Great Falls of the Fox
| Rating: | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| ||||||||||||||||
| | Difficulty:3B IV R (v5a2 IV) Raps:8, max ↨100ft
Red Tape:No permit required Shuttle:Optional 2 min Vehicle:Passenger | |||||||||||||||
| Location: | ||||||||||||||||
| Condition Reports: | 2 Mar 2025
"First time in GFF and we took the Ridge to R1 route. Trail to the ridge is pretty navigable but the traverse to the ridge is more pick a path and scr |
|||||||||||||||
| Best season: | ||||||||||||||||
| Regions: | ||||||||||||||||
34.3153, -118.1796
Search nearby locations
Weather forecast
Waterflow
Nearby photos
Introduction
A magnificent granite gorge hidden away in Big Tujunga; considered to be the best canyon in the San Gabriels. Debris from the Station Fire in 2009 has clogged much of the canyon, though it is slowly being flushed out. This canyon normally exits through the upper part of the Big Tujunga Reservoir. The water levels in here fluctuate a great deal in the course of a year. As recently as 2011 the reservoir was filled in all the way back to the mouth of Josephine Creek, which meant you were swimming in the reservoir on the egress for about 3/4 of a mile. If you are planning on running Fox Creek and it has been raining in So-Cal in the recent past, it may be advisable to check the reservoir levels prior to dropping-in. This can be done by hiking a short distance down the Big Tujunga Canyon Trail to the first switchback where you have a largely unobstructed view of the end of Fox Creek. (34.301137 -118.175145) You can also check reservoir levels from Angeles Forest Highway (N3), which runs roughly parallel to Big TJ Canyon Road but at a higher elevation. You can also check the flow volume of Fox Creek easily from Big TJ Road, a little less than a 1/2 mile past the trailhead gate (3N27) just before Big TJ Road ends at Angeles Forest Highway. (34.298136 118.165889) Alternatively, the "Express Exit" will take you back to the approach road soon after the main gorge, and this avoids all the issues with the long slog out the normal exit.
As with many canyons in the Big Tujunga area, canyoneers' help keeping access open is appreciated. This area is still recovering from the Station Fire in 2009 which means lots of invasive plants and overgrowth in general can quickly close off access to these areas and/or make your time in them miserable. Consider adding a pair of hand shears and/or small bypass loppers to your gear list when descending these places. There are many places online to learn how to prune constructively, and other organizations are helping with the effort.
Approach
Shuttle
Consider leaving a shuttle vehicle at the "Big Tujunga Canyon Trail" trailhead at 34.297487 -118.177062 which is also the Josephine Creek exit trail, but failing to do so only adds 0.6 miles and 230ft of gain. Historically there has been some vehicle damage and theft along Big Tujunga trailheads, so keep any valuables out of sight, no matter where you park.
Fire road
Park in the small parking area where 3N27 meets Big Tujunga Canyon Road; (this is the same trail head as for Fall Creek, Classic Canyon, Kafer Canyon, Little Fox Creek, and others). 34 17.82'N 118 10.20'W Do not block the gate to 3N27, your vehicle will be ticketed. Follow 3N27 down to Big Tujunga and then cross Big Tujunga while still heading mostly up stream to find the continuation on 3N27 on the other bank. Continue up 3N27 for 930ft of elevation gain until you come to a saddle with white rocks on the left side. To the left of the trail you will have a view of the 100' "Great Fall." 34 18.927'N 118 10.276'W You will have hiked 4.1 miles from the gate.
Bushwhacking traverse
Descend to the drainage (Little Fox Creek) on the left/west side of the fire road, across the granite slab, then ascend up following animal runs through the thick brush to a plateau. Climb gradually on the plateau, reaching thinner brush, then traverse west to a sharp ridge, generally slowing ascending up as you traverse. This part of the approach is navigationally tricky and failing to stay high enough will result in getting cliffed out. Head for 34.31593, -118-17692 and you will be centered on the sharp ridge, being able to see both sides and the top of the gully (below) will be just off to the West.
