Conditions:Neon Canyon-20241005123147

Latest:	4 Oct 2024 (8 mos ago)

Reported by:	Mikeatran (84 reports)
Quality:	Great
Waterflow:	Deep pools
Wetsuit:	Thin wetsuit
Water temperature:
Difficulty:	Normal
Time:	7 hours

Team: 4 people

Trip report URL:

Comments: Took fence hike to full route/tree anchor rappel to get access to the narrow slotty section that links up to the main drainage. Tree anchor webbing looked sunfaded; used cem and added meat backup for group around tree to facilitate pull. Beta shows 3 rappels but can be 5 for some of the spice adverse. Bypassed 1 and set up another before realizing it was a slidable downclimb down the crack. Water level was high enough the to make pothole problems nonexistent. Final rappel is gorgeous; note the webbing is setup to facilitate a courtesy anchor which was helpful for the team to set length. Hike out on loose sand was difficult, so factor that in energy conservation for the trip.

All condition reports

Date	Quality	Waterflow	Wetsuit	Difficulty	Time	Team	Reported by
26 Apr 2025	Good	Low	None	Normal	8 hours	7 people	Mchlprk11100 (12 reports)
Comment: It was a great day with great temperatures for hiking to and from the canyon. The water levels were up to waist-deep, so no wetsuit was required. Due to the low water levels, keeper potholes were in easy mode.
4 Oct 2024	Great	Deep pools	Thin wetsuit	Normal	7 hours	4 people	Mikeatran (84 reports)
Comment: Took fence hike to full route/tree anchor rappel to get access to the narrow slotty section that links up to the main drainage. Tree anchor webbing looked sunfaded; used cem and added meat backup for group around tree to facilitate pull. Beta shows 3 rappels but can be 5 for some of the spice adverse. Bypassed 1 and set up another before realizing it was a slidable downclimb down the crack. Water level was high enough the to make pothole problems nonexistent. Final rappel is gorgeous; note the webbing is setup to facilitate a courtesy anchor which was helpful for the team to set length. Hike out on loose sand was difficult, so factor that in energy conservation for the trip.
22 May 2021	Great	Dry	None	Normal	8 hours	4 people Beginner to Advanced	Doctors out (26 reports)
Comment: Time is roundtrip from Egypt parking lot with decently strong hikers. Fun run through the full neon canyon. First pothole can be bypassed with a heady ~30' stem or other methods already mentioned. Everyone managed to stay completely dry. As a day trip, the best access is via the direct (southern) route and exit via the fence canyon (northern) route. While the steep sandy portions of the southern route is a soft delicious downhill, it would make for an awful uphill exit.
1 May 2021	Good	Dry	None	Easy	4 hours	6 people Beginner to Advanced	Cesar (21 reports)
Comment: Water level was maybe knee high. The first keeper pothole was very easy to climb over and the second is full of sand. The last rappel was the best part of the canyon. The biggest warning is that the hike in and out are long and on sand and it can be difficult for some in the heat. Also play close attention to navigation since people tend to get lost. you need to follow cairns since there is no trail.
19 Nov 2020	Great	Very Low	None	Normal	11 hours	3 people Beginner to Advanced	Zendegi (1 reports)
Comment: There were a few knee-deep pools, and the keeper potholes were dry. We escaped the first keeper pothole by using potshots and partner assist. The second keeper had enough sand to easily climb out. The water in the final knee deep where you touch down from rappel. Webbing was present at all anchors and in descent condition.
7 Aug 2020	Poor	Very Low	None	Normal	5 hours	5 people	Pfrankenberger (1 reports)
Comment: First keeper pothole use bolt LDC to avoid. Second Keeper Pothole has large sand mound for easy exit even with low water. Did Chop Rock start. Both canyons dry. Minor water in Neon. Golden Cathedral water was clean and nice refresh on a hot day. Good big sandy camping with shade at end of short cut route before river crossing into Neon and in Neon. Follow Short trail north of Neon confluence to rock art.
26 Jul 2020	Great	Very Low	None	Special challenges	10 hours	4 people Beginner to Advanced	Danelle (17 reports)
