LITTLE GRAND CANYON, Utah - Late in the second day of a backpacking trip through southern Utah's Little Grand Canyon, we came to a decision point.

My brother Paul, cousin Jason and I paused in the gravelly mouth of a side canyon intersecting the San Rafael River. Dark rain clouds moved over our heads.

Our car lay a mile or two farther downstream, an easy final push before dark. We hadn't packed tents, or much of any rain protection: Paul had assured us beforehand that the forecast looked sunny and warm. Yet we still had plenty of food in our packs, and this side canyon beckoned us to come explore and make camp.

Should we play it safe, or spend one more night in this red rock paradise? There wasn't much debate. We had to stay.

As we unpacked our dinner and darkness fell, the first sprinkles began, soon growing into a downpour. But by then we were committed, and giddy with a sense of adventure. Across the dry riverbed from where we sat getting soaked, we noticed one massive boulder shoved up against another; occasional flash flooding over the years had carved out a shallow cave between them.

There was just enough space for three sleeping bags and a fire.

The San Rafael Swell is 2,000 square miles of rugged Bureau of Land Management land located south of Price, Utah, straddling both sides of Interstate 70. It is named after a massive dome of rock, or "swell," that was pushed upward tens of millions of years ago. The elements have since eroded the region into a stunning maze of sandstone canyons, buttes and pinnacles.

The San Rafael River slices through the northern half of the Swell, and in one section, it has formed a deep and wide trough appropriately known as the Little Grand Canyon.

As we researched where to take an extended weekend backpacking trip in mid-May - a cooler time of year notorious for big crowds across much of southern Utah - Paul came across a description of the Little Grand Canyon. It checked all the boxes we were looking for. The drive from Idaho (or Salt Lake City) isn't terribly long, and being located on BLM land means the trek doesn't require a permit for staying overnight.

The crowds, we hoped, would also be relatively light considering the area isn't very well advertised and is close to more popular tourist destinations such as Arches, Canyonlands and Capitol Reef national parks. We hit the road from Salt Lake City on a Friday morning.

At certain times of year, when flows are above about 200 cubic feet per second, the 15-mile stretch of the Little Grand Canyon between Fuller Bottom and the "swinging bridge" can be floated, according to the BLM. When flows are lower, below 50 cfs, it makes for a good one- to three-day hiking trip, depending on how many side canyons you want to explore. Hiking requires wading through the river more than a dozen times on the way through the canyon.

On our first day, we hiked about seven miles down from Fuller Bottom to Virgin Spring Canyon, which branches off from the San Rafael River. As the name implies, the side canyon features a spring not far from the canyon mouth that is ideal for refilling water bottles. Pumping out of the main river would work, but its brownish water isn't ideal.

That night, we made camp on a sandstone shelf perched above the canyon, a great vantage point to watch the sun go down. After a quick day hike farther up Virgin Spring Canyon the next morning, we loaded up our packs and started downstream once again.