Conditions:Kings Cave-20250406172215

Latest:	5 Apr 2025 (13 days ago)

Reported by:	Heliops (15 reports)
Quality:	Great
Waterflow:	Dry
Wetsuit:	None
Water temperature:
Difficulty:	Special challenges
Time:	6 hours

Team: 4 people with experience level Advanced to Expert

Trip report URL:

Comments: Took the class 4 approach, what awsome views it affords,well worth the effort. The rappels where awsome as well. All anchors are in great shape as well.

All condition reports

Date	Quality	Waterflow	Wetsuit	Difficulty	Time	Team	Reported by
5 Apr 2025	Great	Dry	None	Special challenges	6 hours	4 people Advanced to Expert	Heliops (15 reports)
Comment: Took the class 4 approach, what awsome views it affords,well worth the effort. The rappels where awsome as well. All anchors are in great shape as well.
31 Mar 2025					5 hours	9 people Beginner to Advanced	Dyln cole (59 reports),EMoorcroft (447 reports),Cooper smith (29 reports)
Comment: Webbing stands good, followed the 4th class crack and had a great day. Made it through at a casual pace with a big group in 5 hours, stopped in between rappels to enjoy the beautiful alcoves.
11 Jan 2025	Amazing				7 hours	5 people Intermediate to Advanced	RFontaine (252 reports)
Comment: Time includes bouncing (rappelling/ascending) the first two drops of Deadman’s Hollow on our way over which added 2hrs to our day. This was a very worthwhile side quest, highly recommend checking it out if you like ascending! I took us down the B-line approach again dropping directly off the ridge from a tree on the bench just below. Downclimb from ridge to first bench at earliest opportunity, then traverse far left over to a large juniper slung with webbing. This option is much better than going way around and downclimbing all the way to the redrock and adds another large, quality freehanging rappel. The 220 is always fantastic as are the other rappels. Great day out with awesome humans!
14 Dec 2024	Amazing	Dry	None	Advanced	5 hours	6 people Intermediate to Expert	Ffelix (1 reports),RFontaine (252 reports)
Comment: Ryan: "A really great full featured route for Sedona. Fun approach with plenty of scrambling, a few 5th class moves required. Once again, we B-lined it down to the big bench by rappelling rather then going way around for the downclimb. Webbing replaced on last anchor, all others look good. 5.5hrs" Faerthen: "Agreed that the difficulty of the climbing is very understated. Every single 4th-class section in the route description is easily 5th-class, up to probably 5.6. There’s even a pic of a guy in a previous report doing an arm bar in the gully—that ain’t 4th-class! But the route is excellent. The route-finding is part of that and did not take away from the experience in any way. Quite the contrary. If you want a more traditional canyon experience you should probably steer clear of this one, which is more like mountaineering."
21 Sep 2024	Great	Dry	None	Normal	7 hours	5 people Beginner to Advanced	Celes (25 reports)
Comment: Our group consider the approach rating to be debatably higher than PG. There were a couple of class 4 climbs and the ridge ascend was definitely exposed. Not to say it was not a fun time because it totally was! The overhanging rappels were worthwhile too. The drop in route was a bit questionable on the map; we pretty much just bush-whacked our way down to the red sandstone platform when we got close. Otherwise anchors weren't hard to find. Existing webbing texture all felt smooth and supple.
7 Apr 2024	Good				5 hours	2 people Advanced	EMoorcroft (447 reports)
Comment: All anchors looked good. Black webbing on the first and last rappel is barely fading but may need replacement in the near future. Everytime I question whether the Rapps are worth the approach. The answer is always yes. Route finding skills will improve your experience. Enjoy
31 Dec 2023	Amazing				5 hours	20 people Beginner to Advanced	RFontaine (252 reports)
Comment: Brandon Levander Memorial Trip. We had a staggering 20 people attend this trip yet somehow managed to fly through this route in 5.5 hours!!! I led a few of us down the optional “approach rappels” while the others took the original downclimb route. R1 webbing is fresh. We set 2 ropes on each rappel, fiddled everything and were very efficient. Super awesome day with a bunch of fantastic people! Thank you all for coming out to celebrate the life of Brandon, someone who did so much for the canyoneeing community and one of the first to descend this route.
31 Dec 2023	Amazing					16 people Brand new to Advanced	EMoorcroft (447 reports)
Comment: Awesome day. Bolts all look super solid. Big group, so we frog lept, doubled up, and used Fiddle stick on the big rappels.
30 Jul 2023	Amazing				7 hours	2 people Intermediate to Advanced	RFontaine (252 reports)
Comment: Another great trip to King's. The approach is one of my favorite in Sedona, pretty, engaging, and plenty to see! Once we got to the top of the final ridge overlooking the layer where the first rappel is, instead hiking around and downclimbing out of the way as the KML would have you do, we ghosted off trees straight down to the first rap. There are many different trees to use and many different lines to take. This is a much more enjoyable way to get back to the slick rock layer in my opinion. The aforementioned down climbs are shitty and take you out of the way. The rappels on this route are all top notch, just too bad the resort is in constant view in the backdrop... R1 webbing is sunburnt but not crispy yet. We took our sweet time on this one enjoying the day!
27 Mar 2023	Great			Normal	6 hours	6 people Advanced	EMoorcroft (447 reports)
Comment: A trickle of water on the route made for a great day. R1 had been extended but we removed excess webbing. R2 was moved out of the watercourse so we put it back in the original location. R3 and 4 anchors looked great. Everyone really enjoyed the approach and route. Fiddle stick on the big rappel. It should be noted that there is a large boulder rdc at r2 that is loose and creeping near the edge. Under 6 hours car to car at a good pace.
11 Mar 2023	Great	Dry			6 hours	4 people Intermediate to Advanced	RFontaine (252 reports)
Comment: Such a fun canyon famous for it’s big rappels one after another! The ridge line approach is always worth doing. We ghosted 2 rappels to get down to R1 immediately upon cresting the last ridge, instead of going around way out of the way and downclimbing. We felt it was more enjoyable that way. Anchors are in good condition.
1 Dec 2022	Good	Dry		Normal	6 hours	6 people Advanced	Nclegg (396 reports)
Comment: Approach is cleaning up. Replaced R1 webbing. Moved at a moderate pace: 2.5h approach, 3h descent, 0.5h exit.
23 Oct 2022	Great				9 hours	4 people Intermediate to Advanced	RFontaine (252 reports)
Comment: Beautiful alcove system, some of the best rappels in Sedona! We took our time at a very leisurely pace with lots of stops. We ghosted 2 additional rappels before R1 to get from the Coconino sandstone layer down to the red rock bench where R1 was, as soon as it was in sight. This made more sense and was more direct rather than bushwhacking and downclimbing in a round about way. There are plenty of solid trees to choose from to ghost off of. We replaced the sunburnt webbing on R1 and R4. Hung out below R1 for awhile to enjoy the ruins and practice ascending. Finished the route at sunset which was a total treat!
8 Oct 2022	Good			Normal	5 hours	3 people	EMoorcroft (447 reports)
Comment: Anchors are getting faded from sun exposure. New webbing by spring 2023, but looks good for Fall. 5.5 hours car to car. Route Finding from deadmans hollow to r1 can be challenging. Keep trending west until you see a nice break on the overhung coconino section.
7 Apr 2022	Great			Normal	7 hours	5 people Intermediate to Advanced	Rglenn (19 reports)
Comment: Ascended a class III crack just north of class IV crack, which also avoided exposed ridgeline traverse. All webbing was in good condition. We fiddled R1 & R4, CEM R2 & R3.

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