Conditions:Boundary Canyon-20250525162307

Latest:	24 May 2025 (1 month ago)

Reported by:	Mchlprk11100 (15 reports)
Quality:	Good
Waterflow:	Dry
Wetsuit:	None
Water temperature:
Difficulty:	Easy
Time:	7 hours

Team: 8 people with experience level Beginner to Advanced

Trip report URL:

Comments: Boundary Canyon conditions were very dry. Only one section of Boundary had ankle deep water (section with the deadman anchor); we bypassed this deadman anchor since we weren’t sure about its condition and didn’t want to dig it out of the small dirty pool. Once we passed Boundary Canyon, Kolob Canyon had a section that required a dip into a pool about waist deep before reaching the MIA exit. No wetsuit required. Hike out the MIA was tough. No water available past the MIA.

All condition reports

Date	Quality	Waterflow	Wetsuit	Difficulty	Time	Team	Reported by
24 May 2025	Good	Dry	None	Easy	7 hours	8 people Beginner to Advanced	Mchlprk11100 (15 reports)
Comment: Boundary Canyon conditions were very dry. Only one section of Boundary had ankle deep water (section with the deadman anchor); we bypassed this deadman anchor since we weren’t sure about its condition and didn’t want to dig it out of the small dirty pool. Once we passed Boundary Canyon, Kolob Canyon had a section that required a dip into a pool about waist deep before reaching the MIA exit. No wetsuit required. Hike out the MIA was tough. No water available past the MIA.
10 May 2025							RFontaine (287 reports),Kirbside (98 reports)
Comment: Took the Boundary sneak exit today on the way out of another canyon. The fixed lines are still good to go except for the crux line which has a core shot (we isolated it with an alpine butterfly). That line is pretty bouncy anyway so if someone has 40-50 feet of static rope they want to put to good use that would be a good spot. Looking down into Boundary from the top it is not flowing. It still has some minor ice in the canyon in spots but this seems to be melting fast.
7 Sep 2024	Amazing	Dry	None	Normal	3 hours	6 people Intermediate to Advanced	Sqshemet (78 reports),Kirbside (98 reports),Epeairs (73 reports)
Comment: Time is from the top of Boundary back to the top via the sneak. We were combining it with Kolob. Boundary is amazing. Beautiful walls, awesome sculpting, some great movement. Overall an amazing day.
26 May 2024	Good	Very Low	Thin wetsuit	Special challenges	9 hours	7 people Beginner to Expert	Desertnights (37 reports)
Comment: This little canyon is deep, and sculpted, and I would love a repeat run when it's flowing more! We trimmed and cleared out some blowdowns on the way in and intended for a relaxing day. If you use the express exit, you can stash some gear at the start (BEFORE R1) and it shouldn't be disturbed. This should allow for lighter packs and a smoother run. Personally, I found the express exit appropriate and fairly standard in terms of climbers exits (actually, a bit on the easier side). The boulder scramble on the express exit is straightforward. If you're taking this exit, bringing dry clothes will be helpful as we had a team member overheat in her wetsuit and get very tired on the exit. Also, all team members should be confident in their ability to ascend fixed lines prior to doing the express exit. The tired team member cost the team a lot of effort due to exhaustion and poor skills. The canyon is short enough that bringing hand ascenders to help on the fixed lines is a great option. An intermediate canyoneer should be able to run this canyon with little trouble and do the exit without much difficulty.
26 May 2024	Great	Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	6 hours	3 people Advanced to Beginner	Johnbcaves (161 reports)
Comment: We were surprised to find such a nice deep and sculpted canyon at the end of that trickling creek. We passed one group of 6 on the approach and followed a group of 5 thru the canyon, passing them before the exit climb. The Express Exit fixed lines were in good shape, tho the lowest line's anchor (a bundle of bushes) is not a great long-term solution. Canyoneers should use the exit ropes with an ascender and beware of loose rocks while climbing. The Express Exit is already seeing heavy erosion from foot traffic up the steep slope- while convenient, it's not the best option for LNT.
25 May 2024	Amazing	Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	7 hours	3 people Beginner to Intermediate	S. Ray (1 reports)
Comment: The canyon had a bit of flow and was a lot of fun! We took the "sneak" or "express" exit and cannot recommend it. The gully was a bushwhack up a loose, steep, and heavily eroded hill. There were three fixed lines, all in good shape. The fixed lines protected mostly loose, low-angle terrain. A chest and hand ascender were helpful. The second and third lines were anchored to a pair of non-rated bolts and large tree, respectively, but the first line was tied around the base of a shrub with significantly eroded roots (see attached picture). I could imagine even a small shock load to the line tearing the anchor free. The upper part of the gully is simply not stable enough to sustain significant foot traffic and will only become more loose and dangerous.
13 May 2024	Great	Low	Thick wetsuit	Normal	7 hours	3 people Advanced	EMoorcroft (451 reports)
Comment: With flow this canyon is definitely worth the effort. Didn't experience a lot of bushwhackng on the approach and the trail was easy enough to follow. We took the forementioned "express exit" and thought it was a real treat. Someone put some hard work and money into this exit, and it was appreciated on our end. We really enjoyed the route from start to finish.
24 Sep 2023	Poor	Dry	None	Easy	5 hours	2 people Advanced	Ibleedcoffee (6 reports)
