Black Hole of White Canyon
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| | Difficulty:3B III (v2a2 III) Raps:0-2, max ↨15ft
Red Tape: Shuttle: Vehicle:Passenger | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Condition Reports: | 17 Oct 2025
"Wow! Lightly flowing water throughout the canyon about 3 days of sunshine after heavy rain. LOTS of mud and quicksand and long swims. We loooooved the |
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| Best season: | Summer;Spring;Fall
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37.7992, -110.2993
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Weather forecast
Waterflow
Introduction
The Black Hole is a scenic and mostly non technical canyon just off highway 95 in the Cedar Mesa area. While the canyon has little in the way of technical rope work, massive flows through the canyon can change the nature of the descent dramatically, as noted by the sign at the entrance to the canyon warning against attempts to descend. The sign is several years old and in recent years the canyon has been runnable, but this can change fast. Make sure to check recent trip reports and be prepared to deal with unforeseen hazards.
If you reach the canyon entrance and find water with any amount of flow, seriously evaluate your group's flowing water canyoning abilities and turn back if necessary.
Approach
Drop a shuttle car at the Glen Canyon Scenic Viewpoint (37.81115N, 110.33595W) and then drive southeast on 95 to the trail head (37.79692N, 110.30402W) From there, follow the trail northeast and descend the drainage down into the canyon past the warning sign and to the canyon floor.
Descent
Hike, scramble, downclimb and swim your way down the canyon. The first section of the canyon is typically dry or the pools are avoidable, but eventually you will reach a corridor with water spanning wall to wall. Time to suit up and begin your swim. You will swim through deep pools and hike through shallow puddles alternately until you reach the heart of the black hole. A debris filled smelly pit reminiscent of the trash compactor scene in Star Wars. Try not to get it in your mouth... After this short but memorable section return to alternating swimming, wading and hiking. The water eventually mostly dries up, the canyon opens up and a break in the terrain DCL reveals a switch-backing trail that leads back to the rim and a trail to the shuttle cars.
Exit
Once on the trail at the rim, follow it back to your shuttle cars, crack a cold beverage and try forget the smell of rancid canyon water.
Red tape
Beta sites
RoadTripRyan.com : Black Hole of White Canyon- Climb-Utah.com : Black Hole of White Canyon
- Chris Brennen's Adventure Hikes (Southwest) : Black Hole
- CanyonChronicles.com : Black Hole of White Canyon
- HikeArizona.com : Black Hole of White Canyon
- HikeArizona.com : White Canyon Hwy 95 Milepost 57
- ToddsHikingGuide.com : The Black Hole of White Canyon
- CanyonCollective.com : Black Hole of White Canyon
- Super Amazing Map : The Black Hole of White Canyon
- AmericanSouthwest.net : White Canyon
- CanyoneeringUSA.com : Black Hole of White Canyon
EVEN FURTHER-BLACK HOLE WHITE CANYON
Trip reports and media
- Candition.com : Black Hole of White Canyon
- YouTube.com : Richard Pattison, Black Hole of White Canyon movie