Quality Ratings
Ticks
We did the south Fork. The narrows were super fun and it was an all-around gorgeous canyon. The south starts off with more of rappels and the bottom part is more fun obstacles. Some repels have marginal angers. Mom freaked out on the climb out again and the climb out is really steep slick rock. This is the fuckitty fuck canyon but that was the north fork.
North fork was not fixed. Only two required fixed ropes (1 with climbers). The first rap could be climbed as a 20 ft slab problem (don’t fall from top) but the second or third rappel ends in an over hang and would go at sandy V6 on the way up which needs a rope in my mind. North was fun, fairly open. Probably a good Cartier family slot (3 or 4 boulder scrambles that could be a little tough). Bring a couple lines to fix next time and do the north fork climb exit. No rappels over 13m you could do the north fork with blue tagline if you skip last two rappels. Petroglyphs panel next to out trail on right if you go down to river. South fork was more fun. Amazing downclimbs with a couple cool cork screws. One meh deadman that I used but carefully Definitely come back this place is great!
Did the South Fork. Me, Alex, Stephen, Joel, Heather, Lucas. Dry. Took the shortcut out and didn’t do last 2 rappels. Rapid fire rappels and down climbs. Fun
down the south slot. attempted up the North slot. super muddy and super fun. failed at last rap. too difficult with 3. potentially possible but risky with more people. ideally up with some set ropes.
Descended south fork, upclimbed north fork. 2 fixed lines were available to help with the upclimb. There was one upclimb that would have been helpful to have a fixed line, especially for our party of two.
With Dwayne. Down south and up north
South Fork- super fun canyon, would repeat. Last 2 repels are worth it. With Lex, Mikey, and Brenden - 2hr 51min - 40m rope and pull cord. Nice camping @ TH
family friendly, straightforward repels(4pl 2:53)
North fork- descent and ascent just to where south fork comes in, 1 hr. With Lex, realized we don't know how to ascend ropes, but pretty easy climbs with one overhang. Every rope was fixed except 1.
down and up north fork(2pl 1:08)
Dropped into the south fork on 4-12-25 with 4 experienced people and 3 new people. I wasn't expecting much due to the lower * rating but was pleasantly surprised. It felt kinda like a playground with fun obstacles--All the webbing and anchors were in good condition. Weather was good, no water, mud, or rain. We ended up ascending up the North fork after completing the south fork. Going up the North fork was fun too, with a different set of challenges (none of them too difficult with the right gear). There were two fixed ropes for going up the largest two drops. I will definitely do this one again.
South fork with Alexandra, her first canyon. About 7hrs total though spent about 2hrs on the first short practice rappel. Did not do last 2 rappels to the river.
Me, Alex, Kylin, Cole, lucas, Joel. Did the North Fork. Very little and easily avoidable water. Explored up the south canyon a bit until 1st rappel. Very fun. Some slidy down climbs. Cold
nice easy canyon with a bunch of natural anchors. did the recommended route, down north, up the exit to South, down south and then ascended north. there were handlines in place on North for a couple of the raps, but not all. a lot of the raps in North could be down climbed by the ambitious.
Great canyon for a first timer. Not exciting enough to do again unless bringing someone for teaching. Last two raps are good fun. Would be a good canyon to bring backpacking gear for an overnight on the shelf after first rap. Exit kinda stinks. Meh
south fork
Group of 4, would definitely do again. Last 2 rappels were awesome.
Wet Water chest deep Beautiful last two rappels to the dirty devil
North Fork only with Greg and Justin, and made friends with Scott and Amy in the canyon. First two anchors were completely missing and there was only one fixed rope in the canyon. Unavoidable waist deep water after the fourth drop and beyond.
My fist actual canyoning experience.
Nice short outing, can make for a fun day if combined with other canyons in the area.
down south, up north, all handlines in place for an easy ascent. less than 2 hours car to car.
Wonderful canyon! Very fun, and the north fork is very beginner friendly.
