The Belly of the Dragon Hike, Mt Carmel, Utah

We had such a fun time exploring the Belly of the Dragon hike. This is a short man-made tunnel that goes under Highway 89. It was made as a drainage tunnel, but the way it turned out makes it look like the entrance to a dragon. This hike is located in Southern Utah.

From Kanab, Utah it is about a 20 minute drive. It's a 16.9 mile drive.

You'll turn off of Highway 89 onto Elephant Gap. This is a dirt road that will take you to the trailhead of the Belly of the Dragon hike.

This is a dirt road. We drove our truck to get there and had no problems. We went on a dry day and even saw a little mini-cooper make it ok. If it has rained, make sure you have 4-wheel drive just to be safe.

You'll arrive at a dirt/gravel parking lot. The parking is free.

There is a nice wide dirt trail that goes to the entrance.

When you get to the entrance, there are a few stairs to climb down to get into the tunnel. 

After climbing down the stairs we started to explore the Belly of the Dragon. We could see pretty good for the first half and then it starts to get dark.

At this point it started to get really dark so we got out our flashlights. It really helped. You could also use the flashlight on your phone if you didn't bring one.

Then we could see the daylight from the end of the tunnel. This is what it looks like on the other side of The Belly of the Dragon on the other side of Highway 89.

One of the things we noticed was that there were names and pictures etched in the stone all along this tunnel. It is man-made tunnel so they aren't desecrating anything and it seems to be common practice here.

After exploring, we headed back through the tunnel back to the parking lot.

Overall, we had a great time exploring the Belly of the Dragon and would definitely do it again.

The Belly of the Dragon Trailhead Map:

(Click on the map above to go to a Google Maps larger view.)

The Belly of the Dragon Hike is free. The gravel parking lot is free too.

Total = $0

These are the checklist items I recommend:

• Hiking Shoes.
• It's a dirt road to get there. We drove a truck, but saw smaller vehicles make it fine. The weather was dry and the dirt road was dry.
• A flashlight or a light on your phone.
• There are no facilities here.
• Only go when there is no rain. If it's raining don't go as this is a drainage tunnel.