Conditions:Old Bill Canyon-20250411034618

Latest:	6 Apr 2025 (12 days ago)

Reported by:	RFontaine (252 reports)
Quality:	Amazing
Waterflow:
Wetsuit:
Water temperature:
Difficulty:
Time:	9 hours

Team: 4 people with experience level Intermediate to Advanced

Trip report URL:

Comments: Super fun beautiful canyon with lots of variety and small fun challenges.

Approach from Rainbow Spring is gradual and chill. It took us 1hr 40min to get to the drainage head, where we had a mini birthday celebration! We ghosted off a tree to drop into the canyon (instead of down climbing on left).

Fun mini sections of stemming, more if you want to stay dry. I was able to avoid getting wet in the upper section (except one foot). The pool on the big multistage rap can be avoided with some effort by clinging to the over hanging wall DCR.

Big sequence is very enjoyable and went smooth using a fiddle on all raps.

Entire upper section down the big sequence and first half of lower in full sun and warm.

First big pool in lower section was mostly avoidable with some effort clinging to DCR side. Still hard to not get feet wet near end.

The main 60ft long swimmer further down, in the slotty section, is un avoidable and very cold. Very picturesque though!! I was happy to throw on my 4/3 wetsuit for this one.

There are quite a few more rappels beyond where the ropewiki rap waypoints end, just FYI.

Lots of beautiful striped rock through out. Lower section especially pretty! One of the best in the Vegas circuit!

