous. If there is any water at all you should assume that the potential for a flash flood exists.
Soon enough the formations begin to resemble those in Bryce Canyon National Park.
Lots of large Pine and Juniper trees line the trail.  Keep an eye on your whips and flags occasionally a limb hangs low enough to snag one.
At this point our OHV trail begins to technically follow “Barney Cove” and Casto Canyon diverges to the East as a hiking and equestrian trail only.  PLEASE do not attempt to follow Casto Canyon beyond this point.  You will see that it is clearly a single track path unfit for OHVs.
As you reach the top of the plateau you will pass another 50″ barrier gate.  This one does not have the ‘bump’ you encountered down at the start of the trial.  This might technically be the end of the Cato Canyon trail but we are not done yet.  We want to go check out the Peterson Point Overlook that is not too far away. Just after you pass the 50″ Barrier you will see a few signs. Follow the arrows to Peterson point 2 3/4 miles more for a fantastic view of Casto Canyon and the Panguitch valley.
The view from Peterson Point is well worth the trip. Enlarge the image to full screen and see if you can spot Panguitch from here. As you return to the upper 50″ barrier at the top of Casto Canyon you can choose to return to the start by retracing your route or following Limekiln Canyon. Limekiln is a much longer return route of around 17miles and details are of Limekiln are not included here.
Stay to the left to follow the Limekiln route.
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August 7, 2022

Best ride I’ve ever been on. Go slow, take pictures, have lunch. Explore side canyons. Fun fun fun

Verdean Petersen

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