Overview

Hype:

Water Canyon is a great canyon. It's different than most any other canyons because it has tan-orange-colored sandstone and because the canyon is so lush. The lower portion of Water Canyon is a favorite destination for local guides to take groups, so if you're a fast group, you may want to get an early start to avoid the bottlenecks. Water Canyon boasts 12 rappels up to 175 feet tall. In addition to the rappels, there are a couple of pools, some narrows, and a couple of easy downclimbs. Most of the canyon is fairly open with easy walking.

Canyon Rating: 3B

Time: 5-7 hours

Length: 2.2 mile approach, 0.8 mile canyon, 1.0 mile exit

Longest Rappel: 175 ft

Gear: Standard canyoneering gear. A wetsuit is recommended. Bring a dry bag for anything you don't want wet.

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 37.037862, -112.955242.

Route

Approach

From the trailhead, follow the well-established hiking trail approximately 1 mile north-northwest to the mouth of Water Canyon. Water Canyon is a popular hike to a lush canyon with some small waterfalls.

Once you reach the waterfalls and the end of the Water Canyon hiking trail, hike up past the first little cascade to an upper bench at the base of a 10-foot waterfall. The waterfall is the last rappel in the canyon. On the west wall of the canyon a hundred feet or so to the south of the waterfall is a steep little climb up to a ledge. This is where the canyoneering approach trail starts. The trail is well traveled through this portion, mostly by commercial canyoneering groups, but also by some hikers as well. Follow the trail northwest until you get to the top of Lower Water Canyon. One particularly steep part of the trail conveniently has a log alongside that you can use for a handhold. Keep your eyes up though because more than one person has smashed their head into a branch. Most commercial groups start at the top of Lower Water Canyon, but Upper Water Canyon is definitely worth the time, so I highly recommend continuing up to the top of Upper Water Canyon.

Instead of dropping ine Lower Water Canyon to the north, turn south and follow the trail up to the rim of the canyon. This section is a bit steep with a 4th class scramble in one spot and some switchbacks, but the trail is well defined. Once at the rim, leave the hiking trail and travel southwest for a bit then turn northwest and proceed to the top of Upper Water Canyon. This section of the hike has some portions of lightly traveled trail, but the trail often disappears as it crosses slickrock. A GPS is highly recommended for the approach.

Canyon

Upper Water Canyon

From the top of the canyon, follow the drainage east. The first obstacle is a short dryfall that can be easily bypassed on the north. Continue past some shallow pools to the top of the first major drop. 

Drop #1: Optional 20' rappel from a tree anchor. Can also be easily downclimbed by walking down the slickrock on the east side.

Drop #2: 100 foot rappel from a tree anchor 30 ft from the lip.

Drops #3 and #4: 70 foot, two-stage rappel from a bolted anchor. The first drop is easily stemmed down, but a rope is helpful for the second drop.

Drop #5: 30 foot rappel to a ledge and bolted anchor.

Drop #6: 160 foot rappel from a bolted anchor into a pool.

Narrows

Lower Water Canyon

Drop #7: 30 foot rappel from a bolted anchor into short swirling narrows.

Drop #8: 25 ft rappel from a bolted anchor down a vertical crack.

Drop #9: Tricky downclimb on the right past a pool of water. If the water is deep enough, this makes a good jump.

Drop #10: 150 foot rappel from a bolt anchor down the face of a cliff.

Drop #11: 50 foot rappel from a tree anchor high on the right (north) side.

If you've had enough fun, you can skip the last two rappels and take the trail from here back to your car.

Drop #12: 150 foot rappel from a 2-bolt anchor. Rappel has an awkward start in a crack and then goes free hanging part way down.

Drop #13: 20 foot rappel from a 2-bolt anchor. Rappel goes next to a small waterfall/dryfall and is free hanging for the last 10 feet.

Exit

The last rappel deposits you at the top of the Water Canyon hiking trail that you hiked up on the approach. Take the trail 1.0 miles back to your car.

Maps

Closest City or Region: Hildale, Utah

Coordinates: 37.053878, -112.969957

Interactive Guide Map

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June 25, 2022 Trip Report

By Jeremy Dye

Trip Members

Jeremy Dye, Anthony Dye, Shaylin Dye, Matt Laurendeau, Connor Fairholm,

Logistics

Start: 9:00

Finish: 3:30

Story

Our original plan was to do Heaps Canyon, but with a 30% chance of rain on the forecast, we decided to head south and avoid the storm. We did Water Canyon instead. It was my second time doing the canyon, but it was the first time for everyone else. The hike up was mostly uneventful. We got a little off trail at one point and had to do a few rock climbing moves to get up a cliff band, but it wasn't too big of a deal. Once in the canyon, we played around in the water and had a fun time. We ran into another group that was ahead of us but they skipped several sections of the canyon and were still going much slower than us. At the rappel where you drop into a small pothole, we tried wall runing sideways to avoid the water. Most of us failed, but Anthony made it around. We had a great time and finished early enough that we decided to go do Yankee Doodle canyon too.

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Pictures

June 14, 2019 Trip Report

By Jeremy Dye

Trip Members

Jeremy Dye, Tara Dye, Ondylyn Wagner, Ryan Baker, Eliza Baker, Dakota Belliston, Sean Whittacre,

Logistics

Start: 9:20

End: 5:00

Story

Water Canyon was a lot of fun. We ran into quite a few hikers on the way up and saw a couple commercial outfits starting Lower Water Canyon, but we had the rest of the trip to ourselves. Liza had a hard time with the steep hike and the big rappels.

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Video of Trip

Pictures