Big Bull Canyon
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| | Difficulty:3B II (v3a3 II) Raps:7, max ↨135ft
Red Tape:No permit required Shuttle:None Vehicle:High Clearance | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Best season: | April-June
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46.1782, -122.3654
46.1735, -122.3510
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Introduction
This upper tributary of the west branch of Fossil Creek drains a small alpine lake named Big Bull Lake. It is a nice canyon with a long hike in, due to rough roads, and a gnarly bushwhack through slide alder, vine maple and small cliff bands to the top of the drainage. If you are looking for an adventure approach and a mellow canyon, then you should ride the Big Bull!
Approach
Drive up FR 310 as far as you can. We parked at an obvious turnout on the left before a small washout. Hike up the road about 2 miles until it crosses the Big Bull drainage, which is actually very small. It is likely that an easy shortcut through the woods is possible but we only explored this on the descent. After checking the flow start a steep hike uphill at any convenient point. The first section is the steepest and crosses a thick band of slide alder and vine maple. Bash you way through this until you hit the (big) tree line again. After this it mellows out considerably aside from finding spots through the rock bands. After this there are game trails that head right/north toward the creek and you can climb upslope through steeper sections when convenient until you reach the upper portion of Big Bull.
Descent
R1- 60 ft of rope (anchor 20 ft then a 40 ft drop) from a small tree DCL. R2- 50 ft from a log in the center of the creek R3- 30 ft from a log in the center of the creek. This has a slight overhang and you can get into the water for a brief shower. R4- 50 ft from a log in the center of the creek. There is a short downclimb and a low angle ramp with grippy bedrock. This brings you to the top of the final set of falls. R5- 70 ft from a tree DCR. This is an interesting multiple tier drop that moves from rappelers left to rappelers right as it reaches a large bench spanned by huge tree that will be your next anchor. R6- 135 ft multitier drop from a large log spanning the creek. R7- 100 ft from a cairn anchor in the center of the creek. Be aware of rock fall on this drop.
Exit
Walk to the trail 50 ft from the base of the falls then turn right to get back to the road. This is a great place to take off some gear for the walk out. Hike 1/4 of a mile back on the road then head left into the forest. Bear right as you walk through open forest until you reach an obvious road grade. This will bring you back to the road very close to the parking area to your left.
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Background
Big Bull was first explored by Kevin Clark, Wade Hewitt, David Konkol, Eric Rutz and Trey Schutrumpf in May 2026.