Conditions:Waterslide Canyon-20240419185311

Latest:	14 Apr 2024 (1 yr, 1 month ago)

Reported by:	EMoorcroft (450 reports)
Quality:	Good
Waterflow:	Low
Wetsuit:	Thin wetsuit
Water temperature:
Difficulty:	Normal
Time:	5 hours

Team: 3 people with experience level Advanced

Trip report URL:

Comments: Still flowing but probably getting low soon. Slides and jumps were super fun. Enjoy

All condition reports

Date	Quality	Waterflow	Wetsuit	Difficulty	Time	Team	Reported by
14 Apr 2024	Good	Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	5 hours	3 people Advanced	EMoorcroft (450 reports)
Comment: Still flowing but probably getting low soon. Slides and jumps were super fun. Enjoy
30 Mar 2024	Great	Low	Full wetsuit		9 hours	4 people Intermediate to Beginner	Kpeter35 (2 reports)
Comment: Replaced a few anchors. Canyon was flowing from the start and is in fun mode! Beginning rappels gave us a good showering. We started at 9:30 and got to the waterslides section when the sun was behind the canyon wall would recommend leaving earlier so that part is in the sun. Many of the steeper "water slide"sections have optional anchors for those nervous too commit to a deep plunge.
4 Mar 2024	Good	Moderate Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal		6 people Intermediate to Expert	TEnzweiler (6 reports)
Comment: Water was flowing, not very high, but still in fun mode. There is a trail to the mouth of the canyon at the moment DCR if you hate rock hopping in the creek. There is quite a bit of catsclaw on it, though, but some of it is avoidable. The water was pretty cold for me, even in a 3/2 wetsuit with a skin under. It was tolerable, except when the wind kicked up. There is a handline on one of the drops, but it doesn't reach far enough to safely enter the pool. We rerigged the anchor here as it was on a rock that rolled in the pinch.
30 Apr 2023	Great	Low	Thin wetsuit				Doctors out (26 reports)
Comment: Upper canyon fun but long boulder hoping before slide section kinda sucks. Low flow so all pools full, mild algae in all the jump/slide pools, comfortable in 2mm shorty. Shuttle route best suited for trucks. Anchor for final rap is UP CANYON from a mandatory jump pool - make sure you scout the anchor before sending the whole team down the jump. Pretty decent cow trail along the exit, RDC.
15 Apr 2023	Great	Low	Full wetsuit	Normal	7 hours	2 people Intermediate to Advanced	Teamsnuggle (13 reports)
Comment: Light flow, slides were great. Set up a shuttle car. Was able to get a Ford escape up the shuttle road with some care. Upper section was just okay, next time would try bottom up and cut off the annoying shuttle.
14 Apr 2023	Great	Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	5 hours	3 people	Nclegg (409 reports)
Comment: Light flow. Water is warming up - 4/3 wetsuit was very comfortable. Set a shuttle and started from the top. 5.5h car-to-car. Encountered two other large groups in the canyon who kindly let us play through.
8 Apr 2023	Great	Moderate Low		Normal	6 hours	3 people Intermediate to Advanced	Jec (10 reports)
Comment: Mellow day in the canyon. Took the bottom-up approach to avoid shuttle. Stayed on the ridge north of Hackberry Spring, which made for an easy 2 hours to the top of the first slide. All slides flowing with minimal algae in pools. Some pools seemed slightly shallower than last year, but no incidents to report. Jumped the big slide. Air was warm but water very cold in more shaded sections. Six hours car to car including delay for Gila monster viewing.
9 Apr 2022	Great	Low	Thin wetsuit		8 hours	5 people Beginner to Intermediate	Molby (1 reports)
Comment: Had a blast here. Water level was enough to make all the slides and jumps a lot of fun still. Some algae is growing in the pools, but it's not too bad yet. We moved along pretty well until one member of our group rolled an ankle before the slides. That slowed us down quite a bit, but we were happy with 8 hours from top to bottom given the circumstances. While there are more scenic and technical canyons, I haven't done a canyon that's more fun with the slides and jumps. The anchors were all in good shape. There were several rappels we down-climbed or jumped, but we still did 7 or 8, I think. Overall, it was a great time!
