Conditions:La Barranca-20250422152337

Latest:	19 Apr 2025 (1 month ago)

Reported by:	Nclegg (413 reports)
Quality:	Amazing
Waterflow:	Moderate Low
Wetsuit:	Full wetsuit
Water temperature:
Difficulty:	Normal
Time:	8 hours

Team: 3 people with experience level Advanced

Trip report URL:

Comments: Such an incredibly beautiful canyon with many memorable features. Car-to-car time reflects the full route. With shuttle time included this is a 10+ hour day. Lots of creekin' but the rock was incredibly grippy. Very aquatic canyon. 5/4mm wetsuit was comfortable. Puente de Dios is impressive and worth checking out but was full of probably 50 tourists and several hiking guides who were adamant about us staying out of the creek and following the established exit trail, single file, behind the slow-moving herds of hikers. If you visit the cave then be sure to bring enough pesos to cover the per person fee.

All condition reports

Date	Quality	Waterflow	Wetsuit	Difficulty	Time	Team	Reported by
19 Apr 2025	Amazing	Moderate Low	Full wetsuit	Normal	8 hours	3 people Advanced	Nclegg (413 reports)
Comment: Such an incredibly beautiful canyon with many memorable features. Car-to-car time reflects the full route. With shuttle time included this is a 10+ hour day. Lots of creekin' but the rock was incredibly grippy. Very aquatic canyon. 5/4mm wetsuit was comfortable. Puente de Dios is impressive and worth checking out but was full of probably 50 tourists and several hiking guides who were adamant about us staying out of the creek and following the established exit trail, single file, behind the slow-moving herds of hikers. If you visit the cave then be sure to bring enough pesos to cover the per person fee.
6 Nov 2024	Amazing	Moderate High	Full wetsuit	Normal	8 hours	7 people Advanced	K arc (376 reports),Coops (121 reports),AdamOtter (52 reports)
Comment: Outstanding day running the whole canyon. The upper section had been freshly re-bolted by the team ahead of us. The upper section is quick-fire action on big raps in impressive situations, but it's over just as you're ready for more! The lower section is long, and has a lot of creek walking, albeit on good rock. The reward for your effort is multiple 5* features along the way. It's character swings wildly. At times it's deep & dark with up-climbs into tight squeezes reminiscent of desert classics like Imlay; then half an hour downstream it's toboggan slides into deep whirling pools like Hager in the Pacific Northwest. Just as you think it must only be flat creek walking remaining it throws 3 big jumps consecutively at you, almost as a thank you. We found an exit path which cut out a chunk of the final creek walking, but still allows you to drop back into canyon to visit Pointe de Dios and enjoy the aquatic cave. I'll update the GPS track.
25 Mar 2023	Good	Low	Full wetsuit	Normal	6 hours	2 people Advanced	Eddyl (76 reports)
Comment: We did the upper part, exiting at the midpoint. High of 85F. Water was FRIGID. In 5mm wetsuits, as experienced canyoneers, we were shivering continuously. I was glad when it ended. Low flow, no water hazards. All anchors good. Exit is a beast! Very difficult, lots of up, lots of sun. As the approach and exit are so long, I would not repeat this route. If going, I would definitely try to start with La Escondida section. I haven't done it, but it adds more canyon for you efforts on the approach and exit.
13 Mar 2023	Good	Very Low	Thin wetsuit	Easy		3 people Intermediate to Advanced	Blueshade (55 reports)
Comment: Under 8hrs to first trail exit left Attempted to see Puente de Dios via land but we weren't successful before giving up due to time constraints. Still unknown via the water pipe trail. Definitely do NOT need a 200' rope, despite the unclear "updated" beta. All raps are 100'or less, even with multi-stage. (Meaning tying another rope on is needed, but not necessitating a 200') Unless 100% intending to see Puente de Dios (via the river?) the 2nd part of the canyon has a lot of creek walking and not a lot of action. If going again I'd probably only do the upper part. For kicks and giggles, we attempted to hike out the trail from the bottom. We got just past the village of La Barranca (in about 2.5hrs) before giving up because of time, weather, and fatigue. We fortunately had a team member sitting out to come and fetch us. Would be another 1-1.5hrs+ hiking back to Pinal de Amoles from there. Overall- not impossible, but not easy.
10 Feb 2022	Great	Low	Full wetsuit	Normal	8 hours	4 people Advanced to Expert	Michelle (60 reports)
