Though only one mile long, the infamous Carnage Canyon is known to take several hours to traverse. Famous for wreaking havoc on even the most capable of rigs, those who dare to undertake this trail should expect winching, recovery efforts, and most likely some noteworthy vehicle damage.

Carnage Canyon is a trail the REVKIT crew has been eyeballing for years but didn’t have the opportunity to tackle it with our Jeeps until now. Ridden with plenty of horror stories, we were equally excited and hesitant to knowingly put ourselves and our vehicles in a precarious position. But, when we heard Lite Brite Nation and friends were going to be in town, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to take on this legendary trail.

We met up with everyone at the trailhead around 11 am in Buena Vista, CO, about 2.5 hours away. The meeting spot is the same staging area as the well-known Chinaman Gulch trail. Though they share the same jumping-off point, the two trails couldn’t be more different, with Chinaman Gulch being significantly less dicey.

Our crew rolling up to the trail was quite the cast of characters. The lineup included: Brittany and Kevin Williams from Lite Brite Nation with their rigs Stepchild and Side Chick; their buddies Greg Smith and Nathan from Texas who showed up with a giant Lexus LX450, Lexuson42s; Austin Corbin on his stretched YJ, YJ Unlimited; Adam Keyser was there shooting photos (his build is 52080 Hooligan); and then the REVKIT rigs, Party Wagon and Reverendkit.

Carnage Canyon is not one of those trails that slowly eases you into it, rather it hits you straight away with sharp rocks, tight squeezes, and hairy obstacles.

Less than half a mile in you’ll already have encountered the Guardian, Turtle Rock, Waterfall, and V-Notch.

“Slippery when wet” is an understatement for Waterfall and V-Notch as there were wet rocks, little traction, and nasty puddles in front of these obstacles. While we all needed to put our foot through the floor and gas it hard, Brittany was there to show our Jeeps and Lexus what buggy life was all about. Though she may have given her skins and wrap more than a love tap, she handled the obstacles with ease.

Six rigs, six major obstacles, and six hours later, our crew escaped relatively unscathed.

Though this was a long day and a challenging trail with plenty of trial and error, we had a great group of people who had good attitudes and positive spirits all day long.

Special shoutout to Lite Brite Nation for documenting our Carnage Canyon adventure – stay tuned for the video! They put a lot of work into the filming and editing and we are very pumped to have this upcoming recap of our day spent on the notorious Colorado trail.

Carnage Canyon via Trails Offroad

Difficulty: 8-10 (Severe – Extreme)

Length: .94 miles

Obstacle 1: Guardian (.11 mi)
Obstacle 2: Turtle Rock (.32 mi)
Obstacle 3: Waterfall (.46 mi)
Obstacle 5: V-Notch (.4 mi)
Obstacle 6: The Exit (.75 mi)