Blacksmith Canyon
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| | Difficulty:3A IV (v3a1 IV) Raps:11, max ↨115ft
Red Tape:No permit required Shuttle:None Vehicle:Passenger | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Condition Reports: | 1 Mar 2025
"Our group had a great day out on this less traveled canyon. We shuttled from Gold Valley, which does require a high-clearance 4x4 to access, but saves |
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| Best season: | Nov-Mar (avg for this region)
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35.9821, -116.6566
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Introduction
This is a very scenic canyon which provides for a full day, even though it doesn’t have 20+ rappels like some of the more commonly run DV canyons. As such, the trip through Blacksmith has much more hiking between rappels and a more open feel for the majority of the trip.
A standout of this canyon is the seep which comes to surface between R3 and R4 and continues to flow through at least R7. Extreme care should be taken to avoid trampling moss, plants, and other living critters which thrive in this rare section of surface water. Watch your foot placements and keep an eye on where you land on those rappels as critters may be underfoot!
An excellent and very thorough write-up of the canyon exists at BluuGnome.com (https://bluugnome.com/cyn_route/dv/dv_blacksmith/dv_blacksmith-canyon.aspx). Some updates to BluuGnome beta are provided in the “Descent” section below.
Approach
Park at the canyon exit, a little south of milepost 40 on Badwater Road.
Reference the BlueGnome beta for the bottom-up approach.
There is also the option to shuttle this canyon if 4mi of hiking, and roughly 4,000’ vertical feet of climbing, doesn’t sound terribly appealing. Note, the vehicle shuttle will take about 3-4hrs to complete, so it’ll make for a long drive at the end of a long day. The shuttle requires high clearance 4x4 vehicles on Gold Valley Road.
Descent
Rappel numbers below are (hopefully) consistent with data on Bluugnome.com. Your rap count may vary, based on floods filling in or scouring out drops, and your comfort level with downclimbs. R1 & R2 150' combined as two-stage rappel from a cairn anchor. The first stage ("R1") can be downclimbed, but most will want to rappel.
Optional R3 sloping multistage drop. Most stages are easy. Final 10-foot section climbers will benefit from partner assist from below.
About 50' easy scramble down climb next to a spring on the right wall.
R4 50 feet anchored from flake/horn on right side close to the edge. Rappel down a trickling waterfall.
R5 30 feet anchored from pinch point. Overhanging drop.
Optional R6 slippery low angle downclimb.
R7 less than 80 feet, anchored from two knot chocks on left.
Next is a long section of canyon which is mostly mellow walking on gravel, but is punctuated by several notable downclimbs.
Rappels 8 and 9 seem to have been eliminated thanks to deposited sands from the consecutive years of flooding in 2023 and 2024. Both of those rappels are now easy downclimbs of under 10’. If they weren’t marked on the map, most teams wouldn’t find them notable at all.
R10 30 feet, anchored from a cairn
R11 30 feet from a slung rock
Exit
Straight forward walk back to the road, just follow the wash.
Red tape
Beta sites
- https://www.facebook.com/scott.swaney/media_set?set=a.10150151477922930.342292.668617929&type=3
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BluuGnome.com : Blacksmith Canyon - Super Amazing Map : Blacksmith Canyon
Trip reports and media
Background
First Decent completed by Scott Swaney and Aysel Gezik on Feb 18, 2011
