Conditions:El Capitan Canyon-20210428170648

Latest:	25 Apr 2021 (4 yrs ago)

Reported by:	Damian (12 reports)
Quality:	Great
Waterflow:	Very Low
Wetsuit:	None
Water temperature:
Difficulty:	Normal
Time:	5 hours

Team: 8 people with experience level Brand new to Advanced

Trip report URL:

Comments: Good canyon for first timers. We actually had 5 newbies in the group. Some pools but all avoidable. Hundreds of bees in many places

All condition reports

Date	Quality	Waterflow	Wetsuit	Difficulty	Time	Team	Reported by
24 Feb 2024	Poor	Very Low	None	Easy	2 hours	2 people Intermediate	Stber321 (37 reports)
Comment: Most of the raps are downclimbable. Very dull.
22 Nov 2022 Trip report	Good	Very Low	None	Normal	3 hours	5 people Intermediate	HHays (5 reports)
Comment: First 2 anchors are easily downclimbed or climbed around. The webbing on the mandatory raps looked good, as well as the deadman anchor on rap 4. (At least the 4th rap we did. The rap descriptions are a hot mess, and I can understand why… there’s lots of options and downclimbs and climb arounds, it’s hard to keep track.) Take a 100’ rope and a few feet of webbing and you’ll be grand. No bees this time, lots and lots of mud to negotiate. It was mostly avoidable, but not completely, so we got a little down and dirty. Hitchhiked the car shuttle with great luck. Great, easy, beginner-friendly canyon.
14 May 2022	Good	Dry	None	Normal	3 hours	2 people Intermediate	Pyle762 (1 reports)
Comment: I how done the canyon before the fire in the Pinals and when I just did it, the canyon had completely changed. Sand from the flooding has filled up the entire canyon and what used to be the longest rappel is now about 20 feet shorter. Where the rappel is shorter there is now one extra short rappel. It is still fun, but some of the cool features of the canyon are now buried under sand, like the tunnel that was used to bypass the giant pothole, which is no longer a pothole because of sand.
12 Feb 2022	Ok	Dry	None	Special challenges	3 hours	2 people Brand new to Intermediate	Grapefruit (33 reports)
Comment: The webbing at many of the anchors was crispy and not trustworthy. Flood(s) have buried webbing at a couple places making it impossible to fully inspect and difficult to replace. The next group through might appreciate a trowel as we had to be cautious of a loop of webbing that wanted to lift off a rock horn. Also recommend bringing a lot of webbing (40-50'). Found several anchors where EDKs were tied instead of water knots. One party member was stung by a bee.
21 May 2021	Good	Dry	None	Easy	3 hours	3 people Beginner to Intermediate	Nclegg (407 reports)
Comment: Parked by the exit and followed the kml path to the start (avoiding the road). Scenic canyon, even before the technical section. Pool at the base of R1 was maybe calf-deep. We avoided by going LDC. Between R2 and R3 is a section of walking, and we’d noticed the referenced bees. There’s a dead vulture at the first stage of R3. The second stage can easily be downclimbed when dry. Re-equalized the R4 anchor for a more LDC start as the first person down reported an unpleasant start RDC. Exit was quick and straightforward. Webbing was all in fine condition. Agree that this is a solid canyon for beginners.
25 Apr 2021	Great	Very Low	None	Normal	5 hours	8 people Brand new to Advanced	Damian (12 reports)
Comment: Good canyon for first timers. We actually had 5 newbies in the group. Some pools but all avoidable. Hundreds of bees in many places
4 Jan 2021	Great	Dry	None	Normal	5 hours	5 people Brand new to Intermediate	Matts (4 reports)
Comment: Did this on a beautiful and sunny day. The rappels are short and leave some to be desired but this was a great place to take newbies! We ran into some cattle on the way out but we gave them their space and they didn't seem to mind us.
23 Dec 2020	Good	Very Low	None	Easy	3 hours	2 people	K arc (371 reports)
Comment: Shallow pools. Can run the whole canyon direct and not get your feet wet. Anchors in good shape. Dodged posse of feral cattle on the exit.
12 Apr 2020	Ok	Very Low	None	Easy	4 hours	2 people Brand new to Advanced	Erek (206 reports)
Comment: Did it as loop walking back on highway. Bypassed first rap going up on ledge LDC to avoid what looked like at least hip deep clear water. One narrow section with ankle deep water and pool after 2nd rappel is only place got wet. Pool after 2nd rappel only got one foot ankle deep wet with some skills and careful stepping. Otherwise, knee deep at most wet. All anchors looked good, did not replace any.
16 Mar 2020	Good	Deep pools	Rain jacket		7 hours	5 people Brand new to Intermediate	Davidsnaz (23 reports)
Comment: Recent rains added to the adventure. Had a couple kids and a brand new person. Ended up doing seven rappels because of the water level. The waterfall rappels were fun. We avoided one swimmer before rap three by climbing up to the ledge and walking the slope back to the creek. (we were still staying dry at that point.)
16 Mar 2020	Good		Rain jacket	Normal	6 hours	5 people Brand new to Intermediate	Danelle (17 reports)
Comment: A pretty straight forward and easy canyon. Beautiful scenery. The recent rains certainly added to the beauty and quality of the day! Flowing creak and waterfall rappels. Avoided a deep pool at the bottom of rap 3 by climbing up the wall to the left and walking off the slopped ledge. We were able to stay dry for the most part (got wet from the waterfall on rap 4 (or maybe 5??), was unavoidable). Ran this canyon with 2 kids and a beginner that had never been on a rope. Added a few additional rappels, 7 total, because of kids and water levels.
25 Jan 2020	Good	Deep pools	None	Easy	2 hours	1 people Advanced	Erek (206 reports)
Comment: Super easy canyon. A little flowing water in upper section. One chest deep pool, one waist deep pool, a couple shin deep pools, but otherwise pretty easy to avoid water. Wetsuit only if get cold easily, otherwise through the pools pretty fast. Neoprene or wool socks. All anchors except first rap look like they have fairly new webbing. No pull issues. Scenic, deep canyon.
23 Dec 2019	Good	Deep pools	None	Normal		1 people	K arc (371 reports)
Comment: Parked at the exit and hiked up to the top. Encountered some hostile cows en route and climbed up a slope to give them time to clear the area. Other than that, a nice mellow canyon. Very colorful. Set an anchor on the drop into the deep pool, but suspicious one can climb up a gully DCL to an anchor higher up which allows one to bypass the pool entirely. Good fun -- I'd run it again.
28 Feb 2016 Trip report							HikeArizona.com (271 reports)
Comment: Most recent conditions reported at HikeArizona.com, see Trip Report for full details.