Comment: Wow, fantastic canyon! Deep and narrow going on for hours. We did section 1 on the first day, and section 2 on the second day. It was February and the air was cold, the water frigid, and the days short, so we were happy to break it into two days. Also, at the time the midpoint trail was not on the map, so I recorded it and added it. The upper section on day 1 only took us 4.5hrs total (45min approach, 2.25 hrs in the technical section, and 1.5hr hike out). The lower section on day 2 took 8 hours total. Coming back in a warmer month I'd plan to do the canyon straight through now that I know the upper section is so short, and with the exit hike taking almost as long as the canyon. As I mentioned in the beta, several raps didn't have bolts at the anchor point, but we were able to do two stage drops from the anchors above. We had to add webbing at one point in the lower section. There was webbing used on other drops but it was in good shape. Most drops are to be done with unlinked bolts (no webbing).
8 Apr 2021	Amazing	Moderate Low	Full wetsuit	Special challenges	9 hours	3 people Intermediate to Expert	Coalemus (160 reports)
Comment: Wow, what an amazing canyon. we did I & II, so the time reflects that. The water was a glowing turquoise color, the deep sections were dark and super committing and the sculpted travertine is grippy and forms amazing shapes. There are little caves and stalactites and myriad features to explore. Great jumps and exciting rappels with enough flow to be fun. Long swims in hallways filled with cold, clear beautiful water. This is one of my favorite canyons. We had trouble with our R2, the one that goes through a grotto and turns to the left before reaching a pool (we only did 4 raps in part I). Because a lot of the pulls are over edges, pay attention to pull side placement.
8 Apr 2021	Good	Moderate	Thin wetsuit	Normal	9 hours	3 people Intermediate to Expert	Anaïs France (15 reports)
Comment: 9h overall leaving from Pinal walking from the house and being picked up at the end of barranca 2. Spectacular scenery. Water is getting warmer as you go down the canyon. Barranca 1 has almost no walking and is very narrow, which made it even greater.
8 Apr 2021	Good	Moderate	Thin wetsuit	Easy	9 hours	3 people Intermediate to Expert	Anaïs France (15 reports)
Comment: 9h overall starting from Pinal walking to Barranca 1 And then barranca 2, and being picked up at the end of barranca 2. Not as intense as barranca 1 but definetly worth it two. Water is wonderful, Coete slide is great fun and Nice jumps and swim Haven’t been cold at all. At the end of the canyon, stay close to the river until Puente De Dios. Cross it and on the other side you have a tourist walk until exit. They charge entry 120p/p
20 Mar 2019 Trip report	Great	Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal		2 people Beginner to Advanced	Felixrulz (76 reports),Fernando (21 reports)
Comment: After doing Infiernillo the day before and spending the night in Ahuacatlán de Guadalupe, we caught a taxi back to Pinal de Amoles. We meet up with Luis Ansaldo, a local guide. He recommended us a modest hotel, the small room ended up having no water because of a leakage and Felix got a free upgrade to a double room (which later proved to be quite convinient). After some delicious 'gorditas' and 'boing jugos', we headed off to find the canyon. Felix had an approximate GPS trace which led us on a wild goose chase down 'caminos' and across 'campos'. Finally we reunited with the correct trail and arrived at the drop in were a bridge spanned the small stream. We geared up, and almost immediately the canyon started with a fun slide. The first rappel was down a narrow slot. A simple pothole escape followed, using a tree wedged into the rocks. The canyon was great, but we don't remember specifics... We were looking for a climb to exit the canyon. This is what we had understood after talking with Luis... But walking through the stinging nettle, we arrived at a bridge with an obvious exit presented itself. We made several stops in our way back up because I (Fernando) was not feeling well after parting too much the weekend before. It was getting late and it got to the point where we knew I couldn't catch the last bus to Querétaro. Towards Pinal we picked up bags of garbage. One of the locals (Rubén?) liked the example we were setting and bought us some bananas and gave us his contact. On the way back to the hotel Felix detoured to the 'gorditas' stand we'd enjoyed that morning... but it was closed. At the hotel we enjoyed the hot water and were happy Felix'd been moved to the room of two beds as I was supposed to catch the last bus to Querétaro. We slept well. The next day we explore the town and followed the parade to 'La Flor mas Bella del Campo' (a beauty pageant). It turned out that many were from Sauz de Guadeloupe and even mentioned 'Cañón de Infernillo' in their speach! Later that night finally I caught my bus to Querétaro.