Conditions:Stewart Falls-20250616223200
Latest: |
13 Jun 2025 (1 month ago) |
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| Reported by: | RFontaine (294 reports) | |
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| Quality: | Great |
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| Waterflow: | Moderate |
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| Wetsuit: | Full wetsuit |
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| Water temperature: | ||
| Difficulty: | ||
| Time: |  6 hours
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Team: 3 people with experience level Advanced
Trip report URL:
Comments: Very beautiful set of waterfalls, great flow, high quality rappels and a beautiful approach/exit hike!
Approach trail is really enjoyable in it’s own right, first portion on main trail is fairly shaded in the woods. Once you cut off the main trail heading up gets fairly steep and loose, lots of vegetation flanking either side of a narrow canyoneer path, canopy giving way to gorgeous long reaching views as you traverse narrow loose cliff edges. Lots of stinging nettle on approach, my partner who wore shorts, is still recovering from that experience.
By the end of the approach we were very hot in full sun wondering if we had overestimated our neoprene as we tried to find a spot to gear up in the brush. 1hr 15min to top of canyon.
I wore my 5/4 and it was terrible to put on in the heat but jumping in the freezing snow melt water below made me realize it was the right choice.
Flow is strong and pushy but not too overbearing for my partner that had never experienced water of this caliber. With this flow and the canyon geometry, your head is under water for alot of the rappelling, especially on the large ones. A hooded rain shell was nice to have.
The technical section is short but packs a punch, the larger raps were really fun and very vertical. By the time we had gotten to the last rap were all very happy about our thick neoprene as the canyon was not in the sun at all and would have been chilly with less.
On the big rappel I had heard about multiple parties getting their ropes stuck when rigging from the DCL bolts (the obvious choice). There are also bolts high DCR if you scramble up to them. They have webbing equalized, then a traverse line run along the cliff to another rock pinch. Not sure why… for a dry rap on the other side maybe??
We decided to rig directly to the equalized bolted anchor high DCR, ignoring the traverse line. This rappel puts you through the bushes up top briefly but gives way to a good rappel line on the DCR side, in the flow but not punishing.
We rappelled all the way down to the floor combining the final 30ft falls making a 2 stage rap. This used around 270+ ft of rope. Pull from the bottom was no problem using the DCR anchor.
Whistles, even our loud Fox40s were hardly any use on this route. The water is too loud. Radios recommended. There is line of sight to the bottom from the cliff edge DCR if following the traverse line over.
We did change out of out wetsuits entirely at the bottom and we were glad we did, made the hike back much more enjoyable.
Don’t forget your National Parks Pass for the parking lot!
Total 6hrs at a leisurely pace.
All condition reports
| Date | Quality | Waterflow | Wetsuit | Difficulty | Time | Team | Reported by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great | Moderate
| Full wetsuit
| Normal | 6 hours
| 4 people Beginner to Advanced | Triggerfish (64 reports) | |
Comment: I mean, I never rappelled from wicker anchors before today, but hanging my body from a few of them gave a convincing validation to the old “You can break one popsicle stick, but not a fistful of them” show.
Seriously though. Legit class C drops in an unexpected place. Achingly beautiful views. Back-to-back fun drops, hyphenated by minimal creek walk. A few takeaways: 1. Currently flowing, not pushy. 2. Clipping the extended DCL R7 LAPAR anchor webbing around the small tree on DCR bank made a nice traverse while we used the courtesy-length equalized rope anchor for most of the group. The long webbing also reaches perfectly over the edge for a clean pull, safe from the greedy looking and notoriously rope jamming cracks. Shelves just past the edge made that (discourtesy?) easy-pull long webbing easier to rap from. Long webbing has a hint of fray where it hangs over edge, will need replacement soon. 3. Upvote for skipping R8. It’s an easy class 3 scramble bypass, and even on a Monday, there were multiple hikers literally just below that final 30’ falls. And the rockfall risk around here is real. We heard a couple non-small rocks tumble down the 230’ part just during our rope pull. A small rock went toward R8 while we changed our clothes. We yelled “ROCK!”to hikers below. They would have been less confused if we’d yelled “WE ARE NARWHALS!” 4. We were happy in everything from a 4/3 to a drysuit. Water was below knees all the time, except when falling all over us on rappel. No swimming or floating dismounts. Hooded rain jackets made the waterboardy bits much more fun. 5. The waterfall faces are pocked with hollow bits that swing in, but footing is surprisingly solid all the way down, due to heavy moss growth. 6. Decent approach trail all the way. Upvote pants recommendation for protection from abundant nettle. 7. It’s loud. Radios were awesome.
