Latest:	2 Mar 2025 (19 days ago)

Reported by:	Rapbear (74 reports)
Quality:	Great
Waterflow:	Moderate Low
Wetsuit:	Thin wetsuit
Water temperature:
Difficulty:	Normal
Time:	7 hours

Team: 7 people

Trip report URL:

Comments: First time in GFF and we took the Ridge to R1 route. Trail to the ridge is pretty navigable but the traverse to the ridge is more pick a path and scramble. Once on the ridge, it was easier to navigate but definitely not for those with a fear of heights or narrow paths. The views were quite spectacular.

The water in the canyon is still flowing and made for a fun and exciting trip. The flow amount made it easier to navigate the waterfalls and pools. The R7 pothole was deep enough that many in our group jumped it. Others were able to take advantage of the DCR anchor. Most of the anchors are in good shape. We replaced the webbing on one that was marginal.

Big Tujunga reservoir is low and we were able to hike to the Josephine trail without a swim.

Overall, GFF is a canyon that you will need to earn. The hike in is long (~3 hrs). The uphill hike out on tired legs takes a lot of mental effort. However, the canyon run was great and reminded me of Eaton Canyon which is closed due to the fire :(

All condition reports

Date	Quality	Waterflow	Wetsuit	Difficulty	Time	Team	Reported by
2 Mar 2025	Great	Moderate Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	7 hours	7 people	Rapbear (74 reports)
Comment: First time in GFF and we took the Ridge to R1 route. Trail to the ridge is pretty navigable but the traverse to the ridge is more pick a path and scramble. Once on the ridge, it was easier to navigate but definitely not for those with a fear of heights or narrow paths. The views were quite spectacular. The water in the canyon is still flowing and made for a fun and exciting trip. The flow amount made it easier to navigate the waterfalls and pools. The R7 pothole was deep enough that many in our group jumped it. Others were able to take advantage of the DCR anchor. Most of the anchors are in good shape. We replaced the webbing on one that was marginal. Big Tujunga reservoir is low and we were able to hike to the Josephine trail without a swim. Overall, GFF is a canyon that you will need to earn. The hike in is long (~3 hrs). The uphill hike out on tired legs takes a lot of mental effort. However, the canyon run was great and reminded me of Eaton Canyon which is closed due to the fire :(
27 Feb 2025	Amazing	Moderate Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	6 hours	3 people	Willie92708 (991 reports)
Comment: It was a warm sunny day, but a bit chilly in money section (all shade and a good breeze). Waterflow was barely class C; still awesome as usual (see pics).
23 Sep 2024	Great	Very Low	None	Easy	12 hours	4 people Beginner to Advanced	Solobivy (1 reports)
Comment: Top Canyon / worst hike / lost iPhone. Did the ridge approach in, getting to the ridge was a total pain as there was quite a bit of overgrowth. However once we got the ridge the trail was easy enough to follow. A trip member lot their iPhone somewhere in the first few hundred yards after leaving the fire road (please let me know if anyone finds it). The rappels were all great however some of the webbing is starting to show some sun fade and likely need replacement in coming months. Water was surprisingly chilly despite all the recent warm weather. We took the express exit out which i think was a mistake as one of team members overheated and needed a lot of group assistance to get back up to fire rode. We did significant "trail" improvement on the exit but still a lot more work is needed before this canyon would accessible for anyone but rugged adventures that are immune to poison oak. The hike would/should have taken 8 hours but with the trail work and the struggling team member it took 12 and we finished the hike with our headlamps. Long hard day. Pants and long shirt are a must. We had 3.5 L water for each team member and still ran out. I do not recommend doing this trip on a hot summer day.
6 Jul 2024	Ok	Very Low	None	Special challenges	12 hours	2 people Intermediate to Advanced	Roseboi94 (2 reports)
