Devils Creek Canyon
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| | Raps:2-3, max ↨150ft
Red Tape: Shuttle:Optional 5 min Vehicle:Passenger Rock type:Basalt | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Condition Reports: | 17 May 2026
"Very scenic though short canyon. The long rappel would benefit from being broken up into two with an anchor at the lip of the free hang. We rebuilt th |
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| Best season: | Spring
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46.9571, -121.1054
46.9615, -121.0854
46.9562, -121.0988
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Introduction
An interesting canyon with a scenic mini-gorge. Short and sweet, there are only 2-3 rappels. This canyon is best done in the spring when others in the area are running high.
The lower part of the gorge contains a short tourist trail with a geological anomaly known as the Boulder Cave. In aeons past, a large section of the overhanging cliff wall fractured off and bridged the creek, creating a 300ft long cave you can hike through.
- Devil's Creek is easily combined with West Quartz Creek Canyon; another short creek located a mere 15min away.
- Devil's Creek is not to be confused with the nearby Devils Canyon.
Approach
A well-maintained trail leads about 0.5mi from the parking area to the upper cave entrance. The upper section is accessed by hiking 0.5mile further upstream bushwacking through game trails. It may not be worth it. If you plan to do the whole canyon, it might be better to shuttle up to the top. This approach has not been explored.
Descent
Upper Section
- R1: 15ft anchored on a large tree.
- R2: Devils Creek Falls - 150ft from two bolts DCL. The falls goes through a pinch to a small pool, then drops free into a second pool. There is one sharp edge, so creep the rope. The pull can be tricky. Make sure you have enough rope to extend the pull side and pull from far back from the lip.
The rappel drops into a beautiful little grotto. Continue downstream ~50 yards to the lower section to where the hiking trail enters.
Lower Section
Enter the Boulder Cave. There's a good trail / walkway, but a headlamp might be a good idea. There are no drops or technical difficulties in the cave.
Upon exiting the cave, you can either take the wooden steps back up to the trail, or continue downtream. The canyon is scenic with overhanging walls and a short slot. It's an easy/popular hike with wading in a small stream.
Exit
When the canyon ends, bear left and take the trail back to the parking lot.
Red tape
When open, the Boulder Cave Day Use Area is very popular and requires reservations. The website says "walk-ins will not be allowed entrance".
However given the time of year this canyon is worth descending you may be here before the day use area opens. If the area is closed, it's easy to still car-shuttle by parking at the locked gates (46.95285, -121.08054) and after the canyon walking the 900m along the road.
As of 2026:
- The area opened late May (using recreation.gov as an indicator)
- It opens Thu-Sun, 10am-3pm.
- They claim 50,000 visitors a year.
tl;dr - run the canyon early in the season, avoiding day use area complications.
Beta sites
CanyoneeringNorthwest.com (archive.org) : Devil's Creek- Super Amazing Map : Devils Creek Canyon