Packrafting Black Canyon

LizardAZ

Member
Joined
Jul 21, 2014
Messages
9
Not the Gunnison (unfortunately), but the stretch of the Colorado below Hoover Dam in Nevada/Arizona that is commonly referred to as Black Canyon. Some friends and I did this as a three day trip, using the river as a base to explore a bunch of side canyons.

We started by entering via Secret Canyon, on the Arizona side.

23318982_10210163407263020_7933458352403156810_n.jpg


Secret Canyon is technical, with two rappels. Both are bolted and easy. The narrows near the river are very scenic as well, though the hot springs have silted in. Nothing like rappelling with a sixty pound pack filled with technical gear and rafts to start the trip off right!

23231222_10210163398102791_7923142451382773115_n.jpg


We launched our packrafts from the mouth of Secret Canyon. The nice thing about this is that the permits for Black Canyon only control launches from below the Hoover Dam, within the dam's security area. If you launch from a side canyon, like we did, no permits are required.

23244353_10210163402502901_4301405274578065727_n.jpg


A short distance below Secret Canyon, we beached in order to explore up Boy Scout Canyon. This side canyon has some beautiful bedrock narrows and waterfalls, which are warm because of hot springs.

23131843_10210163418583303_5657913235960517931_n.jpg


23172706_10210163408263045_3950459424816248166_n.jpg


If I were going to do this trip again, I'd consider camping at the mouth of Boy Scout, rather than Arizona Hot Springs, where we did camp. AZ Hot Springs is trail accessible, and also well known to boaters who are coming up from the bottom with motorized boats. So it gets a ton of people, and there are ringtails and mice that can get into your food.

When we returned to the mouth of Boy Scout, one of the boats we had left on the beach was missing. A quick look determined it had floated downstream. We didn't do a good enough job securing them. We moved a pack off of one raft, the paddler missing a boat hopped on the bow, and we took him downstream to his raft. Raft, pack, and paddle were all recovered safely, and we paddled on down to AZ Hot Springs canyon for the evening.

23131948_10210163399382823_2942842440517934760_n.jpg


The next morning, we went only a half a mile downstream before pulling over and hiding our gear in the bushes (securely this time!). Our plan for day two was to ascend the narrows of Bighorn Canyon, and complete a technical descent of Weeping Springs Canyon. We made our way safely up Bighorn, which had a few tricky climbs and the nicest set of sustained narrows we saw the whole trip.

23172866_10210163401342872_6223529781199038130_n.jpg


We then made our way down Weeping Springs. Weeping springs features half a dozen rappels, most of them big, up to about 150 feet, often off of "interesting" anchors. The canyon is scenic and extremely remote feeling.

23319000_10210163415503226_5410084387259940276_n.jpg


23131838_10210163406422999_3329054872669952479_n.jpg


The final rappel delivered us back to river level.

23132094_10210163410503101_8185491510298641926_n.jpg


We inflated the packrafts we had carried through the canyon, and paddled back to Bighorn beach to pick up our stashed overnight gear. From there, it was just a half a day of paddling to our next camp at Crane's Nest Canyon. Unfortunately, thanks to the impending Lake Mohave downstream, the current mostly dies out below Bighorn, and paddling gets more difficult. With a headwind, this day was a struggle, but we finally made it to the beach at dark.

23172392_10210163407783033_7815262577662441129_n.jpg


The next day's goal was Ringpin Canyon, a technical canyon downstream from Crane's Nest. To avoid having to carry overnight and paddling gear through the canyon, two of our group paddled a quarter-mile downstream to stash our gear again, then paddled back upstream.

23132056_10210163408383048_3345391837351393905_n.jpg


A quick walk up Crane's Nest Canyon, and we crossed over the divide between Crane's Nest and Ringpin.

23231383_10210163412383148_2513287284106157790_n.jpg


Ringpin turned out to be a wonderful canyon. The pools described in the "Las Vegas Slots" book have silted in, but there's still a wonderful set of reddish narrows to be seen. The rappels are short, but there's some natural anchoring challenges and awkward starts to keep things interesting.

23231339_10210163411703131_313226815635114568_n.jpg


Below Ringpin, we put back in on the water for the three mile float to Willow Beach. At this point, the water is flat and the paddling is effortful. There's some scenery to see, the most interesting of which was Emerald Cave. But all of us were glad to finally make landfall at the car on Willow Beach.

23319102_10210163411583128_6095368019913796770_n.jpg


All in all a great trip. This is a highly recommended trip for newbie packrafters in this part of the country, since the water is flat and there's a ton of interesting wilderness along the river to explore. If you're not a technical canyoneer, you could simply hike down the standard route to Arizona Hot Springs before putting in. You'll need to pay an entrance fee (or better yet, use an American the Beautiful pass) to access Willow Beach, but otherwise no permits are necessary.

