Tiger Wall Canyon
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| | Difficulty:3B IV (v3a2 III) Raps:5, max ↨95ft
Red Tape:No permit required Shuttle:None Vehicle:4WD - High Clearance Rock type:Sandstone | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Best season: | Sep-Oct
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40.5054, -108.9076
40.4815, -108.9414
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Introduction[edit]
Tiger Wall Canyon (Upper) descends from the Key Saddle back to the Yampa next to the slickrock approach for Scoggin's Draw and Outlaw Canyon.
Tiger Wall Canyon is named for the Tiger Wall along the Yampa River just below the drainage. This black striped tall north-facing wall is a landmark for river trips.
Continue through Tiger Wall Canyon (Lower) to add more rappels to the day.
The canyons north of the Yampa River accessed from Red Rock Canyon are big days in a wonderfully remote location. Plan for September or October when temperatures are better, the Yampa River is lowest and the Peregrine Falcon closure north of the river is over.
Approach[edit]
Drive Highway 40 east of Dinosaur, CO turning north at the Canyon Visitor Center onto Harper's Corner Rd for 25.5 miles on pavement. Along the way, a bathroom is available at the Plug Hat Butte parking and dispersed camping is available down Blue Mountain Road.
Late arrivals beware the many deer and black cows on the open range along Harper's Corner Road.
Turn right off the pavement toward Echo Park at Sand Canyon Road, which is easily passable with 4WD HC in dry conditions. Drive Sand Canyon Rd 7.5 miles to the intersection with Yampa Bench Road. Echo Park is to the left. Turn right on Yampa Bench Road for 3.9 miles. Yampa Bench Road is also easily passable with 4WD HC in dry conditions to where it intersects Red Rock Canyon.
Park next to Yampa Bench Road just before Red Rock Canyon.
Hike: 1.9 miles -400' down Red Rock Canyon to the Yampa River. The north side of Red Rock Canyon seems to offer better cattle trails to follow.
At the end of Red Rock Canyon just before a barbed wire cattle fence are some petroglyphs in a sandstone alcove on the north side of the canyon with an inscription from Bert Hadfield in 1919.
Round the corner to the north after Red Rock Canyon opens on the west side of the Yampa River following worn cattle trails. The bench above the river provides quicker travel.
As the bench runs into a tall sandstone cliff and the Yampa turns to the east, either:
- hug the west bank to avoid a full swim, but be careful of thick poison ivy or
- swim directly across the river, which is too deep to touch. Inflate dry bags for floatation.
Note this location on the map to most easily transition between the river bank and quicker trails on the bench. On return, if staying low by the river too long another upstream swim or a short unprotected cliff climb will be required.
Round the corner back to the West toward Tiger Wall, a landmark black-striped tall north-facing wall. Cross the Yampa to the north side only knee deep (as of 2022 and 2023) and aim uphill toward the key saddle.
If backpacking and preparing to overnight to do more canyons in this area north of the Yampa, camp options exist on the South side of the Yampa before Tiger Wall or across the Yampa North of Tiger Wall.
Trend uphill for +900' first in a shallow canyon, then on slickrock. A few upclimb locations are noted on the kml map on this page.
Step around a high ledge corner above the Key Saddle, downclimb next to a small tree then downclimb in a gully just West of the Key Saddle. Continue downclimbing in the gully West of the Key Saddle to start Tiger Wall Canyon.
Descent[edit]
Downclimb just west of the Key Saddle in a short protected narrows then down boulders below.
Upper Tiger Wall
R1: 80' from a tree on Canyon Left down overhanging ledges
R2: 95' from a tree on Canyon Right down overhanging ledges
bypass a belled out 8ft feature on Canyon Right
R3: 12' from a small tree on Canyon Right
R4: 40' from a large slung boulder on Canyon Left for a 15' drop and 5' walkoff
Stem a waist deep pothole just before R5
R5: 75' from a rock stack on Canyon Left of a pothole down two tiers
The canyon opens into a wash after R5
Continue downstream for 3-6 more rappels to 145' in Lower Tiger Wall
Exit[edit]
Pop out of the drainage retracing the approach trail down the gully and back to Red Rock Canyon or continue downstream to Lower Tiger Wall.
If considering adding Inlaw Canyon to the day, a path is available on the north side of the Yampa to the bottom of Outlaw.
Red tape[edit]
The North side of the Yampa is closed to access March 1 - August 15 for Peregrine Falcon nesting. This coincides with the Yampa being in a better state for crossing in the fall avoiding the higher river levels during spring melt.
A National Park's pass or a Dinosaur National Monument entrance fee is required.
Beta sites[edit]
Trip reports and media[edit]
Previously descended by Scott Patterson
29Sep2023: trip details and kml added to ropewiki.