A trip on Labyrinth Canyon ranges in length from 68 miles to a more typical length of 45 miles. What’s the optimal trip length?
Labyrinth Canyon offers a relatively limited number of side hiking options compared to stretches upstream and downstream. Note that if you are shuttling out from Mineral Bottom, you may need to get there early in the morning. This means that you will either need to camp at Mineral Bottom (NOT recommended), or camp somewhere suitably close so that you can make your last day of river miles in the morning.
Taken together, we recommend the following:
If putting it at Green River State Park (68 miles)
The first section of Labyrinth below Green River State Park has both a shortage of camping and hiking opportunities. You will most likely put in a lot of miles early on in the trip.
Recommended trip length, any water level:
4 nights, 5 days (13.6 miles per day)
Taking a little extra time will provide more opportunities for exploring some of the small side canyons, as well as leaving plenty of time for getting to the Mineral Bottom take out at a reasonable time. This itinerary would include an average of 13.6 miles per day, very do-able at all water levels.
Minimum (high water) trip length:
3 nights, 4 days (17 miles per day)
This more compressed itinerary is only recommended for those not wishing to do much hiking or when floating at high water levels. You’ll still need to stage to get to Mineral Bottom early in the morning if taking out there.
If putting it at Ruby Ranch (45 miles)
The Ruby Ranch put-in option chops off 23 miles of the least interesting stretch of the canyon. However, the shuttle requires some time — whether you organize it yourself or use a commercial option. This means that it is hard to get an early start on the day that you are putting in.
Recommended trip length, any water level:
4 nights, 5 days (9 miles per day)
This is the ultimate slackers/hikers pace for Labyrinth Canyon. At a mere 9 miles per day, you’ll have plenty of time for side hikes or lounging around in camp.
Minimum (high water) trip length:
2 nights, 3 days (15 miles per day)
You can easily bang out Labyrinth Canyon in a couple of days and still get to Mineral Bottom early in time for your shuttle, if that’s your style. But what’s the point?