Really good route information here: http://ropewiki.com/Black_Canyon_(Colorado_River)

Video here:
 
Very cool! Thanks for sharing.

I like that you said "Not the Gunnison (unfortunately)". I've looked into that and it looks fun and rowdy!
 
Coowelll !

Do you plan on floating the Black Canyon of the Gunnison too? TR if you do and especially if you climb out!
 
Similar threads
Thread starter Title Forum Replies Date
BJett Rockcastle River No Shuttle Packrafting - Kentucky On The Water 2
BJett Packrafting the Obed National Wild & Scenic River - Tennessee On The Water 1
BJett Packrafting the Cumberland River Below the Falls - Kentucky On The Water 6
Desertratgal Backpacking/Packrafting Needles and Maze Districts of Canyonlands Trip Planning 3
BJett Amazing Appalachians - Backpacking/Packrafting the AT and Nantahala River Backpacking 5
Desertratgal Packrafting Canyonlands Round 2: Dates? Trip Planning 2
Desertratgal 5 Days Solo Packrafting Canyonlands On The Water 4
Desertratgal Canyonlands Packrafting Rough Draft Trip Planning 18
Desertratgal Beginner Packrafting Western CO Trip Planning 2
Duketogo13 Questions about packrafting the Escalante/Lake Powell in September. Need help! Trip Planning 5
Outdoors24 Willow/Davis Gulch Packrafting Backpacking 6
S Packrafting Escalante - FiftyMile Creek and low water level Lake Powell Trip Planning 8
Mikjik86 Short Video: Backpacking/Packrafting Dark Canyon Wilderness, Utah. April 2019 Backpacking 0
regehr Dirty Devil Packrafting in March General Discussion 4
dug Lake Mead Bikepacking/Packrafting Everything Else 5
Mikjik86 Waterproof backpack bag for packrafting? On The Water 6
smscheick Packrafting Willow/Davis/50 mile Backpacking 22
K I am hoping to do a 6-8 day packrafting trip on the Dirty Devil in early April. Noobs: Introduce yourself! 0
George_Washington_Hayduke Twilight Canyon- Cottonwood Gulch- Llewellyn Gulch- 8 Days Backpacking/Packrafting Backpacking 15
LizardAZ Verde River/Mazatzal Wilderness packrafting On The Water 8
J Escalante Packrafting Backpacking 4
wsp_scott Packrafting the Big South Fork (KY) On The Water 7
J Invite Packrafting the Thorofare area Meet Up (Members Only) 5
George_Washington_Hayduke Packrafting and Bikepacking from the San Rafael River to Muddy Creek On The Water 0
George_Washington_Hayduke Price River (Utah) Packrafting @200cfs From Woodside to Swasey Beach On The Water 4
piper01 Packrafting Escalante, Part 3: Fifty Mile Canyon Backpacking 4
George_Washington_Hayduke Canyonlands Figure 8: Packrafting Loop through the Needles and Maze District Backpacking 3
George_Washington_Hayduke Packrafting Cataract Canyon @17000cfs On The Water 0
Aldaron Packrafting Alaska Trip Planning 35
piper01 Packrafting Escalante, Part 2: Davis to Fifty Mile Backpacking 12
piper01 Packrafting Escalante, Part 1: Willow to Davis Backpacking 10
dug When things don't go just as planned. Bikepacking, backpacking, packrafting Escalante. On The Water 0
Nick Best Packrafting Paddle Gear 8
steve Invite Dirty Devil Packrafting/Float Trip April 11 Meet Up (Members Only) 14
Parma Canyonlands Packrafting Trip Backpacking 45
steve Invite Last-minute Maze Figure 8 packrafting trip this weekend Meet Up (Members Only) 3
steve 2015 packrafting trips Meet Up (Members Only) 41
steve Planning a packrafting trip to Hole in the Rock Trail - April 10-12 Meet Up (Members Only) 74
Bob Packrafting the Little Colorado River Gorge On The Water 1
mattvogt7 Packrafting the Dirty Devil, March 2014 On The Water 12
BJett Packrafting the Red River Gorge On The Water 11
BJett Packrafting the Rockcastle River On The Water 14
BJett Packrafting Guide - Southern Utah General Discussion 3
Kullaberg63 Packrafting the Colorado River Daily run at 6000 cfs On The Water 2
mattvogt7 Packrafting? Trip Planning 2
scatman Black Mountain Ridge - May 13, 2023 Hiking & Camping 49
TheMountainRabbit Black Lake (Rocky Mountain NP) - January 2023 Hiking & Camping 3
R Pony Express Trail, Black Rock to Simpson Springs Hiking & Camping 3
LarryBoy Is there anything technical in White Canyon above the Black Hole? Trip Planning 16
ram Black Hole 1-1-22 Canyoneering 1

Similar threads

Back
Top