Conditions:Barnhardt Canyon-20260302193751

Latest:	1 Mar 2026 (3 days ago)

Reported by:	Sstaverman (25 reports)
Quality:	Great
Waterflow:	Moderate
Wetsuit:	Full wetsuit
Water temperature:
Difficulty:	Normal
Time:	7 hours

Team: 3 people

Trip report URL:

Comments: Under 7 hours car to car using the early exit up Big Kahuna Canyon and back to the trail. That early exit really helps the pay-to-play ratio on this one. Long hike in, decently long time in canyon, short hike out. Water was at moderate flow which made for a super fun day without any true challenges. Fun downclimbs and water features throughout. Very cold water - I started the day thinking I might have been alright in a shorty wet suit (I normally run warm), and by the end of the day I was very glad to have brought the full 4/3.

All condition reports

Date	Quality	Waterflow	Wetsuit	Difficulty	Time	Team	Reported by
1 Mar 2026	Great	Moderate	Full wetsuit	Normal	7 hours	3 people	Sstaverman (25 reports)
Comment: Under 7 hours car to car using the early exit up Big Kahuna Canyon and back to the trail. That early exit really helps the pay-to-play ratio on this one. Long hike in, decently long time in canyon, short hike out. Water was at moderate flow which made for a super fun day without any true challenges. Fun downclimbs and water features throughout. Very cold water - I started the day thinking I might have been alright in a shorty wet suit (I normally run warm), and by the end of the day I was very glad to have brought the full 4/3.
9 Feb 2026	Good	Low	Full wetsuit	Normal	7 hours	2 people Intermediate to Advanced	Triggerfish (87 reports)
Comment: Nice day out. Typical Mazzy action: colorful, sometimes slick, but solid quality rock, manzanita all over, and fsurprisingly cold and flowing water, given the amount of mountain above it. We did 6 raps, Downclimbed R1. Several that we rappelled were visibly downclimbable from below, but had looked difficult from above. Anchors good all the way. Barnhardt trail has been meticulously groomed. Only real slow going is the ravine from that trail to the start of the canyon. We exited up Kahuna where that creek comes in. Light whackage up 100’ and about 500’ horizontal was totally worth it to escape further creek walking for that good trail back.
10 Apr 2023	Great	High	Full wetsuit	Normal	6 hours	2 people Intermediate to Advanced	Coalemus (161 reports)
Comment: Plenty of cold water. "High" water for this canyon isn't that intense as it never really constricts all that much. Definitely a bit pushy at times but no other water hazards. We did 4 rappels. Found webbing at the first three and put in webbing on the last. Found a better exit, which I'll add to the page. Warm day, fun canyon.
13 Feb 2022	Good	Low	Full wetsuit		9 hours	6 people Advanced	EMoorcroft (452 reports)
Comment: FUN AND BEAUTIFUL. Low but fun flow. We did the route with 2 rappels, one of our team members bypassed every pool/ rappel besides r3 90'. Depending on experience and downclimb abilities of the team, you may want to being extra webbing. Take some of the old stuff with you. Wool socks under the neoprene socks for the win!
13 Feb 2022	Good	Low	Full wetsuit	Normal	9 hours	4 people Advanced	Nclegg (460 reports)
Comment: Low flow, cold water. Some residual ice above R1. Removed quite a bit of old webbing and rusted quicklinks. Many fun downclimbs. A few swimmers and several deep wades as well as a couple optional jumps and small slides. Only ended up doing two rappels. Very pretty and interesting geology throughout the canyon. Exited up Big Kahuna drainage to the trail.
24 Mar 2019	Great	Moderate	Full wetsuit	Normal	7 hours		Erek (206 reports)
3 May 2014 Trip report	Good						HikeArizona.com (271 reports)
Comment: Most recent conditions reported at HikeArizona.com, see Trip Report for full details.