Echo Canyon (Colorado National Monument)
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| | Difficulty:3A I (v4a1 III) Raps:1, max ↨120ft
Red Tape: Shuttle:Required 30 minutes each way Vehicle:Passenger Rock type:Sandstone | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Condition Reports: | 7 Aug 2022
"Found two anchors for the 120 foot rappel. (1) 3-bolt anchor at RDC. Added webbing and CAMP stainless steel oval quick link to 2 of the 3 bolts. Note |
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| Best season: | Anytime that there isn't too much snow
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39.0199, -108.6209
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Introduction[edit]
Echo Canyon is a scenic canyon located on BLM Lands and the Colorado National Monument. The geology is interesting here and you will pass through many rock layers/formation (Morrison, Entrada, Kayenta, and Wingate).
The upper part of the canyon is well known to mountain bikers and hikers and the approach is done via a combination of mountainbiking/hiking trails, social trails, and dry creekbed. The lower canyon is an official NPS trail in Colorado National Monument. It has a running creek, lots of greenery (in season), and a lot of birds nesting in the walls. An impressive dry fall divides these two very different sections of canyon. Canyoneers can combine the two sections into a one way hike by rappelling the drop beween the two sections.
Approach[edit]
This trip requires a car shuttle.
Andys Loop Trailhead (entrance trailhead)
Park at a small pullout along Little Park Road (west side) just downhill to the north from the Little Park Trailhead.
Devils Kitchen (exit trailhead)
This trailhead is just inside Colorado National Monument and just beyond the entrance fee station for the East Entrance of the Monument.
Descent[edit]
From the Andes Loop Trailhead, follow the trail into the colorful drainage and descend it. At one point you will reach a cave. Just for fun, this cave can be followed all the way through the hill where you can rejoin the trail.
Once at the bottom of a larger drainage, continue down the drainage on the Andes Loop Trail until it leaves the creek bed. Instead of leaving the creek bed, continue down the creek bed to the only rappel in the canyon. This should be about 30 minutes or so from the trailhead.
This is a spectacular rappel, mostly free hanging and will be up to 120 feet, depending on where you set your anchor. There are lots of options here including a few solid boulders and a tree. Rappel down to a pool that is usually dry, but usually has mud. In the warm season, there is poison ivy here, but it can be avoided.
Options
Instead of just descending Echo Canyon, you can combine Echo Canyon with Ribbon or Lace Canyon. Ribbon is probably the better of the two canyons and starting up at the top of the Ribbon Trail gives you lots of nice views and scenery. See the Ribbon Canyon page for details
Exit[edit]
Once down the rappel, pack up your technical gear and follow the NPS trail through the canyon and do Devils Kitchen. There is some elevation gain up some rock slabs because the trail avoids private lands. Not long before reaching the Devils Kitchen Trailhead, there is a petroglyph panel, but I'll let you find that on your own. Sadly, it has seen some vandalism.
Red tape[edit]
A fee is required since much of the canyon is in Colorado National Monument.
Beta sites[edit]
Trip reports and media[edit]
Background[edit]
John Styrnol, Kit Davidson, and I (Scott Patterson) descended this canyon on March 8 2020.
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