Is The Belly Of The Dragon In Kanab Worth Visiting?

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So, is it actually worth visiting the Belly of the Dragon in Kanab? You’ll have to keep reading to find out! You didn’t think I’d give it away that early, did you?

Anyways, the Belly of the Dragon was something I had seen floating around Pinterest for quite some time now and I was always very intrigued by it so when we decided to move to South Lake Powell from Bullfrog and would be just an hour from Kanab, I knew I had to go and it was actually one of the first things we did.

On our first trip to Kanab we decided to take a spontaneous trip to Zion and stop at the Moqui Caverns and Belly of the Dragon on the way. We stopped at the Caverns first and then headed over to the Belly. After the short drive we got out, hopped down into the wash and headed in.

It looks a little creepy from the entrance but one you go in a little bit you can see the other end. It doesn’t get so dark that you can’t see the ground at all but a flashlight or even just your phone flashlight will help you get through here. You can walk on the raised sides or along the rocky middle bottom.

It felt like we were walking into the giant worm in that one Spongebob episode where they think it’s a cave, but this time instead of roaring and trying to eat us, we just walked out the other end to a ton of kids yelling and carving into the walls which was, uhh, great. Totally great. I’m kidding, it was actually super underwhelming but I’m still glad we stopped.

A Note for visiting the Belly of the Dragon in Kanab

While this is a manmade drainage tunnel, that doesn’t make carving in the rocks and scratching it up ok, so please don’t do that. It is graffiti and vandalism.

Sure, a million other people have already done this, but it doesn’t need anymore. It would have been much cooler without all the names and stuff scratched into the walls. Please, please don’t do this here or anywhere.

You may be thinking “duh, you don’t need to tell us this” but I do. In Bullfrog I had a grown woman tell me we should put signs up saying not to do that because they didn’t know and she got fined for doing it since it’s in a national recreation area. So, that’s why I have to add this.

What is the Belly of the Dragon in Kanab?

It’s not as fun as I hoped it would be because eI thought it was natural, but it’s actually manmade. It’s a drainage tunnel under Highway 89 just outside of Mount Carmel Junction.

The bottom has been washed out in the middle because it’s sandstone, which is soft and easily erodes, by water running through the runnel.

It’s less than half a mile long but it can be cool and a little creepy. There floor of the belly is covered in sand and fist-ish sized rocks, so be careful walking though there. The side that are up higher are uneven, too, but you can also walk on those, just be careful there, too.

Where is the Belly of the Dragon by Kanab?

The Belly of the Dragon is 17 minutes from Kanab, just before the Mount Carmel Junction. To get to it, you can actually just put Belly of the Dragon into Google Maps, but if not, it’s easy to find. It’s a good stop in Kanab as a day trip from Page.

If you’re coming from Kanab, head out towards Zion on Highway 89 (away from Page) and 0.8 miles from the Mount Carmel Junction, you’ll be going up over a hill with a big drop off on the left. Towards the bottom of that hill there is a dirt road on the left. There is a little parking area on the left and you’ll be able to see the belly right from there.

There is a small climb down into the wash from the parking area, but it’s really easy. If you can’t or don’t want to climb down into it, you can just walk around on the road to the wash and walk in that way. You come out the same way.

How long do you need to see the Belly of the Dragon?

Not long. If you just want to see the belly, 10 minutes maybe? 20 at most? It’s short but if you want pictures without other people, you might have to wait a bit for them to move, but we didn’t have to wait at all. If you want to keep hiking on the other end of it you might need an hour or two depending on how far you go.

Is the Belly of the Dragon worth it?

I guess. I was pretty underwhelmed by it, but I know if I didn’t stop I would have been wondering about it and wanting to see it and would have eventually gone, so I’m glad we got it out of the way.

I’d say it’s worth a stop if you’re curious because it really is a fast stop. It was interesting but definitely less so than I expected. It’s an easy thing to see on a weekend trip to Kanab, too.

Overall, I’d recommend a stop here if its something you’ve always been curious about, but it’s not as cool as the Internet makes it look. The pictures could definitely be cool but there’s just graffiti and carvings all over the inside, which is a lot of what really bummed me out about it.

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Have you been to the Belly of the Dragon? What did you think of it? Do you want to go?