The trail up Hell Hole Canyon begins along North Taviawk Drive in Kayenta at roughly the following coordinates: 37.19371,-113.69673. Parking is limited here. Make sure you entirely off the pavement or the man will issue you a citation for violating the HOA rules. The trail proper goes north up the bottom of the wash, but there is a well-worn use trail the follows along the edge of the wash to the immediate west that is far preferable as you avoid slogging through the loose sand.
After approximately a mile of easy walking (virtually no elevation gain), the use trail dips to the wash and then ascends a minor ridge before continuing up canyon. I missed this the first time I went up this trail and ended up tacking right and following a wash to its terminus at the foot of the cliffs. I wasn't mad. It's all so spectacular that there really is not wrong option.
Anyway, after climbing the minor ridge, the trail continues maybe another couple of tenths of a mile until it peters out at a mass of boulders and scrub oak. But wait! There's a "tunnel" through the scrub oak and if you push forward, the path re-emerges and continues up more faintly now since most folks don't continue this far. The path climbs up a steep and loose embankment. At the top, there is a narrow slot that you can squeeze through. At the end of the slot is the end of the line as the way forward gets pretty rough (meaning technical). But if you scale the boulder to your immediate right and circle around to its front, there is a nice flat platform to sit on with grand views of the canyon below.
Its worth noting that what is described above is the west "finger" of Hell Hole Canyon. There is also an east "finger" which is where the waterfall is. I've been up the canyon as far as I was able to go, but it is considerably more rugged than its westerly brother that gets the majority of traffic. But if you want solitude far from the madding crowds (and perhaps some seasonal water), this is your place.
BTW, it probably needs to said (or maybe it doesn't because it is so self-evident), but none of these hikes are daytime summer hikes. It get hot af here so you need to get out either early or late and take a ton of water.
A couple of pics:
