Latest:	5 Nov 2023 (2 yrs, 6 mos ago)

Reported by:	Nclegg (473 reports)
Location:	Illiam Canyon
Quality:	Good
Waterflow:	Dry
Wetsuit:
Water temperature:
Difficulty:	Normal
Time:	7 hours

Team: 5 people

Trip report URL:

Comments: Encountered a black bear and two mountain lions (adult + cub) on approach as we were descending into the Illiam drainage. Fall color is abundant near the head of the canyon but leaves have mostly fallen along West Fork trail.

All condition reports

Date	Quality	Waterflow	Wetsuit	Difficulty	Time	Team	Reported by
12 Apr 2026	Great	Dry		Normal		6 people Brand new to Advanced	Sportsben15 (15 reports)
Comment: Had a great time in this drainage! Quite lovely especially once you get past the thorns just before the technical section and the first two nuisance rappels. Lots of nice cracks to climb throughout if you're into that and the arch is neat. We replaced a couple anchors so all are in pretty good shape now. With proper diligence we didn't stick any ropes and we didn't need anything longer than a 200' rope+pullcord, though it was nice to have multiple ropes out to leapfrog with a bigger group since many of the raps are right on top of eachother. R1 is currently anchored by a cairn in the watercourse and is undercut, used a footloop attached to a prusik above the edge to make it easier for beginners to manage the transition without trapping their device. Bypassed second nuisance rappel (lots of wood in the drainage). R3 is where things start to get good, currently anchored off a high horn (large pinch point?) LDC that makes rigging a bit tricky while stemming over a mini slide, but offers a nice angle for the pull. Bit of a two-stage with a nice big patio below the first very short stage (can be up and downclimbed with care, slick down low), so for expediency and comfort, we rigged the backside of our main rap line to send most of the party down the first short stage as our first rapeller headed down the large drop of the second stage. LPAR/anchor manager hung out on the upper slide until everyone was down. Recommend keeping rappel line in the carved water channel RDC for easiest edge transition on your rope. One could rappel all the way to the bottom as most of our party did, but a shelf on the lower part of the main rappel allows for easy downscrambling off either side if your pull cord comes up a bit short (won't happen with a 200' rope and 200' pullcord, we were just trying out a shorter pullcord). Edge protection and intentional rope placement was beneficial for the top of R4, but the tight and blocky nature of this rappel means your rope is gonna see a variety of edges you can't easily pad, rap smoothly and think about swing potential. Tricky dismount at the top where having long legs or good technique is helpful, we found keeping the rope slightly RDC up high and LDC down low to be a good line. We toggled this one with no issues. R5 off a boulder pinch was unremarkable. R6 (The Chute) is neat as is, but certainly creates challenges with rope retrieval using the current anchor setup. A bit more length on the webbing may help alleviate the tendency for the rope to get pinned by the quicklink on the edge of the block, though changing the anchor location may offer a simpler, cleaner pull and better rappel experience overall. After some test pulls from the LDC side of the fin, we decided to send everyone but LPAR down the full length of the rappel, then LPAR pulled from the midway chockstone and rappelled again from that anchor with a toggle (it will float from this anchor if you position it properly). At the moment there is enough sand and the right geometry to use a sandtrap just below the midway chockstone if one so desired, though opportunity for it to get stuck in the cracks on the chute. Next time I'll look into the feasibility of putting an anchor on the small shelf low and LDC of the current, easier to access, R6 anchor location. It would offer a much straighter shot down the chute as well as a less complicated and cleaner pull. Seemed like there might be opportunity for a knot/rock chock, but the boulder that is currently on that shelf seemed a bit small for the angle it's resting on to be considered reliable long-term. R7 (Patio) is great, no issues setting the rope LDC of snaggy cracks. We pulled through with some effort, but may try using a toggle next time. R8 is very picturesque and is potentially downclimbable by the skilled in dry conditions, though the slipperiness of the moss and consequence of the landing makes it a nicer rappel. Partner assisted through the neat mossy v-slide down canyon from R8 and bypassed R9. We shuttled by dropping a car on 89a in the morning for most of the party to take home, and one person hiked up AB Young after the canyon to retrieve our car at the top. Only took about an hour to hike back up and was actually pretty enjoyable in the cool evening air with a light pack. Recommend this method over the whole party hiking up AB Young in the morning sun with full packs if you have the patience to drive the long dirt road to Edge of the World and someone with a bit of extra juice at the end of the day.
20 Dec 2025	Great				4 hours	3 people	RFontaine (365 reports)
Comment: Took my 70yr old Dad down Illiam for this 4th canyon, he absolutely loved it! We set a shuttled from West Fork to the top so he could have an easy hike. Shuttle takes about 1.5hr and an hour of that is dirt trail. Bushwhacking still present but minimal this time of year, no snow yet. We avoided the first 2 drops and the last drop. This canyon hardly sees any sun this time of year. No problems with pul on any raps following beta. Great bang for the buck with multiple high quality rappels in short order. Webbing all looks okay. We made it through in 4.5hrs!
2 Nov 2025	Great	Dry	None	Normal	5 hours	3 people Beginner to Advanced	Nclegg (473 reports)
Comment: Stellar foliage this time of year. Removed and packed out two ropes that were stuck at the patio rappel.
25 Jul 2025	Ok	Very Low	None	Easy	6 hours	6 people Expert to Intermediate	JGM (23 reports)
