Hanging Valley
| Rating: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| | Difficulty:3B IV (v3a2 IV) Raps:4-5, max ↨150ft
Red Tape:No permit required Shuttle:None Vehicle:Passenger | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Condition Reports: | 21 Jun 2025
"Great day in the canyon—first known descent by rope. We measured the rappels and updated the beta. The route is physically demanding with a fair amo |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Best season: | Spring and Winter (avg for this region)
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Regions: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
36.1413, -121.4931
Search nearby locations
Weather forecast
Waterflow
Introduction
This is a beautiful canyon in Los Padres National Forest. The canyon was descended without ropes by going around the falls but that is not recommended at all. The locals did this canyon in the past without ropes and by doing some scrambling around the waterfalls, but the terrain must have changed as the work-arounds were exposed and dangerous. Watch out for loose ground and poison oak. The canyon drops into Arroyo Seco river so check the flow of the river before going. There are great options to camp by Arroyo Seco river if you do this as an overnighter.
UPDATE: The canyon was done with ropes on June 21, 2025. Beta has been updated accordingly.
Approach
From Escondido Campground hike up Indians Rd for about 4.3 miles. Turn left at 36.16898, -121.49467 and pass the (primitive) Hanging Valley campground. After about 800 feet, drop into the canyon around here 36.16898, -121.49467. There will be a small amount of bushwhacking before the canyon opens up.
Descent
Water flow was weak and almost to a trickle at places at the time it was first descended (October 2024), and same just with more full pools when done a second time in June 2025 In wet seasons, it has the potential of becoming a moderate or even strong class C. There were no particular challenges with the raps at the time. With higher flow of water, that may be different.
Note: currently there are no bolts or webbing anchors in the canyon. Try to use retrievable anchors or take enough webbing.
Rap 1: the actual drop is 56' but you need about 75' of rope from the anchor which is a tree RDC.
Rap 2: 70'
Rap 3: it can be done in one stage if you have a 160' rope. But there is a ledge with one small tree that would make it possible to break the rap into an ~80' rap from a small tree LDC to the ledge, and another ~80' from the ledge to the bottom. If the small tree is gone though, there are not very many other good anchor options from the ledge.
Rap 4: 20' RDC.
After Rap 4 there are several deep pools that would be swimmers early in the season unless you do some sketchy up and down climbs to go around.
Exit
There are three options to exit, all of them are longish:
1. Easiest/fastest loop (no shuttle): once you drop into the Arroyo Seco canyon, go left (upriver) for a little over 4 miles. This includes lots of river walking so make sure you check the flow of the river before going! Keep going until you reach the Lost Valley Trail. Turn left and ascend the trail for over a mile until you get back to Escondido campground. The total exit is about 5 miles.
2. Shuttle route: once you drop into Arroyo Seco canyon, go right. This will take you all the way to the waterfall at the end of the canyon and the Arroyo Seco gorge. You will need a shuttle at Arroyo Seco campground. It's about a 2-3 hour shuttle set up and the campground has been closed for a while with no overnight parking allowed. Check status before going.
3. This is a potentially sketchy option, but the locals claim they have done it. Once you drop into Arroyo Seco, go right to next canyon were Jackhammer Spring drainage (ascending the drainage) and find your way back to the Indians road, then hike back to Escondido camp. There is no current beta on condition of the Jackhammer drainage and what challenge ascending it may pose. It's something to be explored further.