Gully to R1
If you navigated correctly, there should be a small gully on the West side of the sharp ridge. Proceed west down this gully, carefully past some poison oak, into Fox Creek This gully is primarily loose rock and scree, with several down-climbs. About 3/4 of the way down, there is a 20 foot downclimb that now has webbing tied around a tree DCL, and it is advisable to rappel, as the downclimb can be dangerous. 12/20/15 - I left a rope set as a double strand at the downclimb section which reaches the bottom. A good idea to wear a helmet in this section, as there is so much loose rock. After reaching Fox Creek, head downstream over numerous logjams, 1/4 mile to R1.
Ridge to R1
You can also carefully continue down the sharp ridge, with some scrambling in spots and varying amounts of exposure. Generally the ridge top is clear of brush in a path and has some animal runs on it. It a couple spots you will have to go slightly off the ridge to the West side to avoid thick brush. At the knob 34.31352, -118.17920 make sure and climb back up to the ridge top, otherwise you may wind up off on a spur ridge to the West, and on crazy steep terrain. Continue South along the ridge reaching a 30 foot tall granite slab face. This face has a crack lip that can be walked down back to a small saddle with a granite knob just beyond it. To the West of this saddle is brush filled ramp with a big dead tree visible at the bottom which is actually in Fox Creek. Descend this ramp angling to the South (hopefully following some trimmed bushes) toward 34.31234, -118.17973, which is the location for rappel 1. Don't go straight down the ramp, as there is a cliff face at the bottom against Fox Creek. By angle to the South over a tiny spur ridge you will reach a shallow chute with no brush, past a rock cairn, and continue down another shallow chute all the way to Fox Creek without any drop-offs or downclimbing. The views on this ridge are amazing, so if you are not afraid of some exposure, it's definitely worth the trip! It also seems to be faster to R1 than the gully and creek approach.
Descent
The descent is more or less straight forward:
The first 8 rappels are in close proximity to each other with little walking in between. The 100ft "Great Falls" rappel is exactly that, from the lip of the waterfall. If you use a 200ft rope, it will be necessary to extend the pull side with webbing to accommodate distance from anchor to water and any fireman belay you might want wish to give members of your party. Much of the trail in the lower sections of canyon is similar to the East Fork of the San Gabriel River or the longer walking sections in lower Eaton canyon, which is to say you'll be mostly travel the creek bed, tromp through weeds and hop along rocks for the majority of the technical canyon between the first 8 rappels and the final rappel.
Rap 1: 33' off a tree canyon left, with about 15 foot of vertical drop over a big boulder. This is possibly down-climbable on the dry slabs left or right but looks very sketchy. The water course itself extremely slimy, so down-climbing the chimney where the water flows is likely to fail.
Rap 2: 47' off bolts canyon right or off a pinch point in canyon center. There are also several other large rocks just up-canyon that could be used to for an anchor.
Rap 3: 15' slung rock and pinch point canyon left under a roof, over a big overhanging boulder.
Rap 4: 28' bolts canyon right.
Rap 5: 26' bolts canyon left, hidden from view behind a tree.
Rap 6: <110' Bolts canyon right or <105' bolts canyon left. There has historically been issues with stuck ropes on this rappel when using the old canyon RIGHT bolts . If you use these bolts extend the webbing out to better your rope-pull angle. The newer bolts on canyon left solve this issue and is a much more enjoyable rappel. (2020 note: after using both multiple time I had not noted any issue with pull from either set of bolts) In heavy flow it is not advisable to attempt the tricky down-climb to access the lower bolts canyon left without a competent belayer, or rappel off the tree canyon left to the bolts. A double strand rappel from bolt canyon left with a 200' rope will leave the rope ends dangling approx. 2-3 feet above the bottom of the gorge, so be prepared to take a small fall into the (shallow!) pool below, or extend the pull strand as mentioned above.
Rap 7: 31' bolts canyon right
Note: In high flow, the narrow chute beyond R8 and hallway can have serious hydraulic force, possible entrapment issues, and thus be the crux of this canyon If the flow is too high for safe passage, bypass by climbing up DCL. A partner assist may be need to get up from the canyon kelp to the first ledge. The climb has some exposure, but is generally easy movement. Once on top of the buttress, you will see a large shallow gully beyond it. There is a 2 bolt (widely spaced) anchor on the ridge overlooking the hallway; rappel about 80 feet. Using this will avoid all the hydraulic issues for slot below the R8 bolts and put you at the bottom of R8 well DCL of any flow rooster-tails.
