Aaron Ralston made Blue John Canyon famous He became trapped there in May of 2003 when a rock shifted and pinned his arm in the lower section Five days after becoming trapped, he amputated his arm with a small knife and freed himself The canyon complex itself is many people's first canyon experiences, and for good reason The different forks of Blue John offer different challenges and scenery but are very accessible to beginning canyoneers Several options are available for combining the forks, depending on time avai...

Upper Three Fingers is a great little canyon, in an easy to access, yet remote feeling part of the SwellIt's short nature make it a good beginner canyon Although it does have keeper potholes, beginners with teamwork should be able to overcome them The views where the canyon drops behind the reef are second to none Couple this one with Upper Greasewood or Hyde Draw or both to fill out a weekend

Neon Canyon May 29, 2025Our 2 person party started at exactly 7:00 am as a reference, I am 62 and my wife is 60 We are intermediate canyoneers and strong hikers We could see the dome far in the eastern distance A well marked trail of cairns took us down a steep decline of slickrock approx 500 ft elevation loss to the sign, soft sand and down desert trails for 90 minutes until we reached the Escalante River I must say that there is not much more of a beautiful sight than the bright green leaves of a grove of cotton...

Swett and Woodruff canyons, although neighbors, have very different characters Woodruff, at least the lower half, is riparian with large cottonwoods, willows, small waterfalls, and an intermittent stream, The scenery in Woodruff tends to be open, with low canyon walls and short narrow sections Canyon walls here are generally Wingate sandstone, and take the shape of large domes and rounded top walls Swett, in contrast, starts out with shallow Navajo narrows, then opens into a lovely valley with nice views of the Lit...

Tom Jones named Ho Hum Canyon after our descent of the canyon in December 2004 The name is harsher than it probably deserves, and I found the canyon had more charm than Tom did Compared to the nearby canyons such as White Roost, Chambers, and North Fork of Robbers Roost, Ho Hum is not as dramatic Ho Hum is short, but does have some downclimb and other challenges that make it interesting It also drops into the upper reaches of the North Fork of Robbers Roost, which I think is a delightful and beautiful section of ca...

If there is a better non-technical slot in Escalante, it would be tough to name Egypt 3 is by far one of the most dramatic and narrow non-technical slots in the area The canyon offers a seemingly endless supply of narrow slot, that gets narrower and narrower as you progress A number of downclimbs and challenges along the way keep it interesting Narrow slots not exciting enough Need to get a rappel in to REALLY feel like your canyoneering After the non-technical exit, technical canyoneers can continue down canyon a ...

Weeping Springs is often touted as the best technical canyon in the Black Canyon area Starting high above the Colorado River, Weeping Springs is a hike until not far from the river, where the canyon deepens in a series of fairly quick rappels It is a dramatic set of rappels in a deep section of canyon The canyon ends with 2 choices, packraft 1/4 of a mile down the Colorado River to Bighorn Canyon for the exit, or hike cross-country to Bighorn Canyon and skip the packraft I liked Weeping Springs, but thought the exi...

If it weren't for its final obstacle, I am convinced the North Fork of Iron Wash would be deemed a Swell classic The canyon offers a short approach, short exit, and very nice narrow section The upper section, in particular, has many beautifully sculpted pools and small drops A rarity in the Swell, the canyon also tends to have crystal clear, clean water This canyon is a gem! The downside The end of the canyon has a serious obstacle to overcome, a 5 m deep keeper pothole It HAS been conquered via several pack tosses...

Climbing in Arches National Park doesn't get much easier than this! A stone's throw from the much more popular Owl Rock, Bullwinkle Tower is fun, more moderate route that doesn't seem to get the love I think it deserves The climbing is easy, the views excellent, and the outing short What is not to love I recommend Bullwinkle Tower as a good first tower in Arches before tackling the harder/longer Owl Rock nearby

CLOSED as of 2019: Major rockfall in 2019 has closed the exit route down to the Main Canyon This description is left up in the hopes this historic trail East Rim Trail is re-opened I don't believe the park service is currently issuing permits for this route I hope at some point they do, it is a good canyon Is Hidden Canyon a hidden gem often overlooked by Zion canyoneers No, no it is not Hidden Canyon had been far at the bottom of my list of Zion canyons to do I had never known anyone personally that had done it, a...