15 Jan 2022	Great	Low	Full wetsuit	Normal	7 hours	2 people Intermediate to Advanced	Nclegg (409 reports)
Comment: Full route, 7.5h shuttle-to-shuttle moving at a moderate pace. About 30 minute drive from shuttle to upper parking / head of the canyon. Upper parking should be accessible for most stock 4x4s. Wore a 5mm wetsuit, 3mm socks, and windproof pants and jacket. Core was mostly warm but hands and feet were quite cold in sections. Partner was much more content in his 7mm wetsuit, thicker neoprene socks, and neoprene gloves. Measured water temperature in one of the deeper pools. It was approximately swim-like-your-life-depends-on-it degrees.
15 Jan 2022	Good	Low	Thick wetsuit		7 hours	2 people Intermediate to Advanced	RFontaine (271 reports)
Comment: We did the full route which was 8 or so rappels on top of the numerous slides. Replaced and rebuilt some anchors. Most of the raps were kind of lack-luster in my opinion. The scenery is decent with a few neat spots but doesn't hold a candle to some of the other canyons nearby. The one thing this canyon does have is lots of HUGE nearly vertical slides that end in deep swimming pools. So if big slides and jumps are your thing, in the right conditions, this is the canyon for you!
15 Apr 2021	Good	Deep pools	Thin wetsuit	Normal		11 people	K arc (376 reports)
Comment: Lower trailhead is 2WD-friendly. Upper trailhead needs HC or 4x4 and should be driven slowly near the top. No water at the confluence, but we soon picked up light flow below the swamp-walk. Pools were deep enough to slide which was great, but may not be for very much longer. Encountered some bizarre insect wildlife on the way out including a scary giant Sonoran centipede -- largest centipede in North America... apparently venomous. It was about a foot long.
11 Apr 2021	Great	Low	Full wetsuit	Normal	7 hours	9 people Beginner to Expert	Amoryn (2 reports)
Comment: Plenty of water for a super fun day of slides & deep cold pools! I had on a 5/4 wetsuit & paddling jacket to help with evaporative cooling & was comfortable all day.
11 Apr 2021	Amazing	Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	8 hours	11 people Intermediate to Expert	Mads (61 reports)
Comment: Waterflow was down to a trickle but still enough to grease the slides and keep the pools clean. Not much algae in the upper section, but lots in the lower section after the waterpark. It took us 2 hours from car to 1st slide (including suit-up time). We replaced a couple anchors in the upper technical section; all anchors are in good condition. There are handlines and anchors set up above each slide for anyone who prefers a rope assist. We spent a lot of time playing in the waterpark. Lots of deep pools, lots of big jumps. Take time to redo the slides and find the good jumps... it really makes for a ridiculously fun day. We were in 4/3 or 5/4/3 suits and neoprene socks and were just fine. On the exit, recommend staying in the wash and keeping an eye on the GPS. We were weaving through the brush and accidentally started following a side wash for a while.
10 Apr 2021	Great	Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	8 hours	2 people Brand new to Advanced	Triggerfish (62 reports)
Comment: What a great canyon! Just right in full body 4/3 wetsuits. Algae getting heavy, but still plenty of clear water for pool landings. Replaced crispy webbing and rusty rapids 2nd to last rap. Took dirt bikes in a pickup, which made shuttling more fun. https://youtu.be/3hzJsuPj_Uk
28 Mar 2021	Great	Low	Full wetsuit	Normal	9 hours	3 people Intermediate to Advanced	Eddyl (76 reports)
Comment: Great flow! After an extremely dry winter, canyon flow was perfect. Not really class C, but the slides were flowing and the pools were overflowing! Anchors in great shape, but still take some webbing and a few quicklinks. Water very cold, even with 5 mm, booties and 80F sunshine. One of the most fun canyons in Arizona. Whoever gave this canyon <5 stars is harsh. By chance, hitchhiking out, we met Gary and Katherine, two folks who pioneered the first descent with a guy named Darrell around 2005. Shout out, thanks for picking us up!

...additional reports