Comment: Kicked off the trail at 7:30am with the goal of hitting GFotF for the first time. Got to where you leave the fire road for the cross country bushwhack around 10am, and at this point it was already close to 103F. It is very steep and 100% sun exposed going up that ridge, and by 1030 we were absolutely spent. We each brought 3L of water thinking that would be perfect since we could filter in the canyon. We were both getting some degree of heat exhaustion, water was running low, and we opted to bail. We descended into little Fox and found a small trickle of water, enough to cool ourselves down with and filter some more. Little fox proved almost impossible to canyoneer down (completely overgrown) so we walked on the ridge that divides little Fox and Fox until we arrived at the confluence. When we finally dropped into Fox around 2pm, it was glorious! Amazing, Eaton-like canyon, some chest deep pools but nothing too deep. The reservoir was a dry walk out. Important lesson about heat for sure, that bushwhack is absolutely brutal in the heat and really should not be attempted. Leave hella early for this one or wait for cooler weather! Will attempt again sometime :)
3 May 2024	Amazing	High	Thin wetsuit	Special challenges	8 hours	16 people	Willie92708 (991 reports)
Comment: With 16 people (special Challenges), this was an epic adventure! Thanks to leap frogging plenty of ropes and knowing the approach, canyon, and exit well, we made quick work of it. We used the bushwhack to ridge approach, followed the creek to the BT reservoir, up BTC and up the standard exit trail. BTC and the upper reservoir was walking on gravel with a touch of "quick sand" in a few locations. Flow in the technical section was awesome (see pics), but easy enough work through, being "only" high.
30 Jul 2023	Great	Moderate Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	14 hours	8 people Brand new to Advanced	Boof (31 reports),Feroz (34 reports),Knight (7 reports),Levr (21 reports),Giniya5 (7 reports)
Comment: Very hot day for the hike, but canyon was quite refreshing once we arrived! Would recommend doubling the water you think you'll need to drink. Great flow levels (pretty low) for our group that included brand new canyoneers, and throughout we took our time. Beware the ants on the last rap off the tree! They are definitely biters. Reservoir was dry at the end, so we didn't have to swim. Overall a long but good time.
13 May 2023	Amazing	High	Thin wetsuit	Special challenges	7 hours	5 people	Willie92708 (991 reports)
Comment: Water flow has tapered way down from the last run, but still quite sporty (see pics). We avoided the brunt of the water force on any of the falls with alternate rigging (special challenges). We were able to go through the R8 hallway, but the rooster-tail on the slab below that was a bit too much (see pic). The reservoir is still a big swim; water level is down 3 feet from its high level.
15 Apr 2023	Amazing	Extreme	Full wetsuit	Advanced	13 hours	4 people Intermediate to Expert	Aquamoo (91 reports),Willie92708 (991 reports),Brdn.gonzales (44 reports)
Comment: It was a long and strenuous romp but the gorge section was spectacular. Installed some new anchors and rigged a couple traverse lines due to the flow. The second to last rappel (R7) in the gorge section was jumped by two members in our group, the water was maybe 6' deep in the deepest spot but the bottom was sandy. Encountered a huge amount of PO at the final rappel, so we trimmed it back to stumps and piled it aside. The exit swim was pretty fun, for the most part the water was "clean" and we didn't encounter any crazy mudflats. Willie: The flow is so high that even "mundane" rappels are quite sporty, like R1. For R2 we went off the center of the huge chockstone boulder; the normal DCR bolted anchor had too much flow. R3 was easy since it's rigged from a pinch point DCL completely away from the main flow. For R4 we used a new anchor DCL next to the small tree instead of the DCR bolts; again too much flow. R5 was fine, because we dropped in behind the powerful rooster-tail. The short slide / down climb after R5 now has a chest deep "keeper" pothole (discovered on Feb 2023 trip) and with extreme flow this pothole has a huge boil and crazy recirculation current. We avoided it completely by using an anchor high DCL or a couple members ran and used momentum to clear the slide over to the slab. For R6 (main event 100 foot waterfall) we used the DCR bolts as they were much easier to approach, and they kept us out of the heavy flow on the way down the big drop. Because of the slimy algae getting to R7 was tricky friction climbing. 2 members jumped R7 near the falls, not near the bolted anchor. We bypassed R8 by climbing up on the ridge DCL; R8 had way too much water going down the slot next to the anchor and the hallway would have been much too forceful. The creek bed between R8 and R9 is almost completely cleared of logjams and debris now. For R9, the horizontal tree 🌲 that crossed the watercourse is gone. The horizontal tree 🌲 that sticks out over the cliff face is still there, but it has a lot of rotting near its trunk. The swim in reservoir was 1/4 mile with about 500 feet of wading before getting to a walkable shore.