With Kaden. Went down the South Fork and climbed up the North Fork on fixed lines. Round trip was 2.5 hours. Upclimb may be possible without fixed lines with advance partner assist, but the lines made it much easier!
N fork solo
First trip down with Ron.
First trip !
Did both slots, great experience. Easy stuff.
Beautiful easy Canyon with good repels but funky starts
Descended through South Fork to the overlook just beyond where the two forks join. Returned up the North Fork. First rappel (~16m) was what appeared to be a combination between a simple rock anchor and a cairn anchor with 3 straps around the rock. Webbing could be replaced, and one strap actually snapped as the last of our group began his descent. All other anchors and webbing along the fork were in decent shape. Make sure you park at the camp site and hike back up the road if you want to start the South Fork. We pulled along a polaris' trail and were lucky to get back out through the sand. Would not recommend driving out in a sedan or other 2wd; bring lots of water (duh).
The deadman for the last repel of the optional repels had some movement to it. There's a good amount of rock down there to help beef it up if needed
Great Canyon, load of fun. Long John came along to mark his 100th canyon descent. Got a little lost on the hike back out trying to follow the cairns, but were able to course correct and only added maybe an additional hour to the trip. Celebrated with shakes at Stan's Burgershak in Hanksville.
Did the north fork with a group of four and two dogs: two rock climbers, my inexperienced and timid wife, myself, and the two doodle pups. It took us just over 4 hours and we weren't able to move very quickly. I didn't see any major areas that could hold water in the wet season. The last half mile or so of the dirt road driving to the trailhead was sandy, followed by a pretty steep section that almost proved too much for my friends in their sedan. The best trail to take to the wash is more north east than I remember, but as long as you point yourself east, you will find your way to the wash. First rap is super easy and beginner friendly, being short and not a complete vertical face. The dogs really enjoyed how open most of the canyon was -- they had plenty of sand to run around in and they could do quite a few of the downclimbs without assistance. We lowered the more timid people of the group on a few sections that could be downclimbed. None of the fixed ropes were there anymore, which is too bad for the base jumpers! The canyon narrowed up toward the end and made traversing it with the dogs a little tricky, but doable. The last two rappels are for sure the best part of the whole canyon in my opinion. Both have overhanging sections which are super nice with the dogs. Hiking out is a bit of a slog -- head right (south) and follow the social trail/cairns until you can find a good place to climb up the slick rock. It took us just under an hour to make it to the top, close to a mile with 700' elevation gain mostly in the form of heading directly up slick rock. From there we headed north by northwest through the flat plain to get back to the car. Not too difficult to navigate.
This canyon was so fun. I realized part way through that the dome/spire at the end of the canyon is very tall and this canyon keeps dropping and dropping. At the confluence of the two canyons there were loads of black flies for about 30m, then, once the sand was gone, no more flies.
South Fork was fun. Recommend bypassing the first rappel. Great for first timers with competent leader.
Great canyon!
Double slot double date with Katie and Sam
We went down the South Fork and up the North Fork. Lovely experience. North Fork had ropes in place in good condition. First rappel in South Fork needs some redundancy... possible to by pass.
Venture off, night canyon
Fun slot and unclimbs!
Both forks
Lauren's first canyon! Just the two of us out here for the weekend. We did the South fork. Pretty middle of the road kinda canyon, but had plenty of rappels for Lauren to learn and get comfortable on. Some cool downclimbs as well. We skinny dipped in the Dirty Devil afterwards, that river never gets up to your waist, it seems. Bit of a torturous exit out, got off route somehow and ended up back in the South fork and did a sketchy upclimb to exit. Had a long siesta during the worst heat. Lauren slept, I read Testimony on a blanket in a patch of shade we hiked down to, which I later realized was the top of North Fork of Angel Cove! We downclimbed about 1/3 of the way, then ascended using the fixed lines for the base jumpers. Very fun, highlight of the day.
