Big Valley Canyon (Lower)
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| | Raps:7-10, max ↨215ft
Red Tape:No permit required Shuttle:Optional 15 minutes Vehicle:Passenger | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Condition Reports: | 27 Jul 2024
"Meteoblue forecast was 71F at the drop in and 80F at the river, which felt like a pretty ideal range.. We took a new approach route down and had n |
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| Best season: | Jul-Aug
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39.2287, -120.5594
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Introduction[edit]
The lower section of Big Valley Canyon enters committed narrow gorges with some big and exciting drops, and awesome scenery. This is not something that most would want to drop into with a lot of water, as some spots could become quite dangerous.
There are some options here. It's entirely possibly you could do the lower, then hike out all without a bivy. But you would need to move really really fast, and it would be a hellishly long day. So overnights are recommended. This also allows you to do Big Granite Canyon (Lower) the next morning, which doesn't take much extra effort, and should not be missed! You can also include Upper Big Valley Canyon, but you'll need an early start and/or a fast group to make it to the NF American before dark.
Approach[edit]
From the Yuba Gap exit, drive to Huysink Lake at 39.288492,-120.536048. This makes for a good spot to camp and meet up. Then drive south toward Sugar Pine Point. The road is gravel with some rocks and extremely dusty, but should be passable by passenger cars.
The road splits here: 39.251776,-120.543875. Turn left and follow this road to a yellow gate. Park your car to the side. From here you can start walking, or drive your second car back to that split in the road and follow the other fork downhill. After the large turnabout marked 'Low clearance park' the road becomes high-clearance due to numerous water berms. If you have a high-clearance vehicle you can continue 1.5mi down to the start of the approach hike -- a hundred yards past the start of the hike is a turnaround where you can leave the second vehicle. Or just park above and enjoy the pleasant hike downhill through the woods.
Warning: The approach hike becomes very steep and loose during the lower half. From the switchback on the road traverse out west around the ridge. From there angle down the ridge ultimately aiming for this point: 39.235577,-120.562012 where the right-hand creek with big waterfalls (NOT the left-hand creek with big waterfalls) that you can see comes into Big Valley. Follow the ridge down with some mild bushwhacking through brush, until it cuts around a wash and gets steep. Here you can cut down into a gully on the right. Cut out of this gully to the right fairly quickly, possibly crossing a spine of rock into the next gully. You can follow down this one for a while, but eventually need to cut out right of it as well. This should bring you to a ridge just downstream of the tributary across from you. Look for a safe route down this ridge and into the canyon.
Descent[edit]
A short ways downstream you will hit the first short gorge. Note that everything downstream gets more constricted and more potentially dangerous than this, so if this look sketchy and dangerous to you, turn back now, and exit via the approach described above. This gorge can be descended by first rappelling ~90' off a tree into the first pothole, and then a particularly fantastic jump of ~30' into the second pothole. The next drop afterwards can also be jumped, but the space for landing is about 4-5 feet wide between some boulders, so caution is required.
The canyon opens back up for a bit of slick rock hopping until another tributary comes in from the right (the 'left-hand creek with big waterfalls' you saw on the approach hike). Soon after, another gorge begins. Enter it by traversing out above a shallow rock shelf on the right, then jumping into the deep pool beyond. The bolts here on LDC got blown out. You can build an anchor off upstream boulders, but this may not be ideal if flows are high.
A short sketchy drop follows. A slick slab climbing move can bring you right out onto the rock above it. Down the slab, and across the current, you can traverse around to the left to get to the next bolts around the corner. The traverse was easy when we did it, but with high enough flows the consequences of falling would be very very real. This rappel drops you past one drop and into a second where you'll be partially in the flow.
The next drop is awkward and in a constriction. Could be dangerous with high flows.
After some more drops you will exit this gorge. Soon after is a large 215' drop bolted on the left. Its followed by an unsafe, but potential slide with a submerged bedrock ridge in the landing (recommended bypass right, or climb into the crack and find a landing for a short jump) and a second much better slide (only good on left edge of watercourse), where the water is not particularly deep,
Some boulder choked passages follow, and a couple drops, before another fairly large waterfall which appears to be the final one. This drop could also be hazardous, as the water slams into a point and splits. Powerful flows to the left, and awkward rappelling with some potentially sketchy caves and cracks to the right. If you rappel left, it could potentially be fun to short the rope and rappel into a slide.
Head left as you make your way down out of the stream. A somewhat surprising (I guess not now that I told you) waterfall follows. Some strange things happen with marble and splits in the water here, so the flow seems to be much less, and even dries up for a moment afterwards. This is the final rappel.
Exit[edit]
Heading down the creek you'll hit the NF American River. Then proceed upriver swimming in some fantastic pools with sculpted cliffs. In late summer flow this should present no challenge, but optionally there is a bypass from below the last rappel that shortcuts left over a ridge to skip these swims. There is a trail marked on the topo on the other (south) side of the river, but it is high above the river and at low summer flows not worth climbing up to -- instead just wade up the river or along the rocks on the shore. NOTE: in 2020 the 'Wheelbarrow camp' was not found, and the waypoint is high above the river making it hard to get to water. We walked another hundred yards or so upstream and found some small gravel along the left bank (looking upriver) to bivy on.
The nice campsite at Big Granite Creek largely got washed out in 2017, but there is a beach to camp on on the opposite side of the river. This is a decent camp, as there's a big swimming-pool-like gorge upstream, and across the river in Big Granite Creek is a beautiful deep pothole with lots of options for jumping in! Alternatively there is a flat spot to camp just after Big Granite Creek right as the trail starts up the hillside. The exit trail appears to dead end in this campsite, but it starts uphill just next to a large rock that might have a cairn on it. The trail is well-maintained up to the top.
The trail continues up past a rocky point and traverses above a deep canyon to your left. You might think "Wow, that looks pretty damn cool down there." This is Big Granite Canyon. It is pretty damn cool, and you should stash any extra gear, and go do it right now (one 100' rappel). The spot to drop in is as soon as the forest covers everything between you and the creek.
Once you've completed Big Granite, and hiked back up the hill again, continue on to where the trail crosses Big Granite Creek. (you should probably fill up on water!) Pick up the trail on the other side and head up. The Big Granite trail does not really fuss around about gaining elevation.
After going uphill for a long time, the trail flattens out. Eventually you'll come out into a meadow. You can cut off the trail here, going uphill to the left a short ways to get straight to the road. Then follow the road just a half mile to the left back to your car.
Red tape[edit]
Beta sites[edit]
Trip reports and media[edit]
Sep 2024: Fast group can do Upper and Lower all together in one long day. (our group of 6 people did it in 11 hours from car to car). If you don't have to carry a camping gear you will move much faster.