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| Great | Moderate
| Full wetsuit
| | 6 hours
| 3 people Advanced | RFontaine (294 reports) | |
Comment: Very beautiful set of waterfalls, great flow, high quality rappels and a beautiful approach/exit hike!
Approach trail is really enjoyable in it’s own right, first portion on main trail is fairly shaded in the woods. Once you cut off the main trail heading up gets fairly steep and loose, lots of vegetation flanking either side of a narrow canyoneer path, canopy giving way to gorgeous long reaching views as you traverse narrow loose cliff edges. Lots of stinging nettle on approach, my partner who wore shorts, is still recovering from that experience. By the end of the approach we were very hot in full sun wondering if we had overestimated our neoprene as we tried to find a spot to gear up in the brush. 1hr 15min to top of canyon. I wore my 5/4 and it was terrible to put on in the heat but jumping in the freezing snow melt water below made me realize it was the right choice. Flow is strong and pushy but not too overbearing for my partner that had never experienced water of this caliber. With this flow and the canyon geometry, your head is under water for alot of the rappelling, especially on the large ones. A hooded rain shell was nice to have. The technical section is short but packs a punch, the larger raps were really fun and very vertical. By the time we had gotten to the last rap were all very happy about our thick neoprene as the canyon was not in the sun at all and would have been chilly with less. On the big rappel I had heard about multiple parties getting their ropes stuck when rigging from the DCL bolts (the obvious choice). There are also bolts high DCR if you scramble up to them. They have webbing equalized, then a traverse line run along the cliff to another rock pinch. Not sure why… for a dry rap on the other side maybe?? We decided to rig directly to the equalized bolted anchor high DCR, ignoring the traverse line. This rappel puts you through the bushes up top briefly but gives way to a good rappel line on the DCR side, in the flow but not punishing. We rappelled all the way down to the floor combining the final 30ft falls making a 2 stage rap. This used around 270+ ft of rope. Pull from the bottom was no problem using the DCR anchor. Whistles, even our loud Fox40s were hardly any use on this route. The water is too loud. Radios recommended. There is line of sight to the bottom from the cliff edge DCR if following the traverse line over. We did change out of out wetsuits entirely at the bottom and we were glad we did, made the hike back much more enjoyable. Don’t forget your National Parks Pass for the parking lot! Total 6hrs at a leisurely pace. | |||||||
| Good | Moderate
| Thin wetsuit
| |  4 hours
| 2 people Advanced | Blueshade (55 reports) | |
Comment: Note that many of these rappels put you in the thick of the flow at at least one point on almost every rappel. Probably not a good canyon for those that are inexperienced.
The 30' drop near the end, down a crack, with a deadman in the creek, was especially pounding and had an overhang at the top yhat can catch you unawares, with 1-2 other spots that can be problematic. There was an anchor placed out right that avoids this rappel. Many people are doing the final rappel out right from a dirty ledge? Apparently to avoid the flow? Not my cup of tea, but to each their own. We went in the flow and a 200' rope reached for us to the base. Hike out on a trail left to the creek below. Surprisingly good waterfall raps. But as mentioned, probably not for newbs.
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| Amazing | Moderate High
| Thin wetsuit
| Special challenges | 8 hours
| 5 people Intermediate to Advanced | Mountainmansam (16 reports) | |
Comment: We descended Stewart Falls on Sunday. There was significant snow as we crossed over the creek, and a fantastic ice bridge and tunnel over the creek after the first rappel. The flow was moderate high and most rappels avoided the flow. We were pounded by water on two rappels. The anchors were all in good condition. A terrific day in the mountains and fun was had by everyone!
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| Amazing | Low 
| Thin wetsuit
| Advanced  | 4 hours
| 6 people Expert to Beginner | Jon.onrope (1 reports) | |
| Great | Low
| Thin wetsuit
| Normal | 4 hours
| 1 people | Morgan (103 reports) | |
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| | | | | Candition.com (287 reports) | |||
Comment: Most recent conditions reported at Candition.com, see Trip Report for full details.
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