Conditions:Rockets Red Glare Gulch-20251215031418
Latest: |
14 Dec 2025 (12 days ago) |
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| Reported by: | Rapbear (80 reports) | |
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| Quality: | Good |
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| Waterflow: | Deep pools |
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| Wetsuit: | None |
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| Water temperature: | ||
| Difficulty: | Normal |
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| Time: |  4 hours
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Team: 5 people
Trip report URL:
Comments: First time in RRGG and it was a really fun experience. The car shuttle is easy to setup and I would highly recommend one. You can technically walk to the start of the trail from the exit parking spot but people love to speed on ACH and the tunnel to the start of the trail is narrow.
The walk to the drop in was really gradual with the exception of a steeper hike in the beginning. Everyone in the party agreed it the hike in was pretty chill unlike more strenuous hikes like GFotF. Anchors in the canyon are good. Webbing on a few of them looked new. The down climbs are straight forward but some of us opted to use a hand line on some of the dicer ones.
All the rappels are good. The last 190' rappel was great but you will end up going through a lot of overgrown bushes and plants. This section would benefit from getting trimmed which we will do the next time we run the canyon.
At canyon bottom, we elected to go upstream (which had a good flow) to check out the beauty of Tujunga Narrows. It did not disappoint. The water level was up to our chest in some areas and it made for a chilly exit as none of us wore wetsuits. If you get cold easily, I would recommend a shorty.
There is a lot of interesting sites heading upstream. We found a Mitsubishi Montero that unfortunately flew off the highway a few years back (2023 CA plates) and a memorial for a 19 y/o.
Overall, we really enjoyed the canyon and it was a pretty quick trip for a group of experienced cayoneers.
All condition reports
| Date | Quality | Waterflow | Wetsuit | Difficulty | Time | Team | Reported by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Deep pools
| Thin wetsuit
| Normal |  7 hours
| 2 people Intermediate | ADubs (14 reports) | |
Comment: Noting that the R2 anchor is now LDC high off a bush at the top of the ravine. A little tricky to get to on the loose dirt slope. We used handlines in a couple of spots where the downclimbs were very crumbly and slick. Also want to note that there is an unmentioned downclimb to get to the anchor on the final rappel that was pretty hairy for us. We ended up ghosting off a bush just to get to the anchor. One slip there would take you right off the edge of the 190'. We are not that brave. The thick brush had been trimmed back by a previous group at the midpoint of the 190' and I spent some time removing the clippings so it's more clear now.
We brought wetsuits for the narrows, and were very glad we did. There were at least two swimmers. We used the death ladder at the falls, but I think if we run this again, we are going to take the time to look for that bypass... that ladder was sketchy as hell and if you have short legs it's a real bitch. Lastly, if you do wear a wetsuit, wait to take it off until you are at the bottom of Monkey Canyon. We took ours off too soon and ended up in a pool up to our armpits not far past the falls. The climb up Monkey is pretty quick. We didn't opt to shuttle and ended up just walking back down the road to our car at Hidden Springs. Running through that tunnel waving our headlamps to alert speeding cars to our existence was an adrenaline-fueled way to finish the hike.
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| Good | Deep pools
| None
| Normal | 4 hours
| 5 people | Rapbear (80 reports) | |
Comment: First time in RRGG and it was a really fun experience. The car shuttle is easy to setup and I would highly recommend one. You can technically walk to the start of the trail from the exit parking spot but people love to speed on ACH and the tunnel to the start of the trail is narrow.
The walk to the drop in was really gradual with the exception of a steeper hike in the beginning. Everyone in the party agreed it the hike in was pretty chill unlike more strenuous hikes like GFotF. Anchors in the canyon are good. Webbing on a few of them looked new. The down climbs are straight forward but some of us opted to use a hand line on some of the dicer ones. All the rappels are good. The last 190' rappel was great but you will end up going through a lot of overgrown bushes and plants. This section would benefit from getting trimmed which we will do the next time we run the canyon. At canyon bottom, we elected to go upstream (which had a good flow) to check out the beauty of Tujunga Narrows. It did not disappoint. The water level was up to our chest in some areas and it made for a chilly exit as none of us wore wetsuits. If you get cold easily, I would recommend a shorty. There is a lot of interesting sites heading upstream. We found a Mitsubishi Montero that unfortunately flew off the highway a few years back (2023 CA plates) and a memorial for a 19 y/o. Overall, we really enjoyed the canyon and it was a pretty quick trip for a group of experienced cayoneers. | |||||||
| Good | Moderate Low
| Thin wetsuit
| Normal | 5 hours
| 4 people | Eljefe62 (65 reports),Mikeatran (87 reports),Canyoncowboy (34 reports) | |
Comment: Choss, bushwhacking, and a plethora of marginal anchors to choose from, make for an…interesting route.
The Narrows is very pretty, and makes the whole trip worth it. Maybe next time, try this one during the day so we can see more of it. The water was flowing quiet nicely, the big waterfall in the narrows was pumping.
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| Good | Dry
| None
| Normal | 6 hours
| 5 people Beginner to Advanced | Toddk (17 reports) | |
Comment: This is a canyon-wannabe. It's a glorified drainage area. With that said, it's a fun, easy route with a big payoff at the end. Definitely worth doing. The approach is on an established trail. The drop in is obvious. We cleared away a bit of brush on throughout the canyon. Beware the PO. We ghosted several small rappels rather than downclimb them due to the loose rock. All existing anchors were in good shape. The anchor for rap 3 (150') was hard to spot due to overgrown brush, but we cleared it. We elected to take that rappel all the way to the bottom. If you do that, it's a full 200'. There are other options, but this was the quickest & easiest and has a clean pull. The last rappel, which drops you into the narrows, is a hidden gem (if you ignore the graffiti). We elected to exit upstream. We weren't quite prepared for the chest-deep water in places. Would have been nice to have a shorty and some dry bags, but we were fine. The metal ladders that bypass the 25' waterfall were janky but managed to get us out. The exit is easy to find. Keep going until you find the handlines that lead to a trail that takes you right back to the exit parking.
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| Great | Dry
| None
| Normal | 3 hours
| 1 people Advanced | Jcsjcs (138 reports) | |
Comment: Parked at the top of the exit climb just upstream from the Big Tujunga Narrows and walked along the road to the approach trail which was well-maintained. The canyon had some overgrown sections but nothing too difficult to get to. All the rappels were high quality. Three of them had anchors and I ghosted the other ones in the beta plus a couple of bonus drops that were slippery due to the recent rain. The final rappel down to the Big Tujunga River was spectacular with a tall free-hanging section. I measured it to be 190' and will update the beta. The exit upstream through the narrows was amazing; somehow I had never been through here in all my years of running canyons in the area. There were a few short swims. The big waterfall had a ladder in place to bypass it. A use trail began soon after the narrows and continued with some handlines up the slope to the road. I can't say enough good things about this canyon and encourage everyone to check it out!
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