Turtle Tears Canyon
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| | Difficulty:3A II (v3a1 II) Raps:5-8, max ↨75ft
Red Tape: Shuttle: Vehicle:4WD - High Clearance Rock type:Limestone | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Condition Reports: | 22 Feb 2025
"Condition of drive to Trailhead. Group of 12 from Las Vegas. We did not take the exit at Jean. We continued south on I-15 and left the freeway at |
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| Best season: | Oct - May (avg for this region)
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35.6717, -115.4304
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Introduction
Short but sweet canyon down a fun limestone slot with big vertical gain on the class 3-4 approach. May be combined with Ladder of Doom Canyon.
Approach
Do NOT blindly use the google maps point for driving directions or you will drive way more dirt roads. Use the driving directions from the ropewiki GPS driving track. Or! There is now a turn out from the shoulder of I-15S that brings you closer if the gate is open off the highway. The turnoff from the I-15S shoulder is at 35.681641, -115.377059.
Follow the kml track up the steep slope to the top, taking more direct class 4 routes as desired. There are almost always class 3 ways up if you look for them. Once you get to the bench below the peak, you can follow this across and down to the drop-in.
Descent
Lots of great downclimbs of varying difficulty that some will want to rappel or handline
3 downclimbs before you get to R1
R1: 25' pinch LDC
there follows a couple of notable downclimbs
R2: 35' from a cool jug-handle anchor RDC
R3: 25' off of a perfectly placed shrub growing from a crack above the drop RDC. The roots seem very solid but please use a soft start and avoid moving laterally on rappel to minimize impact on the little feller.
R4 optional: 50+' 2-stage or a slightly exposed bypass RDC.
R5: 35' bush LDC. potential for biner block to get stuck here.
R6 optional: slung rock high RDC or straightforward though exposed downclimb.
R7 optional: 25' from jug-handle RDC or slightly tricky elevator downclimb.
R8: 100' boulder LDC. (previously listed at 75')
Exit
After the final rap out of the slot, a series of downclimbs leads to boulder-hopping and wash walking until you meet back up with the approach track.
Red tape
Beta sites
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Las Vegas Slots Book by Rick Ianiello : Turtle Tears Canyon - https://www.stavislost.com/hikes/trail/turtle-tears-and-ladder-of-doom-canyons
