Twomile Canyon to Bowknot Saddle

There’s an old stock trail in the right fork of Twomile Canyon that connects the highlands of Keg Point to the Green River in Labyrinth Canyon, 1,200′ below. It’s one of relatively few places to access Labyrinth Canyon from the rim. Several months ago Wade began planning a trip down the trail to the river, then upstream along Oak Bottom, ending with a climb up to Bowknot Saddle to see some historic inscriptions. We set a date about a month in advance of the trip and, on Saturday morning, met near Keg Knoll where most people start their hike to Colonnade Arch. Alan rode with me from Price, and we met Wade and his family along with new hiking buddy and history buff Lyman. We set out across the slickrock to the northeast and in a short time located a cairn marking the top of the trail.

Obligatory photo of Horse Bench Reservoir during the drive south
Obligatory photo of Horse Bench Reservoir during the drive south


Getting ready to hike
Getting ready to hike


Scooting down the chute
Scooting down the chute


Approaching the top of the trail
Approaching the top of the trail


Dinosaur footprint?
Dinosaur footprint?


Lyman near the top of the trail
Lyman near the top of the trail


Break in the cliff at the top of the trail (left) and cairn marker
Break in the cliff at the top of the trail (left) and cairn marker


A break in the cliffs led down to a short section that had been blasted out of the sandstone. There were a couple of short, constructed switchbacks before the trail turned west and leveled out. It then descended a long and rocky talus slope to the bottom of the right fork of Twomile Canyon. It took us an hour and 40 minutes to hike from the vehicles to the bottom of the canyon, where we rested up a bit before moving along.

View straight down on the trail
View straight down on the trail


Colonnade Arch
Colonnade Arch


Green River at the mouth of Twomile Canyon
Green River at the mouth of Twomile Canyon


Starting down the trail
Starting down the trail


The trail descends the cliff break on the right
The trail descends the cliff break on the right


Lyman and Alan
Lyman and Alan


Dropping down some ledges
Dropping down some ledges


“Sundry” inscription
'Sundry' inscription


View from the trail toward the top
View from the trail toward the top


View up the trail from near the bottom
View up the trail from near the bottom


The hike down Twomile Canyon was fairly level and easy. A few of us spread out and we checked the large boulders in the canyon’s bottom for rock art and inscriptions. We found a few modern names scratched into the sandstone but one 1901 inscription stood out: J.W. Shand from Manti, Utah. At the mouth of Twomile Canyon we turned northeast and hiked along a flat bench above the banks of the Green River. It was easy hiking and there was even sort of a trail along most of the bench. We reached the lower end of Oak Bottom and that’s where it got a little difficult.

Hiking down Twomile Canyon
Hiking down Twomile Canyon


View up the main fork of Twomile Canyon
View up the main fork of Twomile Canyon


A faint inscription: J.W. Shand, Manti, 1901
A faint inscription:  J.W. Shand, Manti, 1901


Hiking along the bench above the Green River
Hiking along the bench above the Green River


Crossing a drainage and climbing back onto the bench
Crossing a drainage and climbing back onto the bench


Oak Bottom with Bowknot Saddle beyond it
Oak Bottom with Bowknot Saddle beyond it


Oak Bottom is completely choked with trees and brush between the river bank and the talus slope at the bottom of Labyrinth Canyon’s vertical walls. Our only real option was to scramble across the rocky talus for about a quarter of a mile until the brush eased and we were able to walk on the relatively flat flood plain. In the less brushy section of Oak Bottom we encountered a large boulder with the names of several sheepherders carved into it. Near the upper end of Oak Bottom we were surprised to find a rock with the initials of the “Lucky Thirteen,” a group of early river runners who later completed a trip down the Colorado through the Grand Canyon.

There are two options to travel up Oak Bottom: scrambling or bushwhacking
There are two options to travel up Oak Bottom: scrambling or bushwhacking


Near the end of the scrambling along Oak Bottom
Near the end of the scrambling along Oak Bottom


Chad Moore, Oct. XX, ’44
Chad Moore, Oct. XX, '44


J.W.S. (another from Shand)
J.W.S. (another from Shand)


April 18, 1936, A.J. Marsing
April 18, 1936, A.J. Marsing


A. Moore, Jan. 10, 1939
A. Moore, Jan. 10, 1939


Boulder with inscriptions along Oak Bottom
Boulder with inscriptions along Oak Bottom


Green River below Bowknot Saddle
Green River below Bowknot Saddle


The “Lucky Thirteen” from 1927
The 'Lucky Thirteen' from 1927


Oak Bottom pinches out to nothing at its upper end, just below Bowknot Saddle, which is where we began our ascent. The original route up that we’d planned looked impossible from the bottom, so we spent a lot of time scrambling up and down looking for a break in the cliffs that would lead us up to the saddle. A couple of us (myself included) were getting a little exhausted, and it was already late enough in the day that we were certain to run out of daylight for the return trip. Wade kept at it, though, and finally found a route to the saddle! Lyman and I were the only ones to follow. Wade guided us up from above and we met him near the inscriptions that we came for. There were names from early explorers, miners, and river runners, with dates ranging from the early 1900s well into the 1940s.

