Kanangra Main Canyon
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| | Raps:17, max ↨190ft
Red Tape:No permit required Shuttle:None Vehicle:Passenger Rock type:Quartzite | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Condition Reports: | 15 Feb 2025
"Via the slot.. Water levels were fairly high - definitely a4 levels but all manageable. However for the experience level of some of the members of |
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| Best season: | Nov - Mar
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-33.9809, 150.0991
-33.9907, 150.1029
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Weather forecast
Waterflow
Nearby photos
Introduction
Kanangra Main is a highlight of Australian canyons. It is vertical with near continuous abseils joining the pools. The initial part of the canyon has two options, either side of the main waterfall: The Wall and The Slot
Option1: The Wall
The Wall abseils down the cliffs river right (RR). The start is a spectacular abseil trip down a series of ledges until intersecting with the canyon at the bottom of the main waterfall.
Option 2: The Slot
The route drops down a slot next to the waterfall river left (RL) then crosses the waterfall impact zone. It is very vertical. Be cautious in attempting The Slot if the water is above 200 ML/d; consider descending The Wall instead.
Water Levels
- The catchment is ~10 km². Hanging swamps upstream of P1 are known to hold water - expect good flow for several dry days after rain
Use the river gauge 212260 Kowmung River @ Cedar Ford
- <100 ML/d: Low water, A2-A3
- 100-500 ML/d: Medium water, A3-A4
- 500-1000 ML/d: High water, A4
- >1000 ML/d: Expert level. A5
Maximum descended volume is 1811 ML/d. They lived another day. Just.
Note: The Kowmung gauge does not measure the volume of water in Kanangra Creek directly. It is a "proxy gauge" and has a 733 km² catchment as stated by WaterNSW. The catchment above Kanangra Main is much smaller at approximately 10 km². However history has shown it to be a good proxy for water levels.
Rainfall
Rain gauges can provide useful historical data for how much rain has fallen over a given period of time. There are no publicly listed online rain gauges or weather stations located at Kanangra. Rainfall for Kanangra reported by the Bureau of Meteorology is using data collected from sites over 40 km away from Kanangra and can be very unreliable proxies for rainfall at Kanangra.
The closest rain gauges for Kanangra include:
- INSWPORT16 via Weather Underground - approximately 22 km West
- Mount Boyce via Bureau of Meteorology - approximately 44 km North North East
- High Range via Bureau of Meteorology - approximately 40 km South South East
Advisory
Kanangra Main is a big undertaking for most parties and requires efficiency. Not a place for beginners. If you aren't competent and efficient you will have a 12+ hour day. Take enough rope in order to rig multiple drops. The majority of people in the party should be able to rig. Releasable systems highly encouraged, as is bleeding your rope to protect from sharp edges.
There's Telstra phone signal at the start of the path from the road, and The Walls lookout.
Approach
Use the GPX/KML above. The path is on the OpenStreetMap render in your favourite mapping app.
The entry track starts from the Kanangra Walls road at -33.9907,150.1029 (Google Maps). Take a track on the north side of the road. Follow the track to the Kittani Rim then northwards along the edge. Pass the viewing point for the Kanangra Falls and continue along the track.
In the final tree copse at -33.9809,150.0991 head east. Pick up an indistinct path along a well-defined ridge. Follow the ridge, then cut left down the slope, and towards the river. Head for the far point defined by the edge above the valley, and a cliff drop-off to a platform next to the river. Find the first anchor, of rope around a substantial tree.
- For The Slot, proceed as per above, then don wetsuits and gear at the river. Cross the river slightly back from the edge, heading for a large tree (substantial, about 1m diameter trunk) on the far RL bank. Go between the tree and the cliff and traverse along an exposed slope keeping to the base of a cliff on the upper side. Follow the ledge along and slightly down towards the gulley. The first bolts, set with substantial chains, for the Slot can be found in the sloping gully.
Take a deep breath; do your checks. Follow the topo and abseil summary.
Descent
Follow the topo and abseil summary.
