The Belly of the Dragon Tunnel is a fun family friendly little roadside stop. I wouldn’t really call it a hike so much as an attraction to view and walk through. This is a man made tunnel between Orderville and Kanab UT, but it’s worth a visit if you’re in the area and can be quickly and easily be explored.
Location & Parking
This is about 17mi north of Kanab, 1/2 south of Mt. Carmel Junction, and 5mi south of Orderville UT along HWY 89.
Follow Google Maps directions to the spot above. You’ll turn onto a dirt road on the west side of HWY89. The dirt road is well maintained and can be accessed using just about any vehicle. Continue on this road for approx. a quarter of a mile. Stay to the left of the fork. You’ll see a parking area to your left.
Getting There
You might not see the entrance to the Belly of The Dragon Tunnel depending on where you parked. The entrance faces south, so depending on your angle, it might just look like rock. But this is really the only thing in this area and there’s a very short path leading to the tunnel.
Since the tunnel is such an easily accessible family friendly hike, it does tend to get crowded, so you can also just follow the people.
Follow the path to the entrance of the tunnel. From here you’ll have to climb down some cement blocks in order to be able to enter the tunnel. At the base of the tunnel, you’ll then have to climb up another initial set of rocks just inside of the entrance. The rest of the way is pretty smooth sailing as you walk the less than .25mi through the tunnel.
You should be able to just about see the exit from the entrance. Once you get to the exit, you can turn around and go back the way you came, or you can walk along the dirt road to get back to the parking area.
History
They Belly of the Dragon was originally created to divert water under HWY89. It’s basically a giant culvert! Over time the water carved the walls of the sandstone tunnel and created the rippling, which looks like the underbelly of a dragon.