Canyoneering | Blarney Canyon, West Fork
Hype:
The Left Fork of Blarney Canyon is a great introduction to canyoneering. There is one mandatory rappel right at the beginning. There are another 2-4 drops that could be rappelled or down-climbed depending on the group. Blarney holds very little water, even after recent rains.
Canyon Rating: 3A 
Time: 2-3 hours
Length: 2.2 miles round trip
Longest Rappel: 40 ft
Gear: 100 foot rope, standard rappelling 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: www.roadtripryan.com
Navigate to 38.021103, -110.544699.
Hike 1.2 miles along the west rim of Blarney Canyon. The approach is generally easy to follow. There is a very obvious trail except for up the slickrock.
The canyons begins with a 40 foot rappel from the rim into the canyon. This is the only mandatory rappel. It has a couple sharp lips, so use a rope protector to avoid your rope getting damaged.
The next obstacle is encountered in about 100 feet. There is a huge boulder on the right (looking down canyon) that some people have used to rappel off of, as evidenced by a ton of rope grooves. The better way to navigate past this obstacle is to drop down a body-sized hole in the center of the canyon. The hole is easy to miss if you walk over the top of it and continue to the next drop.
About a third of the way down the technical portion of the canyon, there is a 50-foot drop with multiple chockstones. You can rappel off of one of the chockstones (recommended for most) or chimney down the 50 feet.
There is one other short drops of 6 feet or so that can be downclimbed easily.
From the confluence, hike down the wash 30-40 minutes to your car.
From the trailhead, hike up the wash (not up the standard approach). At the confluence, turn right and go up East Fork. Once at the top of the East Fork, hike overland to the top of West Fork and descend the West Fork of Blarney Canyon. Hike down the wash to your car.
Closest City or Region: Hanksville, Utah
Coordinates: 38.033764, -110.538680
By Jeremy Dye
Jeremy Dye, Tara Dye, Savannah Dye, Madilyn Dye, Cooper Dye, Becca Miller, Brookelyn Powell, Summer Lyman,
We had another leisurely morning, waking up around 8:00. We had breakfast of bagel sandwiches and packed up for another canyon day. The original plan was to do Hogwarts, but based on reactions to the 50 ft rappels on Saturday, we decided not to do the bigger rappels in Hogwarts. Instead we did the West Fork of Blarney Canyon, and everyone had a great time.
The hike up went much quicker than we remembered, probably because the previous trip had several 2-year-olds on it. We rappelled the first drop and down climbed or lowered on all but one of the other drops.
When we got to the bottom of the canyon, we met Anthony, Miller, Kevin, and Cozy coming up. They had done both forks of Shillelagh Canyon and were still going strong. Cooper asked if he could go with them, so we restocked his snacks and water and sent him up with their group. A couple minutes later, I decided to join them as well. We hiked up the East Fork of Blarney crossed over and came down the West Fork again. The kids did amazing, and it was an awesome day.
Tara took the kids back to camp at 3:00, and the kids played games while Tara read her book.
By Jeremy Dye
Jeremy Dye, Cooper Dye, Anthony Dye, Miller Dye, Kevin Christensen, Cosette Christensen,
Trailhead: 10:30
Top of West Fork: 11:30 (descending west fork)
Confluence: 1:40 (returning to car)
Intersect Anthony's Group: 2:00 (change plans and turn around to ascend east fork)
Confluence: 2:15 (heading up east fork)
Top of East Fork: 3:10 (then hike overland to west fork)
Top of West Fork: 3:30 (descending west fork)
Confluence: 4:30
Trailhead: 4:50
We had another leisurely morning, waking up around 8:00. We had breakfast of bagel sandwiches and packed up for another canyon day. The original plan was to do Hogwarts, but based on reactions to the 50 ft rappels on Saturday, we decided not to do the bigger rappels in Hogwarts. Instead we did the West Fork of Blarney Canyon, and everyone had a great time.
The hike up went much quicker than we remembered, probably because the previous trip had several 2-year-olds on it.
We rappelled the first drop and down climbed or lowered on all but one of the other drops.
When we got to the bottom of the canyon, we met Anthony, Miller, Kevin, and Cozy coming up. They had done both forks of Shillelagh Canyon and were still going strong. Cooper asked if he could go with them, so we restocked his snacks and water and sent him up with their group. A couple minutes later, I decided to join them as well.
We hiked up the East Fork of Blarney, crossed over and came down the West Fork again.
The kids did amazing, and it was an awesome day.
By Jeremy Dye
Jeremy Dye, Tara Dye, Savannah Dye, Madilyn Dye, Cooper Dye, Anthony Dye, Arianne Dye, Miller Dye, Ondylyn Wagner, Shaylin Dye, Eric Burrows, Alex Woolsey, Tia Hammon, Kevin Christensen, Michelle Christensen, Kid Christensen, Austin Haccke, Rebecca Haccke,
We started at 9:45 and finished at 2:30 for a car-to-car time of 4 hours and 45 minutes.
We did this canyon on day 2 of our trip. We had a large group with several beginners and kids, so we took it a little bit slow and easy. Savannah and Madilyn did both rappels on their own, which was very fun to watch.
Camp Sites: Butler Canyon Primitive Camping
Canyoneering: Maidenwater Canyon, Middle Fork
Fun Places: 
Hiking: 
Rappels
Downclimbs
Fixed Anchors
Wetsuit Generally Not Required
No Drinking Water
Wayfinding
Road Access is Paved
Access Road is 2WD Accessible