John's Canyon is on the southern end of Cedar Mesa. It is accessed from State Route 316, off State Route 261 near Mexican Hat. Look for the sign for Goosenecks State Park. Once you have turned down State Route 316, in about 2 kilometers you will see a wide, well-traveled dirt track to the right marked Road 244. The grid coordinates for the road intersection (using MGRS and the NAD 27 datum) are approximately 12S WS 9875017450.

The drive into John's Canyon is a fun one. It only takes about 2 hours to drive staight into John's Canyon, but there are amazing views along the way, with plenty of places to stop for a break, or even to camp. You might see a rock art panel or two as you drive in. If you plan to drive to the end of the road, all the way in past the drill hole to the northeast, you will need a high clearance four wheel drive.

About an hour into the drive on road 244, after leaving State Route 316, you will come to a road intersection at approximately 12S WS 8979026461 (using MGRS and the NAD 27 datum). It will be just after a stream crossing of exposed mudstone/siltstone. This is either the Halgaito Formation or the Honaker Formation- the Halgaito overlies the Honaker in this location. (This is likely the Halgaito that is visible with the Honaker exposed lower in John's Canyon, towards the San Juan River.) To the left, or west, takes you towards Slickhorn Canyon. This road comes to a very rough, impassable turn after about 3 kilometers. It appeared that this section of the trail could be repaired fairly easily, but we did not venture further to check to trail conditions beyond.

To the right, or northeast, takes you into John's Canyon. Please note, the road as drawn on the map appears to be incorrect from this point on. The map shows the road to be south of the streambed, when it is actually north. Also- the road's end is actually much further into the canyon than drawn. The road crosses the stream bed in the bottom of John's Canyon numerous times. A few of these crossings are rather rough- there are deep pools where the road crosses the same exposed mudstone/siltstone and there are a couple of deep, muddy crossings with steep embankments on both sides. There is a vey nice campsite at the end of the road and it appears that you could hike to the rim of at least two of the drainages to view the ruins there (see below).

There are numerous small ruins in the upper reaches of John's Canyon, most of which are more easily accessible from the mesa top. See Michael Kelsey's Canyon Hiking Guide to the Colorado Plateau: Non-Technical for more information.

Be sure to drive the few miles down state route 316 and take a look at the San Juan River from Goosenecks State Park overlook as you drive in or out of the area. Towards the southwest you can see Monument Valley, to the west you may be able to see Navajo Mountain.

View of the Goosenecks of the San Juan from the state park, a textbook example of incised meanders.