Overview

Hype:

Lupacchiotta Canyon is a great little canyon just off of I-70 about 30 miles west of Green River. The approach is quick and easy, the canyon is straightforward with 2 mandatory rappels and 1 optional rappel. The canyon is not especially scenic, but it's not ugly either. There is a fun tunnel section formed by a huge rock slab leaning against the cliff.

Canyon Rating: 3A

Time: 3-4 hours

Length: 2.6 mile loop

Longest Rappel: 80 ft

Gear: Standard canyoneering gear

Fees: None

Recommended Ages:

	0-3
	4-11
	12-19
	20-49
	50-69
	70+

Recommended Months to Visit:

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Getting There

Navigate to 38.858568, -110.866482.

Park on the shoulder of eastbound I-70 immediately west of (before) the Eagle Canyon bridge. This should be approximately milepost 119.5.

Route

Approach

Follow a wash up until you get to an old road. Then cut east and drop into the wash at the head of the canyon. There is really no wrong path, just work your way to the top of the canyon.

Canyon

The canyon consists of 3 drops and some boulder scrambling.

Drop #1: Rappel 60 ft off a tree anchor. Rappel is down an awkward V-shaped crack. Last person should pull the rope before reaching the bottom of the crack to give a clean direction for the pull.

Drop #2 is about 15 feet tall. It can be downclimbed but is also rigged for a rappel two different ways. The first rigging is to the chockstone and is an awkward start. The second rigging is a cairn anchor. The downclimb is exposed but not especially difficult.

Drop #3 is a 70-foot rappel off a small tree that is up a ways on the southeast side. Rig carefully to ensure a clean pull. There is a huge tree wedged in the canyon about halfway down, and this can stick a rope very easily.

After the last drop, you'll soon come to a tunnel that is formed by a huge boulder leaning against the wall of the canyon. This is the biggest boulder tunnel I've seen.

You'll do some easy boulder hopping down until you get to a long straight hallway with shelves on both walls then some more walking to the bottom of the canyon.

Exit

Once you reach the dirt road at the bottom of the canyon, follow the road west until you see a short, steep side canyon come in from the south. As you hike up the scree slope, be careful of loose rocks. The rocks can be very loose in places, especially after rain. We found a break in the cliffs at the top of the scree pile where it was very easy to climb up, so if you reach a spot where it's more than 3rd class climbing, check around for an easier way.

Once at the top of the cliff, follow the cliff edge northwest to your car.

Maps

Closest City or Region: Green River, Utah

Coordinates: 38.850400, -110.855964

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October 21, 2018 Trip Report

By Jeremy Dye

Trip Members

Jeremy Dye, Tara Dye, Savannah Dye, Madilyn Dye, Cooper Dye, Anthony Dye, Arianne Dye, Miller Dye, Ondylyn Wagner, Jaren Wagner, Killian Wagner, Eric Burrows, Breanna Burrows,

Logistics

We left the trailhaed at 12:30.

We arrived at the top of the canyon at 1:40.

We got to the road at the bottom of the canyon at 4:30.

We got back to I-70 at 5:15.

Story

We had a really wet fall and most of the canyons were very wet, so we opted for Lupacchiotta Canyon on our way home from Goblin Valley because it was supposed to be dry. Well... it wasn't dry at all! There were a couple pools of nearly freezing water, and it's a good thing they were only knee deep because otherwise we would have been in a lot of trouble. 

We did the approach hike no problem and dropped in right at the head of the canyon where we were supposed to. We could see a pool of water at the bottom of the first rappel. Anthony went down first to check it out. It was only knee deep, so we decided to go for it. Eric and Breanna had a new baby and didn't have a great pack/harness for her, so they decided to hike back out rather than do the canyon. Tara and Madilyn rappelled down next. Madi did the rappel by herself, and Tara rappelled next to her in case she needed any help. Next down were Jaren and Savannah, where Jaren was rappelling next to Savannah to offer assistance if she needed it. Ondy rappelled down with Killian (who was screaming), and I brought up the rear with Cooper attached to my harness. 

At the second drop, we lowered kids down and did the downclimb rather than rappel.

At drop 3, we rappelled in pretty much the same order as the first drop. There was a pool of water at the bottom that was waist deep in spots, but if you stayed close to the edge, you could keep your crotch dry. As we pulled the rope, the free end fell down between the log and the wall and got wedged in the crack. It took us about 5 minutes of whipping the rope up and down to get it freed.

The rest of the canyon went at kid speed because we let the older kids tackle the boulder obstacles on their own. The adults had no problem, but there were some harder obstacles for the shorter humans. We enjoyed the tunnel. On the exit hike, the kids were pooped. I carried Cooper on my shoulders and dragged Madi up the hill. That was pretty tiring.

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