Galena Creek
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| | Raps:1-5, max ↨115ft
Red Tape:No permit required Shuttle:None Vehicle:Passenger Rock type:Basalt | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Condition Reports: | 25 Apr 2026
"High flow day in Galena. We ran R2, which was fine, and R3, which was fairly punishing even after we used the redirect. We took a dirty dry line far D |
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| Best season: | Dec-Jun
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46.4046, -121.8251
46.4045, -121.8226
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Weather forecast
Waterflow
Introduction
A roadside attraction with rapid fire rappels and a bit of technicality.
- Watershed: 1.65mi^2. The highest point in the drainage is Burley Mountain at ~5300ft elevation.
Approach
Walk north up the road until you locate a forming user trail leading up the embankment. (This is easier than climbing directly up from the creek.) Head up the very steep hillside (bushwhack) until you reach an obvious rock outcrop. Bear climber's right until it's easy to climb up on top of it. Head down the far side to drop back into the creek above R1.
- Alternatively, start your descent right from road (R3).
Descent
Galena Creek contains a trio of multi-stage rappels. These should be rigged as rebelays.
- R1: 5m (15ft) from tree DCR.
- R2a: 10m (35ft) from tree DCL. This pitch crosses the flow DCR to R2b. (Alternatively, cross the creek and downclimb to R2b.)
- R2b: 30m (100ft) from tree DCR. The stance is on a comfortable ledge that can hold 3-4 people.
From the bottom of the falls, follow a user trail DCL to the road.
- R3a: 10m (35ft) from small tree DCR. It's recommended to use a temporary anchor as permanent anchors will likely be removed by non-canyoneer visitors. (High flow: consider rigging a deviation from a tree DCL to avoid crossing strong flow. It's also possible to rappel directly to the tree anchor from above.)
- R3b: 40m (130ft) from an inline chain anchor set in the concrete retaining wall. In high water, beware concentrated flow coming out of the pipe.
- R4a: 20m (65ft) from a large tree high DCR. (High flow: Rappel ~140ft all the way to the bottom on a dry, dirty rappel far DCR.)
- R4b: 20m (65ft) from a bolt station DCR. As of 2024, there is a lot of logs and woody debris in the falls that might pose an entrapment hazard in high flow.
At the bottom of the falls, it's possible to climb up and exit DCL. There is a junked car, numerous tires, and a lot of trash dumped off the road by slobs.
- R5: 15m (50ft) from a tree directly in the watercourse.
Exit
From the bottom of R5, exit on a forming user trail up the steep embankment DCL. Follow it directly upwards, following elk trails climber's right of the main ridge. When nearing the road at the top, bear back left to pop right out at your car.
Red tape
None
Beta sites
Trip reports and media
Background
First descended by Mike Peterson, Haruka Lipscomb, and Andrew Humphreys in May 2024. We went up the creek as high as 3200ft to check out the top waterfalls. This is absolutely not worth it, since there are a ton of downed trees in the canyon.