Conditions:Grizzly Canyon (Sedona)-20251026063047
Latest: |
25 Oct 2025 (1 month ago) |
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| Reported by: | Gultchrunner (1 reports) | |
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| Quality: | Great |
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| Waterflow: | Dry |
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| Wetsuit: | None |
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| Water temperature: | ||
| Difficulty: | Normal |
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| Time: |  9 hours
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Team: 6 people
Trip report URL:
Comments: Major bushwhack along the top of Bear Mountain. No trail through the manzanita, and it can be difficult to tell exact direction of travel some times. Downclimb to R1 seemed really sketchy for some in the ground. We rappeled down the 200 ft downclimb. All anchors in good condition except for R2 where the anchor is off a dead tree. On R4 we rappeled all the way to the very bottom, did not stop on any of the ledges. The full R4 rappel is 90 - 95 feet. Overall had a fantastic time in the canyon, except for the bushwhack on approach.
All condition reports
| Date | Quality | Waterflow | Wetsuit | Difficulty | Time | Team | Reported by |
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| Amazing | Dry
| | Special challenges  |  7 hours
| 4 people Intermediate to Advanced | Mjbirdno (9 reports) | |
Comment: Since the most recent report, All webbing had been removed with none being replaced. I guess the only thing they left was some purple webbing on the optional rappel 1.5 (to avoid the downclimb after R1), which we didn’t use. This canyon is one of our favorites and perhaps the best in Sedona. Got to take my wife and 2 of our children (adult and 14 yrs old). We added webbing at all anchors and quick kings at most of them. R3 quicklinknis unusually large, but just wha we had. We left webbing at R4 & R5, but were running low on quick links and used fiddlesticks on those 2 rappels. For R6, we extended about 15’ from the tree and left a quick link.
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| Great | | | Normal | 8 hours
| 3 people Beginner to Advanced | Sportsben15 (4 reports) | |
Comment: Fun canyon with great views throughout the approach and descent. Took ~3 hours to approach including a couple breaks to chat with people on the trail. Was pleasantly surprised that the off-trail section of the approach really wasn't bad if you've done much actual bushwacking, just keep an eye out for the social/game trails and there's very little actual having to forge your own path, long pants recommended though. A light trickle on several rappels and nice pools were a pleasant addition to the ambience.
Several of the anchors use large amounts of webbing due to the boulder's size or need to extend from trees, so pack plenty in case they need to be replaced. All main rap stations were in good shape during our descent (swapped out some rusty quicklinks, yellow webbing on R1.5 for the 200' downclimb below R1 looked like it was starting to get abraded a bit in the knot but we didn't use it). That being said, there was a lot of unnecessary webbing used on extensions in loop configurations that could easily be turned into single-strand rigs with double strand on potential wear points to be both more redundant where it matters and minimize length of webbing used when it does come time to replace them. Seems there is a new anchor RDC on R2 off 2 small pines with a ring masterpoint. This may provide an easier transition into the freehang compared to the CDC tree anchor and a toggle floats well, but it does run over several sharp edges at the top that can be rough on the rope. Ended up with a coreshot on my rope right at the lip, not particularly surprised (it was an old rope that was wet from seepage with newer rappellers descending) but something to keep in mind when deciding which anchor to use at this rappel/if you want to creep the rope between raps. Took our sweet time on the way down and overall had a great time with this approach, descent, and easy exit, and would happily do it again, but I was a little surprised how much this canyon seems to be hyped since there are many other canyons in the area with similarly excellent views and rappels. 4 out of 5 stars for sure though.
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| Great | Dry
| None
| Normal | 9 hours
| 6 people | Gultchrunner (1 reports) | |
Comment: Major bushwhack along the top of Bear Mountain. No trail through the manzanita, and it can be difficult to tell exact direction of travel some times. Downclimb to R1 seemed really sketchy for some in the ground. We rappeled down the 200 ft downclimb. All anchors in good condition except for R2 where the anchor is off a dead tree. On R4 we rappeled all the way to the very bottom, did not stop on any of the ledges. The full R4 rappel is 90 - 95 feet. Overall had a fantastic time in the canyon, except for the bushwhack on approach.
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| Great | Dry
| None
| Normal | 8 hours
| 3 people Intermediate | Spliff Riff (5 reports) | |
Comment: We absolutely loved this canyon. While the hike is long, it is beautiful the whole way up. All anchors were in excellent shape, even after a week of storms. While we did not use the anchor for the downclimb section between R1 and R2, we checked it, and it is also good.
