Sheep Dip Canyon
| Rating: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| | Difficulty:3B (v2a2 I) Raps:1, max ↨49ft
Red Tape: Shuttle: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Start: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Parking: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Condition Reports: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Best season: | Oct-Apr (avg for this region)
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Regions: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
-33.3117, 150.2694
-33.3159, 150.2514
Search nearby locations
Weather forecast
Waterflow
Introduction[edit]
This is the TRUE Sheep Dip canyon, not to be confused with Twister Canyon that is in a different creek some distance away (the Rick Jamieson guidebook incorrectly named Twister canyon as Sheep Dip for a few editions). This canyon was incorrectly named Deathtrap Canyon in the 5th edition of the Rick Jamieson guidebook, but Death Trap is a different canyon again.
1 abseil, lots of jumps and swims, a really fun canyon.
Approach[edit]
Park at GR 441 103 and follow the old logging trail west (the trail is very over grown in places) and drop down through the cliff lines to access the creek around GR 456 106
Descent[edit]
The creek flows through a shallow open canyon with lots of small down climbs into pool before openning out at larger drop. Abseil 15m from tree on canyon right into shallow pool
Exit[edit]
Continue down the creek through a pretty gorge to massive chockstone and look for the pass under on the left. Just past this is a large errosion cave and waterfall on the right. Keep working down stream for another 300m then make your way up a convenient ramp on the left to find the end of the logging trail you walked in on
Red tape[edit]
Beta sites[edit]
Trip reports and media[edit]
https://sleepwhenwearedead.net/2017/01/08/a-quick-dip-in-sheep-dip-canyon/ https://sleepwhenwearedead.net/2020/12/20/just-because/
Background[edit]
Craig Flynn describes the naming confusion very well:
- OK so first up let’s try to address the naming confusion of this Canyon.
- Around the mid 70s a party consisting of SUBW and UNSWBWC members, which included David Noble, did an exploratory trip following Rocky creek from it’s source. They came across a small canyon reasonably high up in the creek. It had a lot of little slides and jumps into deep pools and they so they named this canyon section Sheep Dip (This is the canyon shown here). Later in the day, a few kilometers down stream they came to the larger section of canyon now known as Rocky Creek canyon
- All good so far, no confusion.
- Then in the 80s(?) a party including another Dave Noble, having heard a basic description on Sheep Dip descended a tributary near the Rocky Creek Canyon car park and found a canyon they thought matched the description. This is understandable, both are more shallow, open style canyons. Both have lots of slides and jumps into pools. Both have a larger water fall at the end and both creeks drop down into tunnels below boulders near the exit… So they thought they had done Sheep Dip but they called it Twister among their own group.
- When Rick Jamison published the first edition of the Canyons Near Sydney guide book in the early 90s he repeated the mistake and he wrote the description and directions to Twister under the heading “Sheep Dip Canyon” with a comment along the lines of the second party preferring the name Twister. All the guide companies that have sprung up since have repeated this mistake offering trips down Sheep Dip and Rocky Crk which actually do Twister and Rocky Crk.
- It’s wasn’t until the early 2000s when the 2 Davids were talking that the younger Dave realised his mistake and Twister had in fact been a new canyon.
- The Fifth edition of the Canyons Near Sydney corrects this mistake and now has the description of Twister under the heading “Twister (sometimes known as Sheep Dip)”
- But it then adds to the confusion by adding a description of Sheep Dip canyon under the heading “Death Trap Canyon (AKA Sheep Dip or Upper Rocky Creek canyon)”.
- There was already a canyon named Death Trap but it is not in the Rocky creek system. It was first explored by another party (Including the first David Noble) in the early to mid 2000s.
- Now in the Gardens of Stone guide books the Bush Explorers repeat this second mistake and compound it by naming a some of the nicer features near Sheep Dip after Death Trap. eg The water fall they have labeled “Death Trap Falls” flows into Rocky creek near where Sheep Dip canyon opens up…. No where near Death trap canyon
- So Twister is the one near the Rocky Creek canyon car park. It is in a small tributary that runs into the creek you walk down to access Rocky Creek canyon.
- Sheep Dip is in Rocky Creek itself, a few kilometers up stream.
- DeathTrap is another small canyon altogether.
- No doubt this confusion will continue into the future but I hope that clears some of it up.