Start of the ascent to Bowknot Saddle
Start of the ascent to Bowknot Saddle


Climbing up to Bowknot Saddle
Climbing up to Bowknot Saddle


Dead end number one
Dead end number one


Panorama below the saddle
Panorama below the saddle


Downstream along the Green
Downstream along the Green


Finally on the right path to the saddle
Finally on the right path to the saddle


Bowknot Saddle
Bowknot Saddle


Photographing old inscriptions
Photographing old inscriptions


Norville Edwin Wolverton, 9/1/05
Norville Edwin Wolverton, 9/1/05


Kolb Bros., 10/11 (bio here)
Kolb Bros., 10/11


E. Wolverton, 9-2
E. Wolverton, 9-2


Aleson + White, Oct. 26, 1947 (great history here)
Aleson + White, Oct. 26, 1947


E. Shores, 7/4/10, and E.H. Rauch, 8/13/21
E. Shores, 7/4/10, and E.H. Rauch, 8/13/21


We spent less time at the saddle than I’d hoped for, but we really had to get moving back. During the hike back my legs started to cramp, and I began to seriously worry about whether I’d be able to climb back up the trail. Just while walking across the flat ground along the river I had to take a couple of breaks to wait for leg cramps to lessen. Surely the steep climb up the trail in Twomile Canyon would kill me. I plodded along very slowly up the trail, and somehow I made it to the top without my muscles cramping up. Before reaching the top of the trail it got dark enough to require the use of headlamps. I was the last one back to the vehicles–glad that it was over, but even more glad that I went.

Sketchy ledge coming down off Bowknot Saddle
Sketchy ledge coming down off Bowknot Saddle


Bowknot Saddle from the upper end of Oak Bottom
Bowknot Saddle from the upper end of Oak Bottom


Inscriptions at the campsite on lower Oak Bottom
Inscriptions at the campsite on lower Oak Bottom


Green River reflection
Green River reflection


Hiking back toward Twomile Canyon
Hiking back toward Twomile Canyon


Neville and Edwin Wolverton, 3-12-08
Neville and Edwin Wolverton, 3-12-08


Sunset above Twomile Canyon
Sunset above Twomile Canyon


Colorful sky after sunset
Colorful sky after sunset


Hiking out by headlamp
Hiking out by headlamp


Photo Gallery: Twomile Canyon to Bowknot Saddle
GPS Track and Photo Waypoints:
[Google Earth KMZ] [GPX]

10 thoughts on “Twomile Canyon to Bowknot Saddle

  1. Dennis — This story and its photos are some of your most amazing work. Your contribution to our documented history will become invaluable to the next generation. I probated the Chad Moore estate. I am forwarding your link to his family.

  2. Dennis, do you have the GPS coordinates for accessing the rim? We are planning a rip down the green river and plan to hike to Colonnade Arch from below. We are hoping to know where to access the plateau above without a lot of guesswork.

      1. Sure thing, Sean. I edited the post to include my GPS track in GPX format, but here are the main coordinates you’ll need for reaching the rim:

        Land at mouth of Twomile: N 38° 35.002′ W 110° 03.518′
        Right fork: N 38° 35.039′ W 110° 04.168′
        Left fork: N 38° 35.068′ W 110° 4.385′
        Climb to rim: N 38° 34.898′ W 110° 04.619′
        Top of rim: N 38° 34.890′ W 110° 04.564′

        Have a good trip! 🙂

        1. Perfect, this makes sense looking at google earth. Thank you very much! We will be on this trip mid April 2019 via water craft (canoes or the like)

          Besides the Arches and Crocodile Rock / Dragons Teeth, should I be looking for anything else? I will have hiked BowKnot Saddle the day before.

          1. I don’t think there’s much else out there. There are a couple of inscriptions on some boulders in lower Twomile Canyon, but they’re not particularly significant.

          2. Sean, I am going to be doing this same trip in early June and would like to do the same hike. Were you successful?

            Thanks for the info Dennis. Beautiful pictures and story.

          3. Yes. We had a perfect trip. We used the river to access day hikes. We floated from ruby ranch to mineral bottom (Wednesday to Saturday). We hiked three canyon, bow knot bend saddle, and two mile canyon. Two mile was the highlight hike with 5 hole arch and other interesting things on top of the Mesa. You can see some of my posts on IG @hikebyme

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