I updated the Descent information as R5 was inaccurate. We could not find a tree anchor LDC, and a great rock anchor was set up, essentially in the watercourse (slightly LDC). We ghosted all raps over 100' and found the pulls to be easy. Lastly, I would say that you don't need to downclimb the last ledge of R4. Set the rope to 80' and rap all the way down. Follow the watercourse to R5. | |||||||
| Great | Dry
| None
| Normal | 5 hours
| 1 people Intermediate | Sstaverman (23 reports) | |
Comment: Everything in good shape. 180' rope is the exact length for R3. Grabbed that rope from previous report and reached out to owner.
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| Amazing | Dry
| | Normal | 9 hours
| 2 people Intermediate | Austink67 (2 reports) | |
Comment: Webbings were all in great condition. Hike from top of Bear to top of descent is annoying through bushes, but there are quite faint trails. It is absolutely beautiful and good rappels. I did get my rope stuck on last rappel, if next person who does this canyon who retrieves the rope looks around and sees this message, I would love to get my rope back. Would pay shipping and any extras . Stuck because of too many crossovers at the topish, or the block got stuck. Hard to say, saw from a distance but hard to see it.
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| Good | Dry
| None
| Normal | 8 hours
| 6 people | AZ Advocate (59 reports) | |
Comment: No surprise we had a great day out - amazing company and absolutely the best views around Sedona.
Every anchor had unnecessary redundant webbing, which we removed, while still leaving perfectly fine webbing behind. Think we snagged over 50', which will be used on other routes - whoever placed that, thank you! We did use a retrievable at R1, which worked, but as noted it isn't ideal. Lots of loose rock at R1 so keep that in mind when retrieving ropes if people are on the 200' slabby downclimb directly below.
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| | | | 5 hours
| 2 people Advanced | EMoorcroft (452 reports) | ||
Comment: 5 hours and 15 minutes car to car. We knocked the approach out in 1.5 hours to r1. All webbing looked good. A cool trickle of water in the canyon. One of the best in the red rocks.
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| | | | 6 hours
| 5 people | Cheveran (97 reports) | ||
Comment: Beautiful canyon. Replaced the webbing on the last anchor. The scenery is delightful. Time is c2c, leisurely pace with lots of laughing and a little teaching.
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| Good | Dry
| | Normal | 8 hours
| 4 people Intermediate to Advanced | EMoorcroft (452 reports) | |
Comment: We enjoyed the downclimb to r1. Best rappel sequence in Sedona but it must be earned with a long approach. We took a lot of breaks and the approach took us just under 4 hours. Super fun route. Winter is the time for this one!
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| Dry
| | | 6 hours
| 2 people Beginner to Intermediate | Dyln cole (86 reports) | ||
Comment: Great canyon, brushy approach but after talking with John Hewitt and Jim Clarkin, this approach could probably be more comfortable. In any case, avoid following the kml religiously and stick to an approach on the southern side.
Canyon itself was great, R6 may need replacing soon. Worth the effort, a really great shot and an exit along the beautiful trail carved into Fay Canyon. P.S. let's keep it positive! the shitty comments about "the reason you are able to experience this canyon and have beta for it" is a little bravado and ego oriented, I'm thankful for the beta but let's be appreciative and respectful, not determined to add to our canyon resume. Not a single one of us was the first to experience this place, and we won't be the last.
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| Great | | | | 6 hours
| 4 people Advanced to Beginner | RFontaine (336 reports) | |
Comment: Great canyon, short but beautiful technical section! 2hrs to the summit at a leisurely pace. Decided to run over and rappel/ascend the first drop on Goldie Drops on our way over. This took 2 hours, not included in reported time.
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| Great | Dry
| None
| Normal | | 2 people Intermediate to Advanced | Mata-locust (1 reports) | |
Comment: Amazing views from the top of Bear Mountain and along the descent! Fun rappels and scrambling on the descent. The ascent up Bear is steep and in the sun. It would be nice if there was a cairned path in the bushwhacking from the top of Bear to the first rappel. This would help with lessening the impact to the vegetation.
Would recommend doing the R0 and R1.5 rappels. We down climbed them but the rock is slanted at an angle and a slip or fall would be quite serious. All anchors are in good condition. We backed up rappel 5 but 1-2 rappels are still on a single loop of webbing and would be good to back up. R6 was longer than 125’.
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| Amazing | Dry
| | Normal | | 4 people | Briwellman (87 reports) | |
Comment: Awesome canyon! The bushwack is challenging but not terrible. We were happy to find the R0 bush with webbing. Fun day exploring a new canyon.
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| | | | 7 hours
| 3 people | Erek (206 reports) | ||
Comment: Took our time and took a few long breaks. Watch for rock edges. 3rd to last rappel is setup on tree around line of gravity for rappel and could cause rope damage.
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