Long Gravel Canyons Loop
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| | Difficulty:3B VI PG (v3a2 VI) Raps:3 to 8, max ↨70ft
Red Tape:No permit required Shuttle:None Vehicle:Passenger Rock type:Sandstone | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Best season: | April-May, September-October
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37.7081, -110.2391
37.7081, -110.2391
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Introduction
The full map loop and side canyons show up in the map if you click on the map. This is an absolutely spectacular backpacking canyoneering experience, quite possibly the best on the Colorado Plateau, maybe even exceeding West Canyon depending on your personal tastes. Up Long Canyon is not technical, but there are two or three challenging up-climbs that will be nice to have assistance. The crossover between Long and Gravel is a legitimate challenge when it's warm. Be prepared to start as the sun is coming up and pack a lot of water; six liters is a good choice. It can take awhile of going down Gravel before you find water. We found it where the first camp in Gravel Canyon is shown on the map. Gravel Canyon has a few rappels to 70 feet. Bring a very trusty water filter. A pre-filter (coffee filters or an MSR SiltStopper if you can get ahold of one) is highly advised. We killed three of the squeeze style filters going up Long alone, even with back flushing and visibly clear water to filter. We had a friend bring in a Katadyn Hiker Pro with an MSR SiltStopper when she joined on day four that saved the rest of the trip. Steve Allen's Canyoneering 2: Technical Loop Hikes in Southern Utah documents this loop pretty well. I've done this loop two times. Once in six days with more weight, not knowing the loop very well, and didn't get to do side canyons. The second time was with a very light and fast crew over seven days. We did seven side canyons that were all very good. The most important parts on the attached kml map to pay closer attention to are the exit from Long Canyon and the drop off of the rim shortly after leaving the road during the transfer day. The labelled climb up on the transfer day isn't super hard, but it's worth taking out your rope, having your best climber go up without a backpack on, and then having people from above pull packs up. If you plan to do the trip alone, make sure that you are a strong climber to be able to do this climb with a pack on. After the climb, be sure to turn right (South) and go look out at the end of the knoll before continuing on. The view here is impressive out over Long Canyon, Jacob's Chair, and the Henry Mountains. Not long after the climb, you will hit a jeep track road. When leaving the road, there is only one break in the cliff band. It is perfectly placed on the kml track. Once down off of the cliff bands, you will walk across the desert for a couple miles. Once at the side canyon that leads into Gravel, the track is not perfect while dropping off of the rim as I just drew that part in, but you'll see the route clearly, there is an obvious trail. While going down Gravel, there are three times that it matters which rim you choose. I labelled them on the map. The labelled campsites are very good choices. If you plan to do Cowboy Canyon as well, make sure to follow the Cowboy Canyon track when climbing out of Gravel correctly. If you rappel in Gravel just below the listed camp near Cowboy, you will not be able to get back up. The rappel just below where Cowboy Canyon comes in is one of the most unique and beautiful rappels on the Colorado Plateau. The full loop alone is 32 miles. Add more for whatever number of side canyons you choose to do. The side canyons are absolutely worth allotting time for!
Approach
The approach is to start going down White Canyon until you reach Long Canyon.
Descent
Going up Long and down Gravel could be considered the "Descent." The side canyon mentioned in Steve Allen's book is labelled 6281T on the kml map here. I've done this canyon with the shown approach, but it looks like there is another approach right up along side of the canyon after getting up the first climb up out of Gravel that I would do if I did it again. This side canyon is definitely worth adding, especially if you are just doing the standard Gravel Canyon route. A sandtrap is a great addition for the 6281T side canyon. I would suggest a 100ft rope for that one if you're adding it to the standard Gravel descent. We all took 3mm farmer johns and were good when highs were around 70 to 75. We only needed them in Gravel even with Long being totally full from a recent rain.
Exit
Red tape
Beta sites
Trip reports and media
http://mcweyen.blogspot.com/2024/05/long-gravel-canyons-backpack.html
https://pbase.com/pudgy_groundhog/utah2013
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5WCeTuXXQE