Comment: Between the bushwhack and the difficulty in a car shuttle (if the parking lots are full as we experienced) it’s hard to recommend this canyon. Difficult navigation through thick foliage. Switch backs…..oh the gain. Other canyons in the area deserve attention…. This one might not.
12 Mar 2025 Trip report	Good	Very Low	Rain jacket	Normal	8 hours	3 people	Triggerfish (101 reports),Dyln Cole (1 reports)
Comment: Snow day! Seeing small patches of snow along the switchbacks, and foggy clouds dragging across the peaks did not prepare us for what we got. The crispy forest up top had a full snow blanket a few inches thick. We soon realized that this north facing canyon had snow all the way down. Not what we expected, but we embraced the conditions and had a fantastic, if cold and wet day. Dylan had been here before, and that saved us time anchor finding as one anchor was totally buried in snow, and others were a little hidden by it. Some areas had us postholing to our thighs. Drizzle fell most of the day. The snow put terrific contrast to the redrock. No troubles at the notorious R6. R8 would at first only pull a few inches before sticking hard, but we rigged up a 5:1 pig from a tree below and popped it loose.
30 Dec 2024					8 hours	5 people Intermediate to Advanced	EMoorcroft (453 reports),Dyln cole (107 reports)
Comment: All webbing looks good as Ryan mentioned and rappel beta stands good to avoid pull issues. Arch was phenomenal.
25 Dec 2024	Great				5 hours	2 people Advanced	RFontaine (365 reports)
Comment: Christmas Canyon!! 2.5hr approach. Not overly bushy this time of year. Bypassed R1 & R2 by staying high on the left. We fiddled or CEM’d every rappel except The Chute which we biner-blocked, set pull DCL over mid-way hump, no issues with pull anywhere. Quick and smooth day on this beautiful cliffy route! 5.5hrs back to car.
17 Nov 2024	Amazing	Dry	None	Special challenges	9 hours	2 people Intermediate to Advanced	ChristianChloeCanyons (2 reports)
Comment: Rope Retrieval Mission. Came back for our rope that got stuck at R4 (arch rap). We ended up setting the pull LDC and had no problems.
6 Nov 2024	Great	Dry	None	Special challenges		2 people Intermediate to Advanced	ChristianChloeCanyons (2 reports)
Comment: Crazy fun and unbelievably beautiful but very committing and rugged. The whole canyon is choked with thorns and brush. Cold, windy, and ice present. Don’t try this canyon without spare rope/pull cord. Lots of possible rope eaters and huge rappels. First Rap is super awkward. Soft start recommend and don’t extend your rappel here. Down climbed 2nd Rap. **Fiddle Rap 4 (the one going through the arch). Unbelievably pretty. Also awesome reading/signing the registry. Two rope-eater notches here though. We ran test pulls with our anchor but still stuck the rope. Should’ve used a fiddle. Chute rap R6 has a boulder halfway down with old shitty webbing. Good spot to split the decent into 2 raps and avoid possibly sticking a rope. Patio rappel R7 is best if you stay left down canyon against the wall and trail the pull cord. Walking out of west fork was awesome. First “I” canyon for us!! we stuck our rope at R4 (arch rappel). It’s blue with a yellow pull cord. If you retrieve it before we go back for it, please give me (Chloe) a call 602-695-0600. Thank you so much xoxoxo have fun!!
24 Dec 2023	Great				7 hours	2 people Beginner to Advanced	RFontaine (365 reports)
Comment: Such a great route! All the rappels are big and fun and the views are fabulous! As usual, we bypass the first 2 little raps and go straight to the first big one! The chute rappel webbing had some abrasion that we isolated with a butterfly knot. This one can definitely be a hard pull so heed instructions on beta.
5 Nov 2023	Good	Dry		Normal	7 hours	5 people	Nclegg (473 reports)
Comment: Encountered a black bear and two mountain lions (adult + cub) on approach as we were descending into the Illiam drainage. Fall color is abundant near the head of the canyon but leaves have mostly fallen along West Fork trail.
14 Jan 2023	Amazing	Very Low	Rain jacket	Special challenges	6 hours	2 people Intermediate to Advanced	Erek (206 reports)
Comment: Snow canyon. Thigh deep snow from leaving AB Young trail to first rappel. Ice and snow throughout canyon. Amazing conditions and experience. Did the chute rappel in two rappels. Beautiful canyon in snow.
28 Oct 2022	Good				5 hours	2 people Intermediate to Advanced	EMoorcroft (453 reports)
Comment: Great route. Fall colors are popping off! No issues. Anchors look great. Skipped r1 and r2. Downclimbed r9 on the left side.
11 Mar 2022	Amazing				7 hours	3 people Advanced	RFontaine (365 reports)
Comment: Took AB Young Trail up to the top. There were patches of snow on AB Young and up top we were greeted with a beautiful snow covered forest! Every rappel was icy but manageable and every landing was covered in atleast a foot or more of snow! This made for a fantastic, fun, and memorable experience! We had no rope pull issues as we rigged every rappel with the releasable CEM Knot. We did not set up a shuttle so we walked the road from West Fork to Bootleggers. This is the second time I've done this canyon and it is definitely underrated! All the raps are big and glorious, lots of free hanging and views for days!
15 May 2021	Good	Dry	None	Normal	5 hours	2 people Intermediate to Advanced	Nclegg (473 reports)
Comment: This rugged yet beautiful canyon sure does make you earn it with the approach up AB Young and subsequent navigation through dense brush and endless amounts of downed trees. Downclimbed the first couple raps. Before R3, we joked that the canyon currently had -1 stars, largely due to the dense and unforgiving brush...then came La Bella De Hew and the following rap sequence and our assessment quickly changed. Extended the anchor at R6 beyond the first lip. At this rap, we tossed the pull cord only slightly LDC (from about half way down the chute) and walked a bit down canyon for the pull. No anchor in sight at R9 so we rigged from a tree RDC. Took our time setting up the rappels and planning the pulls on the alleged rope-eaters. We brought an extra 200’ as insurance but it wasn’t needed. Be mindful of rope placement and you shouldn’t have any issues.