How to Hike to The Great Chamber in Utah (Cutler Point)
If you’re looking to do the Great Chamber hike in Utah (also known as Cutler Point), this article is going to show you 3 ways to do it and specifics on each method so you can choose which is the most convenient to you.
The Great Chamber is an amazing place that I personally explored, but the problem with hiking to it is 2 things:
- Most guides and directions to it are vague.
- It’s located in a very remote area of Utah which requires you either drive or hike a very long way to it.
However, with good directions, a clear map and guide to find it, you’ll be able to successfully locate this place and that’s the whole point of this article.
Quick info on the Great Chamber hike in Utah (Cutler Point):
- Name: Great Chamber (aka Cutler Point or White Sand Cave).
- Location: In Grand Staircase Escalante, close to Kanab.
- Hiking distance: Anywhere from 1/4 miles to 18 miles in and out.
- Difficulty: Hard.
- Rating: 5 out of 5.
- Recommended hike? Yes!
There are actually 3 different ways to find the Great Chamber, 2 of them involve basically driving very close to it, then hiking a short distance to the Great Chamber, while the 3rd (most popular) is hiking a very long distance to it.
Why does the Great Chamber have so many names (Cutler Point, White Sand Cave)?
One of the things that makes this hike and location so confusing for people (myself included) is that you may find that this place is known by 3 different names and I haven’t actually seen anyone explain why that is, but here’s some clarity on that:
- The Great Chamber: It’s the giant cave or arch you see pictures of online (like above).
- Cutler Point: This is the giant mountain within which you’ll find the Great Chamber cave/arch. It is also the most common name this hike goes by).
- White Sand Cave: This is just another alias of the Great Chamber because the cave/arch itself literally is a cave and the color of the sand in it is white.
In short, all 3 alias for this hike are basically the same thing, but technically Cutler Point is the most popular one you’ll hear.
3 ways to find the Great Chamber (Cutler Point):
I’m going to go through each method and give you details on how to use it to find the Great Chamber. We’ll start with the most popular:
1) Hiking or driving to the Great Chamber from the east (most common):
Hiking distance: 18 miles in and out.
Difficulty: Moderate hike, difficult drive.
Description: This is the most common route to Cutler Point you will find. You can either hike to it or drive most of it as it involves going a very sandy/rocky road. You will absolutely need to have an all wheel drive car for this and if you don’t, then your only other option is to hike the entire way to it.
How to do it: I’m going to recommend you use Alltrails Pro for this because as far as I know, there is no official trailhead to the Great Chamber anywhere. But people have marked it on Alltrails as well as provided custom maps to get there and that’s what you can use to find it with this method.
Here’s the link to the map. You’re going to have to drive on Johnson Canyon road (near Kanab) before stopping and hiking to the Great Chamber. You can use Alltrails to find the location of where to start the hike from the drive.
2) A second driving option to Cutler Point (from the west, the one I used):
Hiking distance: You’ll need to drive at least 18 miles on sandy/rocky roads to reach Cutler Point, then hike less than 1/4th miles to get to the Great Chamber.
Difficulty: Easy hike, difficult drive again.
Description: While doing research on Cutler Point, I found someone on YouTube posted a custom Alltrails map where she basically drove to Cutler Point, then hiked a short distance to get to the Great Chamber. The thing to know about the area is that Cutler Point is both located in and one of the best hikes in Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument and there are many remote roads which go there of which this is one of the other options.
Option 1 above has you reach Cutler Point from the east. This method has you reach it from the west.
How to do it: I’ve provided a link to her map here. As with the first option you will need to drive a long distance on sandy and rocky roads to get there and you will need to use an all wheel drive vehicle for that. You’ll first be on road 89 before entering Kanab Canyon road, then going into the sandy road where you’ll be on for most of the drive.
This drive to me was fun but I was constantly looking to make sure I was following the map. Again, Alltrails Pro in this case helped a great deal because I lost cell phone reception during the drive but the map and my location on it was fine so I was able to continue navigating and making the right turns to get there.
Another very important thing: Her map lists it as 12+ miles to reach. In my case, it was more like 18 miles. Also there is a gate that may be closed when you reach it around mile 12. You can open it but just make sure to close it after. You may encounter the same situation. You’ll see Cutler Point as you get to mile 18 and there will be a short drive up, then small parking area to stop at. From there, you’ll see a gate with a sign that says Cutler Point/Great Chamber and do the short hike from there. You’ll get to the white sand cave and then drive back on the same road.
3) Do this hike via a tour company:
Hiking distance: 1/4 mile. They’ll drive you to the same exact parking lot I mentioned in option 2.
Difficulty: Easy hike, but it might be most expensive.
Description: There are several tour companies in Kanab which will drive you to Culter Point.
This might be most convenient if you are not up for a long hike or a difficult drive to reach the Great Chamber and when I personally hiked there, the same parking I stopped at by the gate to Cutler Point had dune buggies and 4×4 tour vehicles, so there are a lot people who use the tour option to hike there.
Questions about the Great Chamber:
Where is the Great Chamber in Utah?
The Great Chamber is located in southern Utah, specifically in the Grand Staircase Escalante region by Kanab.
How do I get to Great Chamber Kanab?
You can either take a jeep tour to the Great Chamber or drive and hike there yourself. There are 2 main dirt roads which take you to this hike there.
Other things to know about the Great Chamber hike:
1) I recommend you start it early. If you finish it quickly, it’ll still take you about 3 hours in total.
2) There is a short trail with many footprints you’ll follow to get to the Great Chamber from the parking lot. The hike is short (if you use the driving or tour options) but the sand walks are annoying.
3) Once you’re inside the Great Chamber, provided you are with other people, the best way to get iconic pictures of it is to have someone stand at the top of the sand cliff underneath it, and have someone go into one of the corners of the Great Chamber and point the camera up to get that photo.
4) I do recommend exploring around Cutler Point as there are other sights. Just make sure that you know how to get back. In terms of arches, I have a list of other famous arches in Utah you can check out.
Overall, the Great Chamber is one of the best hikes in Utah I’ve done and I’ll come back to explore it even more. At the same time, there’s many other places in Kanab Utah to see as well, but since this is one of the most popular hikes in the area, you now know how to find it!
