Conditions:Fern Glen-20251002003707

Latest:	27 Sep 2025 (7 days ago)

Reported by:	RFontaine (313 reports)
Quality:	Great
Waterflow:
Wetsuit:	None
Water temperature:
Difficulty:
Time:	3 days

Team: 8 people

Trip report URL:

Comments: Another beautiful canyoneering backpacking trip in the Grand!

The day before our descent, 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 another 1.5hr over to the start of 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.

We car camped at the turn off where the approach starts. On a map, the last 4ish miles of high clearance driving trail shown no longer exist and must be hiked to get to the edge of the rim.

Descending the rim you are eventually met with a lot of steep loose terrain. Use extreme caution here, one of our members took a tumble and almost went over the cliff. It’s pretty serious stuff.

Eventually we met up with the Tuck Up trail on the Esplanade which is not immediately noticeable until climbing out of the wash to find it. Most of the trail from there is obvious and easy to follow; for the most part… It had rained the day before and we were able to filter water from many of the slick rock pools along the trail.

The approach was close to 9 miles and we arrived at the Fern Glen drainage in about 7 hours, hiking at a moderate pace.

Shortly after hiking down the drainage, I spotted an alcove high up on the left that looked like a great camp site. We scrambled up to it and found there was multiple flat camp sites up the along that cliff band. Some water was also available in shallow pools in the canyon below the campsite.

The next day we descended Fern Glen. Starting with beautiful intricately pocketed sandstone walls, then working your way down through the Red Wall and stepped Mauv layers. Such interesting geology so much to see!

The 200ft rap sequence was the highlight of the canyon for me. That section of slot was very short but very incredible. We replaced the anchor at this station, moving it up high DCR for a better pull. The rap goes around 2 corners but we rigged a toggle and the pull was good. There were 2 brief swims on this 3 stage rappel. Not cold, wetsuit would definitely be over kill for this… there was 1 other very brief swim further on before the last rap.

Lots and lots of rock hopping along open canyon. Cool views, cool rock. The Mauv layer was very steppy, definitely unique!

Near the end of the canyon, a little ways after the final rappel and after the calcite formations (neat!) there is a clean spring pool to filter from, this is the last place to filter before the river.

After about 7 hours we were out on the beach looking at a silty brown Colorado River (glad I topped off water at that final spring!)

After exploring a bit, we found that there is a small secluded campsite beach perhaps large enough for 4 people on the far left shore. A very nice site but we had a large group and found multiple larger group sites on the right of the beach.

In the morning we paddled 11 miles down to Lava Point. Note, we had gotten special permission from a ranger beforehand to do so, as this is outside of the 8 mile packraft limit, however this is one of the exit options described in Todd’s book.

There are other options along the way within the 8 mile limit, such as up-climbing Staircase Canyon.

The paddle only took a few hours. One of the rapids tossed two of our less experienced packrafters from their boats but they were fine and recovered quick. In my opinion, all the rapids were class 2 or less with that one more like a 3. (In general terms, not using the GC scale).

We had a variety of boats from different Alpackas to an Explorer 200. Everyone portaged that class 3 rapid except the 4 of us in our Alpacka Caribous. Again, so happy to have not brought a wetsuit, the water wasnt cold, air was warm except in the shade, hardly even needed my rain jacket.

Hiking out Lava Point trail is always tough. It is straight up hill and relentless. Multiple false summits. Took us about 2.5 hours to get out.

All in all, Fern Glen was a great trip! Beautiful canyon very similar to nearby Cove but definitely alot of work to get to!

All condition reports

Date	Quality	Waterflow	Wetsuit	Difficulty	Time	Team	Reported by
27 Sep 2025	Great		None		3 days	8 people	RFontaine (313 reports)
Comment: Another beautiful canyoneering backpacking trip in the Grand! The day before our descent, 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 another 1.5hr over to the start of 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. We car camped at the turn off where the approach starts. On a map, the last 4ish miles of high clearance driving trail shown no longer exist and must be hiked to get to the edge of the rim. Descending the rim you are eventually met with a lot of steep loose terrain. Use extreme caution here, one of our members took a tumble and almost went over the cliff. It’s pretty serious stuff. Eventually we met up with the Tuck Up trail on the Esplanade which is not immediately noticeable until climbing out of the wash to find it. Most of the trail from there is obvious and easy to follow; for the most part… It had rained the day before and we were able to filter water from many of the slick rock pools along the trail. The approach was close to 9 miles and we arrived at the Fern Glen drainage in about 7 hours, hiking at a moderate pace. Shortly after hiking down the drainage, I spotted an alcove high up on the left that looked like a great camp site. We scrambled up to it and found there was multiple flat camp sites up the along that cliff band. Some water was also available in shallow pools in the canyon below the campsite. The next day we descended Fern Glen. Starting with beautiful intricately pocketed sandstone walls, then working your way down through the Red Wall and stepped Mauv layers. Such interesting geology so much to see! The 200ft rap sequence was the highlight of the canyon for me. That section of slot was very short but very incredible. We replaced the anchor at this station, moving it up high DCR for a better pull. The rap goes around 2 corners but we rigged a toggle and the pull was good. There were 2 brief swims on this 3 stage rappel. Not cold, wetsuit would definitely be over kill for this… there was 1 other very brief swim further on before the last rap. Lots and lots of rock hopping along open canyon. Cool views, cool rock. The Mauv layer was very steppy, definitely unique! Near the end of the canyon, a little ways after the final rappel and after the calcite formations (neat!) there is a clean spring pool to filter from, this is the last place to filter before the river. After about 7 hours we were out on the beach looking at a silty brown Colorado River (glad I topped off water at that final spring!) After exploring a bit, we found that there is a small secluded campsite beach perhaps large enough for 4 people on the far left shore. A very nice site but we had a large group and found multiple larger group sites on the right of the beach. In the morning we paddled 11 miles down to Lava Point. Note, we had gotten special permission from a ranger beforehand to do so, as this is outside of the 8 mile packraft limit, however this is one of the exit options described in Todd’s book. There are other options along the way within the 8 mile limit, such as up-climbing Staircase Canyon. The paddle only took a few hours. One of the rapids tossed two of our less experienced packrafters from their boats but they were fine and recovered quick. In my opinion, all the rapids were class 2 or less with that one more like a 3. (In general terms, not using the GC scale). We had a variety of boats from different Alpackas to an Explorer 200. Everyone portaged that class 3 rapid except the 4 of us in our Alpacka Caribous. Again, so happy to have not brought a wetsuit, the water wasnt cold, air was warm except in the shade, hardly even needed my rain jacket. Hiking out Lava Point trail is always tough. It is straight up hill and relentless. Multiple false summits. Took us about 2.5 hours to get out. All in all, Fern Glen was a great trip! Beautiful canyon very similar to nearby Cove but definitely alot of work to get to!