Overview

Hype:

Watson Canyon, located near Torrey, Utah, offers a moderate canyoneering adventure in a scenic desert setting. This canyon features several downclimbs and potentially a few short rappels, depending on conditions and the skill level of the group. The approach is relatively quick, and the exit, a miserable slog straight up a steep and loose canyon wall, provides sweeping views of the surrounding red rock landscape. The canyon is typically dry. While it lacks the dramatic features of other nearby canyons, Watson Canyon provides a pleasant outing for those seeking a more relaxed canyoneering experience near Capitol Reef National Park. Reaching the trailhead requires a true high clearance 4x4 and skilled driving. The drive looks short on a map, but it takes about 45 minutes each way from the pavement.

Canyon Rating: 3A

Time: 2-3 hours

Length: 0.54 mile approach, 0.55 miles in canyon, 1.1 mile exit

Longest Rappel: 1-3 rappels to 65 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

Links: https://www.roadtripryan.com/go/t/utah/capitol-reef/watson-canyon

Getting There

Navigate to 38.360809, -111.440708.

Although the trailhead is only a few miles from Torrey, plan on at least 45 minutes of true high clearance roads. This road is popular with ATVers for good reason.

Route

Approach

From the trailhead, follow an old dirt road southeast for 0.4 miles. Leave the road and turn north to drop down a short but steep slope into Watson Canyon.

Canyon

Once inside the canyon, you'll encounter a handful of straightforward obstacles, including small downclimbs and up to 3 rappels, the most significant being around 65 feet.

Drop. 65 ft rappel from a slung boulder anchor.

Drop. 15 ft rappel from a slung boulder anchor. Can be downclimbed.

Drop. 25 ft rappel from a slung boulder anchor. Can be downclimbed.

Exit

The exit is a little tricky to find. If you leave the canyon too early, you get cliffed out after climbing 50 ft or so. Make sure you climb the ridge up. The initial climb out of the canyon to the rim gains 350 ft of elevation in a little over 0.1 miles. The ground is loose, so it's a bit of a push to get up the hill. Once on the rim, the trail turns to a gradual uphill hike up the dirt road and back to the trailhead. Total exit is a little more than a mile.

Maps

Closest City or Region: Torrey, Utah

Coordinates: 38.358906, -111.433386

Interactive Guide Map

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September 1, 2024 Trip Report

By Jeremy Dye

Trip Members

Jeremy Dye, Tara Dye, Savannah Dye, Madilyn Dye, Cooper Dye, Matt Laurendeau, Amanda Laurendeau, Alex Laurendeau, Caleb Laurendeau, Rose Laurendeau, Lila Laurendeau, Trey Laurendeau,

Logistics

Trailhead: 10:25

Top of Watson Canyon: 10:50

Bottom of Watson Canyon: 2:10

Trailhead: 3:55

Story

We got a little bit later start but still hit our canyon at a decent time in the morning. We did Watson Canyon, which was up the really bad dirt road. Since the Laurendeaus' van couldn't make it up the road, we packed all the gear and 12 people into our truck and drove up to the trailhead. It took us most of an hour to drive a couple miles. The road was super rough with lots of round bumpy rocks that we had to drive over. They were also sections of slick rock shelves that we had to make our way up. Matt was in the back with the kids and did not appreciate the rough ride. 

The approach to Watson Canyon was awesomely short, and we tried to sequence as much as we could and spread out in the canyon, so we weren't bottlenecked. We still ended up getting bottlenecked a little bit toward the end, but it wasn't too bad. The biggest bottleneck was where there was a pond that we ziplined people over. A few competent canyoneers could do the canyon quite quickly because most of the drops were downclimbable, but for our group, we rappelled most of the drops. Once we finished the canyon, we exited up the nasty steep exit hike and got cliffed out early on. We were knocking huge loose rocks down on other people, and it was very scary. We did eventually find our way up and did the slog up to the rim. I carried Trey in my backpack. Matt carried Lila on his shoulders. By the end of that, his back was hurting pretty bad. Then we still had most of a mile of road walking to get back to the truck. The littlest kids and Cooper were dragging, but we all made it eventually. Then we took the nasty bumpy road back to camp.

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Pictures