Comment: Beautiful Canyon. We ran it with very very low water levels. It would have been completely different if the water was at the waterline that could be seen. Most of it was dry, a couple knee/waist deeps spots, with one quick chest deep wade. A 10f climb out of one keeper (a pot shot did the trick). Learning to and ascending for the first time for one member of our group :). We took our time to take in its beauty and took a nice long break after the cathedral rap before heading for the exit.
12 Sep 2019	Great	Deep pools	Rain jacket	Normal	9 hours	6 people Advanced to Brand new	Greatshaitan (45 reports)
Comment: A great trip down neon. Took the longer extended route by rappelling off the hoodoo. Water is low, had wetsuits but didnt need them. First keeper in full keeper mode, climbed up to the anchors. Second keeper completely full.
31 Aug 2019	Great	Deep pools	Rain jacket	Normal	2 hours	1 people	Willie92708 (1000 reports)
Comment: Time was from river to river. I did a bit of recon on the approach climbing up to the highest shelf and finding an old path with a big cairn that marks a weakness in the headwall to get up on top of the Choprock plateau. This weakness is at the top of the sneak drop-in drainage, which is the 2nd significant drainage on the approach. The 1st drainage is totally cliffed out. After validating hiking up onto the Choprock plateau, I descend down to the 40 foot sneak drop-in rappel off a big boulder, perched on the shelf above the wide Neon canyon floor below. It's easy to downclimb to this boulder, using a handline for one spot just above it. From the bottom of this rappel, there is no keepers (presently), one short rappel, and just the swim in after the multi-holed section before the final rappel. Thus the sneak route is truly "cruiser", even solo.
30 Aug 2019	Great	Deep pools	None	Advanced	4 hours	4 people Intermediate to Expert	Erek (206 reports),Willie92708 (1000 reports)
Comment: Erek -> Backpacker into confluence of Fence Canyon and Escalante River, time is based on starting from here. Did mid and lower section. Mid section had one keeper pothole accomplished by stemming above it and dropping in on other side. Bolt also exists on LDC to use to drop in on other side of pothole. Lower section pothole was swim over. No wetsuits used, but there were a few short cold swims. Willie -> I used 3mm neoprene shorts and 1mm full sleeve top and that was plenty for the cold water, but not getting too hot in between. We entered from the "full" route, not the sneak or extended drop-in points. 4 hours was camp to camp time for 3 of our party, the other half continued to Ringtail. The approach has 3 different shelves to head up canyon and they all get you there; our party split onto different shelves at different times.
30 Aug 2019	Great	Deep pools	None	Normal	3 hours	5 people Intermediate to Expert	Reeves (37 reports)
Comment: One keeper pothole in the middle could be stemmed over, and the second was a walkout. Hot temperatures outside the canyon and ample opportunities to dry off made wetsuits unnecessary for our group. We dropped into the canyon somewhere near 37.6402362, -111.1217497 and had a great time in the beautiful middle section.
5 Jul 2019	Amazing	Deep pools	Thin wetsuit	Easy	1 day	5 people Intermediate to Expert	Exitfiftyone (22 reports)
Comment: Neon was a delight. We backpacked in the night before to get a head start and camped above the Escalante river to avoid bugs. It was an easy crossing of the Escalante with a knee-deep, gently flowing current. The water was running well enough to easily filter for drinking. The canyon was a super-fun romp without any significant challenges. Potholes were full and in easy mode. There were some swimmers, though the water was fairly warm and a couple teammates skipped wetsuits altogether. The hike out (uphill, through sand, with heavy packs, in the heat) was a doozy - glad we made sure to have extra water/snacks and time!
25 May 2019	Good	Deep pools	Thin wetsuit	Normal	5 hours	5 people Intermediate to Expert	Xenonrocket (103 reports)
Comment: Time is approximate, from mouth of Fence canyon
17 Jul 2017 Trip report							Candition.com (287 reports)
Comment: Most recent conditions reported at Candition.com
27 May 2017	Great	Deep pools	Thin wetsuit	Normal	6 hours	6 people Advanced to Expert	Lucach (75 reports),Tiffanie (139 reports),Michelle (60 reports),AmandaC (40 reports),Johnbcaves (161 reports),JohnMetz (14 reports)
Comment: Beautiful weather, extremely crowded. One semi-keeper pothole. Dropped in off a tree up main canyon (up from "normal" side drainage start). Some short swimming. Time is Fence Camp to Fence Camp.

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