Rap 8a: 25/80' bolts canyon right: It's a tricky start to this one, as it's overhanging directly into the blunt of the flow. There is a chockstone about 10 feet down that can catch your leg and it loves to catch the rope if you did not throw it out far enough. Continue into a narrow chute, then 20' in a narrow/level hallway, to another set of bolt DCR. There is also at least one other chockstone to trip over in the hallway. In high flow this hallway can be dangerous, and you may need to stay on rope to reach the 2nd set of bolts, or continue to combine R8a and R8b together. Rope pull on this rap can be tricky as well, but somehow the rope end never seems to get caught on the chockstone 10 feet below the anchor.
Rap 8b: 40' bolts canyon right: down the low angle and wide slab to the end of the money section of GFotF.
- From the bottom of this rap, it is about and hour hike to the final rappel. Alternately, you can do a much shorter hike down the creek to the express exit which takes you back to the approach road (also takes about an hour). Then do Fall_Creek on the way out.
Rap 9: 70' Horizontal tree in canyon center down the watercourse (NOTE as of APR2023 this tree is gone). Or horizontal tree on sloping slab canyon left, which can be a bit sketchy downclimbing to the webbing anchor. Warning: do not sit on, lean on, or touch this tree in any fashion (this is rather silly advice since you need to hold onto the tree to safely get to the webbing anchor). It is zealously guarded by some of the most vicious ants around.
All the below photos were from 2011 when Fox was Class C. The flow here is right on the edge of being unrunnable, not advisable for those without significant class C experience.
Exit
Express Exit
About 1/4 mile past the main gorge, Little Fox Creek comes in from the left and just beyond at 34.3108, -118.1757 is a wide and shallow gully on canyon left. Head up that gully a ~100 feet avoiding a large PO bush, and traverse right to a tree with webbing hanging down from it over a slab cliff face. Climb the steep ridge beyond the tree up to the main ridge line. Then follow the animal runs to a small saddle, crossing over and continue following these animal runs down slightly and traversing over toward a saddle with the approach road on the other side. It's a short climb up from the end of the traverse to the saddle and the road is only 20 feet vertically below that saddle.
Standard Exit
Proceed down Fox Creek until its confluence with Big Tujunga Creek,(erroneously labeled 'mill creek' on other sources of beta) then turn left (up stream/east--34.301569 -118.176478) and hike or swim up Big Tujunga. After rounding a ridge, there will be a large flat bend to your right/south (Big TJ Creek-LDC); head into that flat area. Finding the small, steep use trail that joins up with the main exit trail from Josephine Creek can be difficult. (especially in the dark) It will be on your right side as you walk up from Big Tujunga Creek, and LDC for Josephine Creek, which is the tributary to Big Tujunga at the large flat bend. You'll find the use trail before you head into the dense bushes of Josephine Creek. The trail is very steep. After about 150ft of elevation gain on the small use trail, it should join with the slightly larger exit trail for Josephine Creek. There are many short cuts on the exit trail, but they all lead to the same place until the exit trail starts heading south near the top of the ridge. At this point, stay on the largest trail until a short 60ft trail to the road branches off, or until the exit trail ends at a parking area southwest of the ridge you just climbed.
Red tape
This area of the forest was closed due to the station fire recovery orders from August 2009 through June 2012.
Beta sites
-
Chris Brennen's Adventure Hikes (St Gabriels) : Great Falls of the Fox - uCanyon
- ATS
- CanyonChronicles.com : Great Falls of the Fox
- Super Amazing Map : Great Falls of the Fox
- SummitPost.org :
Trip reports and media
- Candition.com : Great Falls of the Fox
Background
First recorded canyoneering descent on Aug.9, 1997, by Garrett Reisman, Simone Francis, Troy Sette, Steve ??, Tom ?? and Chris Brennen.
