Carrizo Creek
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| | Difficulty:3A I (v3a1 I) Raps:3, max ↨160ft
Red Tape: Shuttle:Required 10 min Vehicle:Passenger | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Condition Reports: | 29 Dec 2025
"As part of a search and rescue assignment we ran this canyon. Was pretty, two rappels 170ft and 30ft. Left some tasty locking carabiners behind. |
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| Best season: | Anytime
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33.6463, -116.4087
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WaterflowIntroduction[edit]
A short trip that is right next to highway 74. It has 3 rappels with the longest at about 160' and a good amount of down climbing.
Approach[edit]
This trip requires a shuttle. Park the return vehicle at the bottom of the mountain at the Art Smith trailhead. It is just past the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument Visitor Center. The start is up highway 74 at a turn out right before the vista point. It is at the last large turn on the highway. From there just make your way to the drainage.
Descent[edit]
The initial part is easy hiking on a sandy canyon. It comes to an abrupt stop at the top of the big rappel and the canyon opens up. As of early 2026 there is fresh webbing on a rock DCL.
- R1: 160'
Starting far DCL gives lots of air and a more direct line to the anchor, but with careful rope management the retrieval on the DC-center line is good despite being a more circuitous path. There are many options here, including re-rigging after the initial drop for a more direct pull.
- R2: 25' from chockstone DCL. This is just upcanyon from a large living cottonwood in the center of the canyon.
From this point on there will be several down climbs that some may choose to rappel instead.
- R3: 2x15' drops that can be downclimbed starting from a crawlspace DCR.
Exit[edit]
After that last rappel, just follow the watercourse until you come to a fence. Walk through the opening and make your way to the parking lot.
Red tape[edit]
The upper portion of the canyon is within the Carrizo Canyon Ecological Reserve, and is closed to public access from January 1 to September 30. This is advertised on a tiny sign next to the road at the drop-in location.
The lower portion of the canyon is closed at times due to the Big Horn Sheep. Contact the visitor center there to be certain of closures.
Beta sites[edit]
Trip reports and media[edit]
Background[edit]
First documented descent was on January 14, 2013 by Christian Lupercio, Leo Treviño and Joey Prieto. There was evidence of humans in the entire canyon but not of canyoneers. Looks like people hike upstream up until the large drop. The hand lines on one of the falls support this. There were some suspicious looking holes at the top of the big drop but whatever was there are only rusty remnants now.