11 Feb 2023	Great	Moderate	Thin wetsuit	Special challenges	10 hours	2 people Intermediate to Expert	Austin3623 (16 reports),Willie92708 (991 reports)
Comment: Excellent time to run GFotF—weather and water flow were both great (see photo). Water was noticeably colder than some of the other canyons in the San Gabes right now. Was a bit cold in my 3/2, would recommend at least a 4/3. The Great Falls were a blast. We opted for the bolts DCR, but looked safe enough to take DCL through the flow as well. Brought the bolt gun and Willie installed a new anchor at the end of the corridor halfway down R8. If you use this option, make sure to toss your rope past the turbulent narrow channel directly at the base of the first waterfall (the rocks in that section easily trap ropes that experience any tangling there). The “express exit” was anything but (hence, special challenges). The slope was steep, loose and overgrown. No real sign of the animal runs that led us smoothly through Little Fox Creek on the approach. Rocks, dirt and plants were quick to fall away when grabbed for stability. Think it took us 1.5 hrs of steep bushwhacking through tick territory to escape that canyon. Didn’t let that ruin the day. Still linked it up with Fall Creek Canyon on the way out as we speculated how to complete a Big Tujunga Trifecta next time by hitting either Classic Canyon or the Big T 300 footer on the way in.
14 Nov 2022	Great	Low	None	Advanced	9 hours	2 people Intermediate to Advanced	Greatshaitan (45 reports)
Comment: First time heading down GFotF! Sooo many downed trees in the canyon. Most fresh deadfall. Was able clear many of them as most were dead. Falls were awesome. Replaced w anchors, included the one at the big drop LDC.
22 May 2022	Great	Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	7 hours	5 people Intermediate to Advanced	Epeairs (68 reports),Nkowalcz (10 reports)
Comment: We took the bushwhack approach through the gulley, it was pretty straightforward with almost no poison oak. Water flow was quite low, but it was 70F breezy day so half our group still wore wetsuits.
1 Apr 2022	Great	Low	Thin wetsuit	Special challenges	8 hours	7 people	Willie92708 (991 reports)
Comment: This was a SoCal Roundup trip with 7 people, thus "special challenges". We used the bushwhack to the ridge approach. Water flow was low (see pic), and chilly, but not cold. Anchor webbing is OK, but there is a lot of old material now that could be cleaned out. The Big Tujunga reservoir was full enough that we had to wade waist deep for a bit to get out, but the water was warm enough, and it is not muddy.
19 Feb 2022	Great	Low	Thin wetsuit			3 people	Willie92708 (991 reports)
Comment: We dropped in from the Fantastic Mr Fox canyon which connect just upstream of the last rappel in GFotF. Water flow is strong class B (see pic), so doing the money part of GFotF would be excellent at this time.
17 Apr 2021	Good	Very Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	12 hours	2 people Beginner to Intermediate	Brdn.gonzales (44 reports)
Comment: Started the day at 7:30AM and finished at 7:15PM. Bushwhacking Traverse to the Ridge Approach, Rappelled, and finished through the Standard Exit. The Approach until the Bushwhacking Traverse was nice and the rappels in the canyon were fantastic! Traverse was a bit challenging, but nothing too crazy; just take your time and stay high as you continue onwards. I re-read the Beta for the Ridge approach and it "seems" like we did most of it correctly, but we couldn't find the shallow chute or rock cairn. We were able to make our way down, but please be aware this is not an easy descent. Webbing is starting to show signs of sun damage, but still safe. Walking to the final rappel at the end of the Standard Exit took us about an hour. Tons of Poison Oak, Stinging Nettle, Log Jams, and overgrowth. Everything considered, great views and a stunning canyon.
14 Mar 2021	Great	Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	8 hours	3 people Intermediate to Expert	Aquamoo (91 reports),Willie92708 (991 reports)
Comment: Awesome day in GFOTF! We did the express exit (which sucks) and ran fall creek (which doesn't suck). Fox is in low flow right now but still plenty for a fun time. Standing at the top of the big falls and feeling the wind spray water up at you is really something special. Willie: water temp 50F, anchor are OK, but some really need new webbing instead of multiple pieces of older stuff. We used the express exit so that we could run Fall Creek on the way out.