Conditions:Mystery Canyon-20250425180229

Latest:	23 Apr 2025 (1 month ago)

Reported by:	Bricepollock (39 reports)
Quality:	Amazing
Waterflow:	Very Low
Wetsuit:	None
Water temperature:
Difficulty:	Normal
Time:	6 hours

Team: 5 people with experience level Beginner to Expert

Trip report URL:

Comments: First slotty section is very cool, the water was the final couple rappels. Very aesthetic, approachable canyon with hero finish so the permit competition makes sense.. No higher than 3-4 feet if you plan your landings.

All condition reports

Date	Quality	Waterflow	Wetsuit	Difficulty	Time	Team	Reported by
23 Apr 2025	Amazing	Very Low	None	Normal	6 hours	5 people Beginner to Expert	Bricepollock (39 reports)
Comment: First slotty section is very cool, the water was the final couple rappels. Very aesthetic, approachable canyon with hero finish so the permit competition makes sense.. No higher than 3-4 feet if you plan your landings.
28 Sep 2024	Great	Dry	Rain jacket	Normal	8 hours	6 people Beginner to Advanced	Johnbcaves (158 reports),Rbowru (54 reports)
Comment: Hot day. Top-down run, dropped off by friends running Englestead (thanks!). Detoured on the approach thinking of visiting Observation Point but decided against it. Some used wetsuits beyond the spring, some didn't. Lovely canyon!
1 Jun 2024	Great	Very Low	None	Normal	9 hours	4 people Beginner to Intermediate	Liu li (2 reports)
Comment: Beautiful canyon. Up to the Mystery spring rappel the canyon is completely dry. Weather is hot and no wet suit (or rain coat) is required. Having some trouble to retrieve rope at the Mystery spring rappel. In the beginning, the rope is stuck, and it seems the rope is crossed at the link, and one side of the rope is sitting directly on top of the other side, and caused extra friction to drag out. We have to yank the rope on the decent side to further away from the cliff, then the rope gets loosened and we can retrieve it. We recommend the last person to descent to check the rope condition, making sure there is no overlapping of any kind, before descending down.
28 Oct 2023					7 hours	6 people Beginner to Advanced	Cheveran (92 reports)
Comment: Beautiful canyon. We brought 4-5mm wetsuits and appreciated them.
14 Oct 2023	Great	Deep pools	Full wetsuit	Normal	8 hours	4 people Brand new to Intermediate	Celes (27 reports)
Comment: I jokingly refer to this canyon as the Anti-Englestead. While Englestead's rappel go from awesome to lame, Mystery's rappel go from lame to awesome. We do appreciate the lame-to-awesome rappels in this canyon because we had 2 newbies with us, one of them had zero experience. So they got in lots of mild rappel practice before having to do the big ones. 3 of us had drysuits because that's what rangers recommended (apparently they were told by canyoneerers before that the water is really really cold). But that's an overkill imo. We never countered water till the 2nd to the last rappel which you drop into a deep water hole. Then wade through a couple of waist deep water areas before getting to the last rappel into the narrows. And the narrows was no deeper than hip deep.
12 Jul 2023	Good	Deep pools	Thin wetsuit		5 hours	2 people Advanced to Expert	RFontaine (271 reports)
Comment: This is a decent beginner canyon with a few neat features. I may be one of the few that says this, but in my opinion, this canyon does not deserve the extreme hype it has been given compared to may others in the area. The beginning section is fairly "meh". No notable features or much excitement. The "L bend" narrows section is nice. Similar to Englestead but shorter and less grand with much shorter raps and lower walls. The wow factor for me was coming around the corner to the big room where the "spring rappel" resides (2nd to last rappel). This is indeed a nice picturesque room. I donned my 3/2 wetsuit here, this rap in the past dropped down into a swimmer but now it it mostly filled with sand and waist deep. Wetsuit still nice for that, the few pools beyond, and swimming down narrows. The final rap into the narrows is low angle but nice enough. Obviously cannot hold a candle to Not Imlay or Imlay. Over all for the seasoned canyoneer that has done may of the more advanced canyons in the park, I feel that the appeal for Mystery may be a bit lacking. However was still a fun day and worthwhile for bringing beginners or perhaps a 1st Zion trip. One and done for me.
15 Nov 2022	Great	Very Low	Thin wetsuit	Easy	8 hours	2 people Beginner	DelS (2 reports)
Comment: First time in Zion. Both of us new to Mystery Canyon. At this time snow at approach to the beginning obstacle rappelled so it took us some extra time through the gulley and we didn't down climb (just in case). Recommend crampons or spikes for shoes due to snow. We didn't bring those and butt slid down a bunch, which is nice but if you like the feeling of a dry butt go with the recommendations. All anchors are great and the webbing looks brand new. Mystery lake in the middle was iced over so we changed into our wet suits and had to utilize a stick and sometimes putting our own weight to break the ice to cross the lake. This trip makes me want to do the Narrows hike which might be cool if people do that the next day. Hope to do it again!
5 Oct 2022	Amazing	Deep pools	None	Normal	8 hours	6 people Beginner to Advanced	Natepartyof6 (5 reports)
Comment: First time in this canyon and it was a blast! Mystery Lake was a little muddy. Unfortunately no water though. Last two rappels made it all worth it. Once you drop into the springs you are going to get wet. No one in our group brought wetsuits. Instead we had a fun time swimming and once we got to the last rappel into the narrows we through on jackets and/or hoodies.
1 Jul 2022	Great	Deep pools	None	Normal	7 hours	3 people Intermediate to Advanced	Coalemus (160 reports)
Comment: It clouded up and started drizzling about when we got to the springs. I was tempted to feel chilly but resisted the urge. Slid down the final rap on my backside at speed to considerable applause. Narrows was choked with humanity. Time is TH to shuttle stop.
11 Jun 2022	Amazing	Very Low	None	Normal	7 hours	2 people Beginner to Intermediate	Grapefruit (33 reports)
Comment: Death gully scramble was annoyingly intense. Hot in some parts of the canyon but mostly covered. Time was from East Mesa trailhead to Sinawava. One swimmer at the spring. No wetsuits or socks necessary. 2L of water would have been plenty.
19 May 2022	Great	Very Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	4 hours	2 people Intermediate to Expert	Aquamoo (91 reports)
Comment: This was my first canyon in Zion. The upper narrows are interesting but the lower section by the spring is spectacular. Very different from the SoCal scenery that I’m used to. The canyon is almost completely dry until you get to the spring.
18 May 2022	Great	Very Low	None	Normal	10 hours	2 people Beginner to Intermediate	JasenPlus (17 reports)
Comment: Dropped off by shuttle service at East Mesa Trailhead at about 645 am. Took a slow and leisurely trip. Everything was about as expected. There is a large tree down in the middle of the death gulley. Looks like people have been going around it but it was easy for us to go under it. Excellent day.
4 Nov 2021	Great	Very Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	7 hours		Natureboytimflair (68 reports)
24 Aug 2019	Great	Deep pools	None	Normal	5 hours	3 people Beginner to Advanced	Erek (206 reports)
Comment: No wetsuit needed.
17 Aug 2019	Ok	Very Low	None	Normal	4 hours	1 people Expert	Dangel (157 reports)
Comment: Lots of groups in canyon without helmets or quality footwear. Potholes were low. Maybe only two swimmers. Observed many tadpoles in the exit.

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