Topo
Aerial view
View of first 7 abseils
Aerial view courtesy of Matt Findlay
Drop summary
Via The Slot
| Number | Metres | Location | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 55 | RL | Top of slot |
| 2 | 55 | RL | Careful falling rocks |
| 3 | 5 | RL | Very slippery. Don't link with P4, get away from falling rocks |
| 4 | 25 | RL | Bolts on wall |
| (Switch to Wall description P6) HW access to P6 anchor: stay on rope from P4; or belay onto P6 anchor from single bolt RR 5m from end of pool above head height. |
Via The Wall
| Number | Metres | Location | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 | RR | Large tree on edge. Stay on rope if rock platform is slippery to get to P2 bolts; needs 20m. |
| 2 | 15 | RR | Slightly below large rock platform, close to river. DO NOT abseil the 54m down from anchor P2 to the ledge at anchor P4; many people have got their rope very stuck when pulling at stance 4, sometimes with catastrophic results |
| 3 | 39 | RR | From 2m wide ledge (space for 3 people) |
| 4 | 42 | RR | From 2m wide ledge (space for 5 people). P4 lands next to "The Pinnacle" (4 people). |
| 5a | 37 | RR | "The Pinnacle". Use bolts nearest waterfall. High Water (HW) extremely slippery. Abseil to where the water flows out the plunge pool. High water difficult due to extreme spray. |
| 5b | 39 | RR | "The Pinnacle". Use bolts further away from waterfall. Drop onto bolts at edge of plunge pool. High water drop onto a narrow slippery ledge away from plunge pool, immediately clip to single bolt. |
| 6a | 15 | RR | Abseil down cascade into pool |
| 6b | 11 | RR | Setting a traverse line, follow the ledge to abseiler's left, abseil down slightly, traverse further to dual bolts. Abseil into pool. High water there is a deathy siphon towards the end of the pool - careful yourself and your rope tails! |
| 7 | 25 | RR | HW slippery to access P7 bolts use access bolt on RR on the wall near pool. High water to avoid eddy in pool: 2m from bottom of P7 walk off on the ledge abseilers left. |
| 8 | 30 | RR | RR chains on downstream side of boulder. Medium water: set a redirect from bolt 4m RR from P8 anchor. High water: Set a traverse line to alternate P8 anchor RR past redirect bolt. Consider a guide line to P9 bolts. |
| 9 | 26 | RR | Bolts on face |
| 10 | RR | | |
| 11 | 9 | RR | On wall on top of boulder, check first for jump. |
| 12a | 16 | RL | Chains. Two options, 12b abseiling across to RR is more common: a) Abseil to stay RL, abseil onto 3-person ledge. Then abseil 13a. Better option in very HW as 12b difficult in HW due to wash-over risk. |
| 12b | 16 | RL | Chains. b) Abseil to cross river, walk onto wide exposed ledge, clip to single bolt. Then abseil 13b. 12b difficult in HW due to wash-over risk. |
| 13a | 46 | RL | Drop into chute. Very HW maybe guide line. |
| 13b | 58 | RR | A 60m does reach the pool. Don't stop half way on paltform |
| 14 | 45 | RL | Chains. The classic waterfall money shot, send photographer first. Pull from far side of pool |
| 15 | 15 | RR | Old bolts, or scramble RL (slippery when wet) |
| 16 | 24 | RR | Bolts. To accees, use bolt at foot level RR in rock bench that forms the lip of the pool |
| 17 | 15 | RL | Now for the creek walk to Manslaugher Ridge |
Exit
After the last abseil, walk down the creek to the confluence with Kalang Canyon (marked on the map as "Kanangra Brook", large sloping rock platform RR), about 30-45 minutes creek walking. The rock platform is a good place to change and eat and to fill water containers. From the rock platform ascend Manslaughter Ridge directly south. Head upwards, and occasionally leftwards (not too far left as it cliffs out above the gully). Top out to the left (south) of the Kanangra Walls lookout. As of 2024, the path is well worn. Gloves useful for when pulling on some sharp vegetation along the way.
Do not ascend Murdering Gully as may be described elsewhere. The slopes are choked with weeds.
Emergency / Early Exit
After P7 there is an emergency or early exit. On RR (south) of the pool at the bottom of P7, ascend the gully. Stay towards the centre of the gully, and do not veer to the right of the gully. Keep a view of the ridge to the left (east) of the gully; when there are no further cliff lines on the spur, traverse out left (east) onto the spur. Follow the spur upwards, veering slightly right and bypassing any further cliffs. Top out at about -33.9827, 150.1014 on the entry path. The early exit makes for a good half-day abseiling trip down the Wall. In low water (<50 ML/day at Kowmung Gauge) this can be a largely dry trip by using the traverse at P6 and walking off left just before the bottom of P7. In high water, if P8 is too severe for the party, use this exit.
Red tape
None!
Beta sites
This Ropewiki page is authoritative. The link below is for interest only, and you should not rely on the information contained in them.
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OZultimate Canyoning : Kanangra
Trip reports and media
Flow rate is about 40ML/d. Note that the pitch numbering has changed since this movie was made.
