Deer Creek Canyon (Southwest Escalante)
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| | Difficulty:3A IV (v3a1 IV) Raps:3-4, max ↨75ft
Red Tape:No permit required Shuttle:None Vehicle:4WD - High Clearance | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Condition Reports: | 3 May 2021
"3 days car to car w/Stone Donkey from Rock Springs Bench. This entry point required high clearance 4x4 but made relatively easy approach to both Deer |
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| Best season: | Spring;Summer;Fall;Winter
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37.3808, -112.0605
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Introduction[edit]
A long, sandy hike through a beautiful sandstone slot in the southwestern region of Escalante National Monument. Though the canyon is easy from a technical standpoint with only three mandatory rappels, the uniquely pretty white and brown polka-dotted sandstone narrows are scenic, long and fun, and the spring and riparian section toward the end of the slot is a small slice of paradise. The canyon also has a gallery of beautifully preserved pictographs near the confluence the the Paria River. Route finding along the way can be tricky, especially when finding a way into the head of the canyon - GPS recommended.
West of Big Water, Utah, drive north on forest road 508 which is located between mile posts 36 and 37 on US89. The road is well maintained dirt for the first 10 miles, after which you will turn right following signs for Mollies Nipple. The road degrades significantly after the turn, and has many long stretches of deep sand to traverse - I would call it 4x4 mandatory. Continue down this road for another 7.6 miles (17.6 total) to turn left on a short, sandy spur atop the ridge. The hike begins and ends at the end of this spur, and there are one or two small, half-way decent places to camp along the way.
The clay in the roadbed for the first ten miles of the drive and reports of deep quicksand in the upper canyon make this a spot to avoid after recent rains.
Approach[edit]
Begin by hiking north from the spur road down the slope to cross the first of the many minor drainages you will be crossing en route to the canyon - the white, rocky promontory of Deer Range Point serves as a good landmark to aim for. The ground is fairly stable at first, but becomes more soft, sandy and tiring as you go - get used to this as there are 14 miles of it in front of you - trekking poles are helpful. There is also quite a bit of cryptobiotic soil along the way, stay on trails, in washes, and on slickrock whenever possible - hike in single file as a last resort if it is unavoidable. You may find minor game trails and an ATV track occasionally as you proceed north through a few more drainages before trending west around the promontory, passing a few nice toadstool pillars along the way. One larger drainage on the north side of Deer Range Point (don't mistake it for the main canyon!) took us a few minutes to figure out a good place to cross since it was the deepest drainage along the way; after entering this drainage we hiked down a short ways to then exit up the short slope on the left. Continue hiking west, aiming for a large slickrock saddle; hiking down the other side of which will drop you into another minor drainage which we chose to cross to head for the main branch of the canyon. There may be many ways to reach the main drainage (down the last mentioned drainage may be one of them) from this point, there didn't appear to be any one right way to do it, though there are many wrong ways (cliffs). We basically hiked west, then north following a minor game trail until we reached the cliffs above the canyon, then north along the cliffs until we found a low spot to climb down.
Alternative approach from the north/east: You can hike-in from Rock Springs Bench or Johnson Hole Saddle to set-up a base camp at Crack Spring on the Paria. From there, the best option is to hike down the Paria, then up the lower part of Deer Creek to exit using the Left Hand Fork trail.
Descent[edit]
Hike down canyon through the sandy wash and a few minor sections of narrows for roughly one mile before reaching the first rappel which is anchored under a large rock at the head of the drop. The rappel is 10 feet, then another 40 feet down a scenic chute after taking a few steps through a platform. After this first drop are three chockstone downclimbs to negotiate, the third of which is the most challenging. The drop is about 15-20 feet and fairly vertical, but not all that difficult to wedge yourself into the fluted walls to control the descent - a chockstone at the top of the drop could provide an anchor if desired. After some easy hiking through the beautiful narrows, this section opens to more sandy hiking before reaching the next stretch of narrows. The second rappel is towards the end of a long section of ever deeper, tighter, and more scenic narrows and is about 60 feet anchored from two bolts and hangers on the right. Immediately after the rappel, the canyon makes several 90-degree turns in deep dark narrows, very nice. Not long after, the canyon opens again to a sandy wash. After a few minutes, a sandy wash joins on the left (LDC) which is the Deer Creek Canyon (North West Fork).
It's then a long stretch of sand hiking before reaching one more short section of stripy narrows and the final rappel. This last drop is about 75 feet (mostly free hanging - hang packs if they are heavy) anchored from a single bolt and hanger on the left and drops down to the spring below.
The spring marks the end of the technical part of the canyon, and the beginning of about two and a quarter miles of hiking down the creek. The water is never more than an inch or so deep, so we chose to hike directly down it for most of its length. If your group is planning on spending the night in the canyon, along this section of Deer Creek is the place to do it, since the water in the Paria River is reliably silty, and Deer Creek is clean and clear. There are only one or two dry, sandy clearings along the way, we chose the last available spot on a bench on the right .7 miles before reaching the Paria River. Also of note in this last section of canyon are two sites of pictograph panels, the first of which is high on the canyon walls on the left and luckily out of reach of modern humans who would otherwise destroy them, and so is well preserved. The second site is located on a large bench on the left just before reaching the river, and since the site is more accessible, it is more damaged. Some genius got the idea to attempt to carve one of the images right out of the wall, but then gave up this task part way through, leaving the site thoroughly marred. I wouldn't recommend camping on this bench not only since it is an historic site that should be preserved, but also because it was full of cow shit.
Exit[edit]
Once you reach the river, turn right hiking southeast for a little under .5 a mile to locate a nice, constructed trail that leads out of the canyon (no doubt made to water cattle). Keep your eyes open on the right for the one or two small cairns that lead the way to find the trail, the route is mostly easy to follow the rest of the way as it switches back and forth up the slope. Once on top, hike southwest along the top of a long ridge that goes almost all the way back to the spur road, there is a fairly easy trail to follow most of the way, merciful juniper tress provide some shade as you go. You may begin to recognize the ridge where the road is as you get close, hike around the top of this last shallow drainage before heading back up the way you came.
Red tape[edit]
Beta sites[edit]
Super Amazing Map : Deer Creek Canyon (UT)- SummitPost.org : Deer Creek Canyon
Trip reports and media[edit]
- Facebook.com : Pat Winstanley
- YouTube.com : Richard Pattison, Deer Creek Canyon (Main Fork) movie