All condition reports

Date	Quality	Waterflow	Wetsuit	Difficulty	Time	Team	Reported by
6 Apr 2025	Amazing				9 hours	4 people Intermediate to Advanced	RFontaine (252 reports)
Comment: Super fun beautiful canyon with lots of variety and small fun challenges. Approach from Rainbow Spring is gradual and chill. It took us 1hr 40min to get to the drainage head, where we had a mini birthday celebration! We ghosted off a tree to drop into the canyon (instead of down climbing on left). Fun mini sections of stemming, more if you want to stay dry. I was able to avoid getting wet in the upper section (except one foot). The pool on the big multistage rap can be avoided with some effort by clinging to the over hanging wall DCR. Big sequence is very enjoyable and went smooth using a fiddle on all raps. Entire upper section down the big sequence and first half of lower in full sun and warm. First big pool in lower section was mostly avoidable with some effort clinging to DCR side. Still hard to not get feet wet near end. The main 60ft long swimmer further down, in the slotty section, is un avoidable and very cold. Very picturesque though!! I was happy to throw on my 4/3 wetsuit for this one. There are quite a few more rappels beyond where the ropewiki rap waypoints end, just FYI. Lots of beautiful striped rock through out. Lower section especially pretty! One of the best in the Vegas circuit!
28 Sep 2024	Amazing	Deep pools	None	Normal	10 hours	4 people Beginner to Advanced	Celes (25 reports)
Comment: All anchors had good condition webbing on them except for one, which we did put webbing on. All raps were pretty visible and straight forward. The long ones came after the canyon opens up. The first one was less than 150' which we toggled. The 2nd, which is about 200' had great broad view with slight positive pitch and you can see the next anchor bolts at the end of it. We toggled that one too. The 3rd was about 100'. We did not bother with wetsuits since there's only 1 swimmer (about 15-20' long). One of us (me) thought it was really cold, the others thought it was either tolerable or refreshing. A couple of us used CEM off a tree on one steep downclimb after being wet in the swimmer. Otherwise existing anchors were adequate for us. We did use the high exit on left to avoid going into the state park.
3 Feb 2024	Great	Low	Full wetsuit	Normal	12 hours	6 people Beginner to Advanced	Lukemurray2016LV (11 reports)
Comment: In the next episode of our series titled “wet winter canyons of red rock for those who have lost their minds”, our group (Jay Bruins, Jonathan Eder, Michelle Kleitsch, Andy Callister, Alec Neshite, and myself) ran Old Bill, although I propose a rename to “Ye Olde William”. We had snow and ice on the approach and ice at various places on the sandstone throughout the upper section of the canyon. The canyon was full up from recent rain/snow, and flowing top to bottom. Rare conditions for a “1, maybe 2 swimmers” canyon. We swam frequently, and jumped into the sub 40F water at several spots where pools were very deep. Lots of webbing was replaced, although more should be as well. The big wall sequence had webbing replaced at all rap stations. As always, the legal issues of crossing Spring Mountain Ranch State Park make for an awful, awful exit. It’s rather maddening that one can legally recreate in rainbow mountain wilderness in old bill, but be forced into a dangerous route to exit public lands. The erosion on this “exit” is horrendous as well, when it doesn’t have to be. I will always complain about this, and really any restriction to entering and exiting public land. Regardless, it was a wonderful day out with a great group and no issues. We were leisurely in all aspects, coming in just under 12 hours.
27 May 2023	Great	Deep pools	None		9 hours	5 people Beginner to Advanced	RFontaine (252 reports)
Comment: This is a great canyon that is of similar style/feel to String of Pearls or Mud Springs but is a step up challenge wise due to more advanced downclimbs and rappels. We set our shuttle at First Creek TH and hiked in from Little Zion TH. The hike up was very easy and straight forward. I don't understand why anyone would go in via QD approach, this seems like the more arduous option. The shuttle drive is only 30 mins. Some of the downclimbs are similar to Northwash where you stem or chimney down, elbow pads would be nice to avoid wearing holes in your shirt like I did... The big sequence is very nice, perhaps the best part. We spent some time wresting with a stuck rope on the first anchor of the big sequence. Eventually got it free with some effort. There were a few ankle to waist deep pools through out and 1 brief swimmer. The water was very refreshing, no wetsuits required. Canyon is very straight forward, plenty of bolted anchors. On our exit we disregarded the GPX and crossed open desert staying well above the state facilities below. There are plenty of small use trails to follow, leading over to First Creek Trail. We saw people at the facilities below and none of them bothered us. Staying just below the cliff band on rough terrain above seems like an obnoxious and unnecessary option. Didnt see any "tree cops", didnt get close enough to the trees I guess... The original beta on this page was a hodgepodge of old mis-placed trip reports and outdated information, so I cleaned it up. Enjoy!
21 May 2023	Great	Deep pools	None	Normal	10 hours	4 people Intermediate to Advanced	Lukemurray2016 (7 reports)
Comment: First time through Old Bill Canyon. Not as intimidating as people make it seem. Everything is bolted or has a great natural anchor, the big wall can be done easily with 200' ropes, and the pools got warmer and warmer as we got down the canyon. We did probably 15-18 rappels. A lot of raps in the upper section can be downclimbed easily by wedging in to the crack. If you don't look for downclimbs you could easily rap 30 times. I have to agree with the beta on this page that it is ridiculous that going through the state park, which for some reason has their boundaries go right up to the cliffsides of both LDC and RDC in the exit, is illegal. It creates for a more dangerous exit on an already long day. Would love to work with the park and some advocacy groups to find a solution there.
6 May 2023	Amazing	Deep pools	Full wetsuit	Special challenges	9 hours	7 people Beginner to Expert	Scientist (8 reports)
