Conditions:Cove Canyon (Marble Canyon)-20171121012906

Latest:	18 Nov 2017 (7 yrs, 7 mos ago)

Reported by:	PatWinstanley (80 reports), Danielson (93 reports)
Quality:	Good
Waterflow:	Very Low
Wetsuit:	None
Water temperature:
Difficulty:	Normal
Time:	2 days

Team: 6 people with experience level Intermediate to Advanced

Trip report URL:

Comments: Reached the confluence with Burro Canyon in 9 hours on day one, finished the canyon, float and hike out in 9 hours again on day 2. Very little water in the canyon, we only encountered one pool where we had to get our feet wet, about knee deep, springs were relatively dry, no wet suits needed for the canyon. One small, but decent pool under a rock at Burro confluence. Reconstructed many terrifyingly poorly tied/constructed anchors throughout the canyon - this is not a great canyon to do if you are not very familiar with anchor construction. Wet suits are needed for the packraft, the river was quite cold and had a few wild rides through the riffles where all in the party took on quite a bit of water in their rafts - fun!

Found the canyon narrows to be good, but short with long sections of hiking in between.

• Additional notes by Danielson:

Check with locals about road conditions ahead of time. Google Maps sent those of us coming from LA down a road that doesn't exist anymore. It would be best to have a map that is not dependent on cell phone signal. Temperatures above the rim at night were mid 20s Fahrenheit, and not fun; however, it was enjoyable during the day. While the temperature at Phantom Ranch was reported to be 30F the night we spent at the Burro confluence, it felt like a comfortable mid 40s in the canyon, and the group had no complaints. As Pat states above, water was scarce and green at the Burro camp, but about an 1hr 45min before Burro there is another nice flat camp spot DCR on a rock slab where more water was available. The raft trip was pretty chilly. I think everyone was cold in 4/3 wetsuits. I had a full rainshell over my wetsuit and was ok except for my hands (in retrospect I would consider adding the weight of some nice neogloves). The raft trip was far rougher than what I expected. I spent most of the time bailing my raft out with a mug I clipped to my backpack. One group member flipped twice, so by prepared for a swim. The exit up is fun. not. We counted 14 rappels which I believe is +1 to Todd's book.

All condition reports

Date	Quality	Waterflow	Wetsuit	Difficulty	Time	Team	Reported by
8 Mar 2025	Great		None		3 days	4 people Intermediate to Advanced	RFontaine (281 reports)
Comment: A really beautiful canyoneering backpacking trip in the Grand! We aired down our tires and drove about 2hrs on dirt to get out to Lava Falls TH where we left our shuttle then drove over to Tuckup TH to start the approach. The roads start out graded then progressively get worse. Lots of sharp limestone rock notorious for slashing tires further on. Heavy duty offroad tires and airing down highly recommended. High clearance 4x4 needed to negotiate some small obstacles, ruts, and rock steps near Tuckup/Lava. Approach is 7.5miles and took us 3 hours to get to our chosen campsite, half a mile from drop in. The site we dubbed “TajMahal” featured multiple overhanging alcoves nestled around a drainage, perfect camping! It had rained recently so there were pools nearby to filter from. Last time my friends went, it hadnt rained in some time and they had to start down the descent before finding water… Next day we descended the canyon. There are some really neat sculpted rooms, some beautiful fluted drops, and a couple pools of water waist deep. Water wasnt cold, we were happy to have forgone the wetsuits! The canyon goes on and on much of it large open rock hopping or bouldery downclimbs with short narrowiah sections scattered between. A couple larger raps were particularly memorable. My favorite was the sculpted white narrows near the beginning. This was very pretty but over quick. We eventually arrived at the beach of the Colorado in 6 hours. We hiked up stream along the beach set up camp in a nook by the water where the river turns. The flow was up quite a bit after recent storms. In the morning of the next day we dragged our feet and eventually inflated our packrafts to paddle down river. We all were happy to have our Alpacka rafts to enjoy the playful rapids with carefree ease! The river was quick and despite trying to drag it out, we arrived at Lava Falls in 1 hour, 20 minutes. Where we hung out and watched other rafters tackle the infamous rapid. The exit out from Lava is just over a mile but is all straight up. It took us 2 hours to get back to our vehicles. Over all a very enjoyable and worthwhile trip!
18 Nov 2017	Good	Very Low	None	Normal	2 days	6 people Intermediate to Advanced	PatWinstanley (80 reports),Danielson (93 reports)
Comment: Reached the confluence with Burro Canyon in 9 hours on day one, finished the canyon, float and hike out in 9 hours again on day 2. Very little water in the canyon, we only encountered one pool where we had to get our feet wet, about knee deep, springs were relatively dry, no wet suits needed for the canyon. One small, but decent pool under a rock at Burro confluence. Reconstructed many terrifyingly poorly tied/constructed anchors throughout the canyon - this is not a great canyon to do if you are not very familiar with anchor construction. Wet suits are needed for the packraft, the river was quite cold and had a few wild rides through the riffles where all in the party took on quite a bit of water in their rafts - fun! Found the canyon narrows to be good, but short with long sections of hiking in between. Additional notes by Danielson: Check with locals about road conditions ahead of time. Google Maps sent those of us coming from LA down a road that doesn't exist anymore. It would be best to have a map that is not dependent on cell phone signal. Temperatures above the rim at night were mid 20s Fahrenheit, and not fun; however, it was enjoyable during the day. While the temperature at Phantom Ranch was reported to be 30F the night we spent at the Burro confluence, it felt like a comfortable mid 40s in the canyon, and the group had no complaints. As Pat states above, water was scarce and green at the Burro camp, but about an 1hr 45min before Burro there is another nice flat camp spot DCR on a rock slab where more water was available. The raft trip was pretty chilly. I think everyone was cold in 4/3 wetsuits. I had a full rainshell over my wetsuit and was ok except for my hands (in retrospect I would consider adding the weight of some nice neogloves). The raft trip was far rougher than what I expected. I spent most of the time bailing my raft out with a mug I clipped to my backpack. One group member flipped twice, so by prepared for a swim. The exit up is fun. not. We counted 14 rappels which I believe is +1 to Todd's book.