The Maze, Canyonlands

The Maze is the least accessible district of Canyonlands, a tangle of canyons west of the Green and Colorado confluence that NPS says visitors must enter ready to be self-sufficient and to rescue themselves. There are no services in the Maze: no food, no fuel and no drinkable water. Trips rarely last less than three days. For most people, the realistic way to see it is from a plane.

How to get there

There are two four-wheel-drive routes in, and both are long.

• From the north, by Hans Flat ranger station. From I-70, drive 24 miles south on UT 24 and turn left just past the Goblin Valley State Park turnoff; a two-wheel-drive dirt road runs 46 miles southeast to Hans Flat, about 2.5 hours from Green River. From Hans Flat, the canyons are another three to six hours by high-clearance four-wheel drive (NPS).
• From the south, near Hite Marina on UT 95. NPS gives more than three hours of driving to reach the park boundary.

Hans Flat is open daily from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and has a small sales area with books and maps. NPS describes the 4x4 roads in the Maze as isolated and extremely difficult, not for inexperienced drivers, and warns that GPS units often lead people astray.

Permits and how long to stay

Every overnight trip needs a permit. Four-wheel-drive and mountain-bike groups camp at designated sites; backpackers can reserve designated sites or use an at-large zone. Trips rarely last less than three days, and the district can absorb a week. Day trips from Moab are not realistic.

Tours to the Maze

Neither Viator nor GetYourGuide lists a ground tour into the Maze. What both list are flights. Redtail Air’s Canyonlands and Arches flight from Canyonlands Field names the Maze on its route, alongside Island in the Sky, the Needles and Arches; it lasts 80 minutes and is from $480 a person with at least two per booking (checked October 2026).

Check the Maze flight

The scenic flights page compares it with the shorter flights. On the ground, the river trips through Cataract Canyon run along the Maze’s eastern edge, and Horseshoe Canyon, a detached part of the park beyond Hans Flat, is reachable by graded dirt road; the Horseshoe Canyon guide covers it.