Comment: Technical section was very short and not worth the approach. The approach was a bush wack and the express exit was even more of a bush wack if that is even possible. Overall, the technical section is not worth the effort it takes to drop in and get out. The only saving grace of this canyon is that it does not require a permit from Zion NPS. Car to Car 5h18m. Since my edits keep getting changed by someone... here are my 2 cents on the exit: Express Exit There is an express exit that was recently established. Roughly 500’ down canyon after the last rap there is a drainage that can be climbed LDC. Note: the gulley out is not at the end of the canyon per se, or at the confluence of Kolob and Boundary canyons. Climbing out will put you at the top of a saddle from which you can then hike back to R1 and retrace your steps. There are 3 fixed ropes. Ascenders are not required, but some may appreciate them. Note that when getting to the top of the gulley stay LEFT on the climb, not right. If veering right, you will find yourself at a scramble that only climbers will appreciate. To assist in the exit, the fixed ropes are at 37.394286, -112.998067. The start of the cut-in trail for this exit is here: 37.39419, -112.99597 Top of gulley is here: 37.39432, -112.99819
1 Jul 2023	Great	Low	Thin wetsuit		7 hours	4 people Beginner to Advanced	RFontaine (287 reports)
Comment: A really solid beautiful canyon with a bit of flow! When we got to the start of the descent there were 2 groups (that I knew of) ahead of us. I later found out there was actually 4 groups ahead!! Alot of time in canyon waiting. I wore a 3/2 and began to get a bit cold with the standing around and breeze. This canyon is definitely out of the sun. Rain jacket is real handy. I enjoyed the raps with the bit of flow which had made everything really nice but I dont think Id have enjoyed it nearly as much if it were dry. We were informed about an “express exit” that was recently cut in. About 500’ down canyon of the last rap there is a prominent gully one can hike up with a cut-in trail. Near the top there are 3 fixed ropes in succession that one needs ascenders to climb up. This puts you back at the saddle and from there you can easily hike over to R1 and retrace exit steps. On our way out from R1 we got off track a few times as the brush is thick and there are lots of deceiving side trails, one of which goes back to an abandoned cabin. Otherwise, this exit option was super solid and we beat the other groups back to the parking lot (by how long I am not sure) Beta updated!
23 Jun 2023	Amazing	Moderate Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	6 hours	4 people Intermediate to Advanced	Braxtagonia (6 reports)
Comment: Light flow to play in but nothing too technical. Beautiful as always!
20 Aug 2022	Ok	Dry	None	Normal	7 hours	2 people Advanced	Nclegg (418 reports),Pam (14 reports)
Comment: No flowing water. One shallow, avoidable pool and a lot of mud. Temporarily stuck a rope at R2, which we should have done as two rappels. After pulling through the rapide, the rope fell down onto the first stage and became caught between rocks from a dismantled cairn anchor. Lots of flood debris throughout the canyon - really quite mediocre conditions overall (still beautiful). Kolob was flowing lightly and had only one mandatory waist depth pool. For the MIA exit, we initially followed the well-worn trail but then stayed high RUC and scrambled up a steep and loose path, gaining the rim more quickly than if using the traditional route and then following forest roads back to our vehicle.
18 Jul 2020	Ok	Very Low	None	Normal	8 hours	4 people Beginner to Advanced	Canderson (21 reports)
Comment: Easy hike in and no water flow throughout the technical portion of the canyon. There was one small avoidable pool at R4. All anchors were in good shape. For the exit through Kolob Creek, the dam release was at 3 CFS making for an easy and scenic hike until we had to pay our debts at the MIA exit. This was HOT and exposed so be sure to bring plenty of water or fill up at the creek before the exit if doing it the summer. Not sure if it could be considered a sneak exit but instead of heading entirely west along the kml track, we scrambled up the ridge that was worn and had been used before heading north about a 1,000 ft. west of the beginning of the MIA exit. This lead to a dirt road at the point on top which was followed until joining back up with the kml track. Great canyon but tough exit this time of year.
18 Jun 2020 Trip report	Amazing	Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	15 hours	7 people Beginner to Intermediate	Dfreeman1232 (5 reports)
Comment: Group of 7 got started on the MIA road at 7:30am using Road Trip Ryan's waypoints. Bushwhacked in a couple of miles to the entrance of the Boundary watercourse. Boundary was flowing, but definitely not a ton of water (Class B). I didn’t use a wet suit, but a shorty would’ve been preferable. After 11 raps (2 possible down climbs) through some of the most beautiful cliffs, countless waterfalls and some more bushwhacking, we eventually hit the confluence of Kolob Creek. We arrived late due to the size of our group and were a little worried that we might not have enough time to make it out of the canyon before dark, so we ate some food for about 15 minutes and hustled down the Kolob narrows (spectacular). The Kolob dam was releasing at 35CFS above us, so the flow was pretty strong. After exiting the narrows, we arrived at our exit point--the much maligned MIA Exit. The route is no joke. A cumulative 2200 vertical feet in just over a mile and a half, most of it on all fours through some significant exposure. Back to the cars by 10:45pm. Long day and we paid the price, but totally worth it. One of the most beautiful canyons I've ever seen.
6 Jul 2019	Amazing	Moderate Low	Full wetsuit	Normal	5 hours	2 people Advanced to Expert	Erek (206 reports)
Comment: Great flow. Maybe about 1.5 cfs. Very scenic. Lots of people doing canyon.
25 Jun 2019	Great	Moderate High	Full wetsuit	Special challenges	8 hours	2 people Advanced	Imacqueen (1 reports)
Comment: Lots of flow in Boundary, and very cold. Wore 4:3 wetsuits with 3mm vest and neoprene socks. We were cold but not so bad we couldn't take our time and enjoy the canyon. All webbing was in good shape. Took the MIA exit. The Kolob dam was releasing at 35 cfs which made walking in Kolob Creek very slow (mostly walking in the stream bed over submerged rocks), but not dangerous between Boundary and the MIA. The MIA use trail was relatively easy to follow in most places but would have been tricky without beta.

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