Comment: Great canyon! Amazing views. We did in total about 15 rappels and some very good down-climbs. Nice cool weather, some deep pools with couple of swimmers. All stations were in a good shape and easy to find. Will do again.
9 Oct 2022	Ok	Deep pools	Thin wetsuit	Normal		2 people Advanced	Ibleedcoffee (6 reports)
Comment: Approach through questionable is... Questionable at best. Canyon is rather mediocre for the exit that needs to be completed. Beta is completely off on the entire page re: length and amount of raps and downclimbs.
8 Oct 2022	Great	Deep pools	None	Normal	11 hours	10 people Intermediate to Advanced	Coalemus (160 reports)
Comment: Some people brought thin wetsuits but everyone agreed they were unnecessary as the day was warm, much of the water in the upper section was avoidable and, after the big wall sequence, the mandatory swim felt refreshing. We used 200' ropes so a rebelay at the semi-hanging ledge was necessary. We had a very hard pull (rope was in a crack or something?) but otherwise everything went smoothly. I think we did 10 or 11 raps. Part of our party followed the kml up onto a sketchy trail above the cliffs and regretted it. Of those that exited via state park trails, anyone passing by after 5pm was harassed and made to pay 4 whole dollars (with only threats of a fine). I think the best route here is to stay low and just skirt the edge of the SP fence, following burro trails. The beta here is trash and needs fixed bad. Next time I do this canyon I'm going to pay more attention and start this page from scratch.
30 Sep 2022	Great	Deep pools	None		10 hours	2 people Intermediate to Advanced	Lvbruce (13 reports)
Comment: Second time running this canyon. Changed a couple of things this time that made the canyon more enjoyable compared to the first time through. We approached from Rainbow Spring instead of going up the front of Indecision and we extended the anchor at the top of the long wall down to the junction with the main canyon. That anchor gave us problems last time because the pull over the rock had a lot of friction and we may have crossed our ropes. The extension took care of any issues we had last time and from what I've heard others have had with that pull. All but one anchor were in good condition. We had lots of water...good clear, clean water. One of the unavoidable pothole was only waste deep. There were two very deep swimmers. Usually there is the one, which we were expecting, but there was another one above that. Since it was a warm day we didn't bring or need a wetsuit. We used the exit on top of the red cliff band behind Spring Mt. Ranch State Park. It is pretty straight forward and easy to traverse. There is a large cairn at the top of a slot that makes getting down the cliff band easy. From there you just walk across the desert back to the First Creek TH. This route keeps you out of the start park...where some rangers WILL write you a ticket.
18 Oct 2020	Good	Very Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	9 hours	4 people Advanced	Erichransom (20 reports)
Comment: Alternative approach used without shuttle using Questionable Decision approach. Just hop over the saddle on Decision Peak and descend south into Old Bill. Also watch out for the exit red flags...i suggest a high traverse north back to car to avoid government land
11 Oct 2020	Great	Very Low	None	Normal	10 hours	4 people	Morgan (103 reports)
Comment: No shuttle - approached as for Questionable Decision, then continued up to a saddle and down to the drop-in. Do not exit through the state park - even though nothing is posted and the obvious trail simply says “Stay on trail,” our group was issued warnings by park LE for being in the park without entering through the fee station/park trail system.
23 Apr 2017	Amazing	Deep pools	None	Normal	9 hours	6 people Advanced to Expert	Conrad (12 reports)
Comment: This canyon does not deserve a 4 technical rating in my opinion. Perhaps before every rap station was bolted a 4 could be justified due to the large rap sequence after the first narrows section, but now with all of the bolts you can easily complete the entire canyon with a 200' rope. The big rap sequence consists of three stations and a very easy down on climb canyon right that the most beginner canyoneer can easily walk down. Most of the water sections can be easily avoided with some expert stemming and bridging although there is one required 20' swim near the end of the canyon. More experienced canyoneers can easily setup a guided rappel here so that the entire group doesn't have to get wet however for us the weather was good and the water while cold, was actually pretty refreshing. All of the water holes were very cold but filled with very fresh clear water. The first narrows section in my opinion is probably the most technical and requires some interesting rope work skills if you want to get a group through quickly. There are also some pretty good spicy downclimbs so a strong down climber is recommended and a group with strong partner assist skills.
1 Apr 2017	Good	Very Low	Thin wetsuit	Special challenges		6 people	CC (93 reports)
Comment: Enjoyable long canyon. A lot of additional anchors that were downclimbs per Bluugnome but some groups may be comfortable as raps. Lots of narrow sections and various fun downclimns, not a lot of empty slogs so always doing something. several rabbit holes in the final sections & bouldering, water was chilly but only 1 was a swimmer with the others being waist deep, 12 hours with a several stops for adjusting clothing & lunch/snacks.
1 Apr 2017 Trip report							StevePearce@Facebook (2 reports)
Comment: extracts from Facebook posts, click link for full details (privacy restrictions may apply) " Good times descending Old Bill Canyon last Saturday. Thanks to Lee T Wilson for leading us and to the California team for traveling to join us." Old Bill Canyon
16 Apr 2016	Great	Swimming	Full wetsuit	Normal	11 hours	8 people Intermediate to Advanced	Tiffanie (139 reports)
Comment: Considering all the bad feedback of the canyon, I found this canyon quite enjoyable. The canyon offers a variety of narrow slots, downclimbs, little caves/rabbit holes, awkward starts, jumps, and bouldering that kept our group entertained. The water was frigid and despite having a 4/3 + windbreaker, I still found myself shivering (even with the sun shining). Pools were crystal clear. We went at a leisurely pace and still completed the trip (car-to-car) in 12 hours. We left at First Creek trailhead at 5:30 AM.

...additional reports