Canyon Y
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| | Difficulty:3A III (v3a1 III) Raps:9-13, max ↨100ft
Red Tape:No permit required Shuttle:None Vehicle:Passenger | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Condition Reports: | 4 Jan 2026
"The top half of the approach is unpleasant. Otherwise, this would be a 3-star canyon. The canyon is decent: its in actual rock, the rock is pretty, t |
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| Best season: | Autumn to Spring
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36.2798, -116.7551
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Introduction
A moderate-length canyon with no car shuttle. It has some swirly, pretty rock like neighboring canyons.
Approach
Drive to Natural Bridge Trailhead, off Badwater Road.
Hike south about 1/4 mile, short-cutting over a gravel ridge, cross a wash, then start up a very pleasant slope with rock and small gulleys.
For about 500 vertical feet, the approach is great. Eventually it becomes less like rock and more like crumbly dirt, or gravel on crumbly rocks. At this point it is a lot less fun.
Descent
Optional R1 (25 feet or downclimb) This can be downclimbed. It is immediately followed by some easier downclimbs, then R2. However, it can also all be strung together as a multi-stage rappel, which Scott Swaney's description listed as 150'.
R2 (20') from a rock chock on left, or this is the final stage of the multistage R1
Optional R3 (30') or downclimb on right.
R4 (20') from horn on right
Downclimb/bypass left immediately before R5
R5 (40') from rock chock and knot chock on right.
Immediately followed by down climbs.
R6 (90') fiddle horn on left. Pretty chute.
R7 (30') fiddle from center rock.
R8 (40') from cairn
R9 (140') two-stage rappel from cairn. (Or each stage can be anchored separately, and is about 50' each.)
R10 (40') from a cairn
R11 (30') from a rock chock on left
At this point, it looks like there will be more rappels, but there aren't. You will have lots of easy downclimbs until the canyon drops into a wash.
Then there are some surprise not-as-easy downclimbs at the very end.
Exit
At canyon mouth, turn north for easy, short stroll to Natural Bridge parking lot.
Red tape
Beta sites
Trip reports and media
Trip Report - Photos 2-18-18: https://www.facebook.com/scott.swaney/media_set?set=a.10156155605047930.1073742448.668617929&type=3
Background
Unknown first descent, prior to 2010.
1-23-10 trip by Rick Kent, Tom Kitta, and others. They named this Desperation Canyon. They found a webbing sling in one location.
2-18-2018 trip by Scott Swaney, who wrote:
Identified and expecting a canyoneering First Descent, but when arriving in the canyon, we found fresh anchors recently put in. I had previously posted some info for this canyon when recruiting partners for it, so not sure if that was used. We have no idea who the group was that just went through this canyon before we got there. There is no beta or a posting for this canyon in Ropewiki by anyone so far. Maybe the party will come forth to be identified. Put in a generic (temporary) name to see if it has been named by this earlier party.
UPDATE: 12-14-19: Found that the First Descent was done by Rick Kent and team 1-23-10. In the statement above, there was another party that ran the canyon in front of Scott Swaney's team, and still unknown who it was at this time. Rick Kent's trip was almost ten years earlier.
Rick had named the canyon in 2010 Desperation Canyon. Never has been put on any public canyoneering beta site