Here are a few Moab area canyons. There are more, but this is a good place to start.
I don’t know the names of these canyons, or even if they do have names, so I’ve gone by calling them generic and boring letters and numbers.
Onion Creek and C-1 through C-4 approaches: The Onion Creek Road also branches east from Highway 128 just west of the Fisher Towers Road and beween mile markers 20 and 21. The Onion Creek Road is one of the most facinating drives in the world and can be rough in places. The road crosses he creek many times, but in good weather, most cars can be driven to the trailhead if you drive slow. Drive up Onion Creek through the narrow canyon section with many towers. Park at the first major canyon coming in from the north. The trailhead is not marked in any way, nor is there a real trail here. ——————————- C-1 is a really fun canyon. The route is mostly class two to four, but has a few 5th class pitches throw in for excitement. The most difficult move is a 5.8 chockstone move. No bolts are in place and none are required by competent climbers as the 5th-class pitches are all short. Those who don’t want to climb the towers will find any of the C approaches to be exciting enough!
From the Onion Creek Trailhead, scramble down into the drainage. Follow the canyon north for .75 miles to a junction. The left canyon is C-1. Follow the drainage up C-1. The first right-hand canyon is C-2. Continue left along C-1. Stay in the main drainage. There are two more side drainages, one to the left and one to the right. After passing all the fun obstacles, you will reach the Fisher Towers bench which you can follow west to the Titan, Ancient Art, and Echo Tower, or east to Oracle, Hydra, Pillars of Hercules, Doric Column, Citadel, Mystery Towers, Doric Nightmare, and Atlas. Sometimes the bench is narrow, but it is passible all the way to the Fisher Towers Trail on the west to Atlas on the east. The section of the bench near Doric Tower and at the head of C-4 is very slow going. C-2, 3, and 4 can be used as descent routes if following the bench east. ——————————–
The C-2 approach is another fun route, and slightly easier than C-1. Most of the route is class two to four, with one class 5.2 move at the very top of the canyon.
After following C-1 (see above) for .3 miles, C-2 comes in on the right. Follow the drainage .2 miles up to the Fisher Towers Bench. There are several obstacles and the most difficult one is right at the head of the drainage. C-2 accesses the same towers as C-1. The head of C-1 is .25 miles NW of the head of C-2. Both C-1 and C-2 contain some fantastically sculpted walls and are very scenic routes. —-
This is the quickest descent route from the Fisher Towers Bench, but only experts can use it as an ascent route. What could have been the easiest and fastest approach ascent, is interupted by a 5.10 30′ high chockstone. We were not able to surmount it without placing hardware (which we won’t do), so we turned back and used it as a descent route, but a better climber could climb it.
This will be described as a descent route. C-4 is the canyon west of what is marked as Titan Tower on the 7.5 minute map (but not TheTitan described on this page and in all the guidebooks). It is also To get to the head of C-3, you will follow the Fisher Towers Bench easterly from C-2 for just under a mile, or westerly from the head of C-4 for just under a mile. the bench is slow going in places. The route down C-3 requires alot of route-finding/scrambling, but it is still the quickest way down from the Fisher Towers Bench. I wont give all the route details away, as finding your way is part of the fun. There is one bolted rap off a 30 foot chockstone. This is the final obstacle before reaching C-4. —-
On the map, this route “looks” like the easiest canyon. Maps can be deceiving, however, and this route is more difficult than C-1 or C-2. There is one 5.7 slippery pitch, midway along the approach, but this usually has a fixed rope in place making rather easy. The headwall, especially the west side is probably the scariest ascent I’ve ever made, so be warned.
From the Onion Creek Trailhead, follow the canyon north for .75 miles to a junction. C-1 is to the left. Head right and continue following the canyon. After .6 miles, you will reach another junction. C-3 is to the left. C-4 is to the right. Head right and up the canyon, C-4. There is one slippery climb with the fixed rope (see above). If the fixed rope is missing the 5.7 climb can be hazardous because it is so slick. Check the integrity of the rope before using it. After the climb, you will after a short distance reach a fantastic area of many hoodoos and towers. Follow the main drainage all the way to the Fisher Towers Bench. The headwall is loose and hazardous. This can be a dangerous route, even though it is probably only 4th class. Don’t make the mistake of climbing the western side of C-4 before the headwall. This is the scariest ascent I’ve ever made in my life! The route is 5.9 in places, or more, and choked with very loose conglomerate. Placing protection is impossible. We found ourselves on an un-protected (we couldn’t even use the rope because the rock was so soft) 5.9 move with 800 feet (240 meters) of exposure. To fall on the route is certain death!!! In other words, stay off!! The canyon is a lot of fun and fantastic if you just climb up to the head and back.
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There’s more good stuff higher up Onion Creek which I haven’t covered here. You can find them on your own.
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More Moab stuff:
Bull Canyon: Not anything special, but a good little canyon for newbies. You have to swim the Colorado River and this is perhaps the biggest obstacle. There is one 80 foot rappel.
From Dewey Bridge, follow the Kokepeli Trail west (make sure to see some great arches to the north and marked on the topo map) until you can head south to the head of Bull Canyon. Climb down into Bull Canyon. Follow the canyon down to the river. There are some downclimbs and one easy 80 foot rappel. A chain is bolted to the wall and can be used as an anchor.
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Professor Creek: A nice warm weather trip. Drive along State Highway 128 north from Moab or south from Cisco to the Professor Creek Road between mile markers 18 and 19. The gravel road branches south from the highway and is marked “Ranch Road-Dead End”. Drive the Professor Creek Road to its end and park. The gravel road is about two miles long and is good for all vehicles.
From the end of the road, go up Professor Creek for a ways before climbing out on the rim to the right. Follow the rim the best you can and strike out cross-country using the topo map. It is possible to scramble down to Professor Creek not far north of 5290T. Once at the creek, follow it downstream. Make sure to stop and pack everything in dry bags. There are some reeds and brush at first until the drainage narrows. There is much wading. Eventually, you will reach a bolted rap off a chockstone. If the bolt is missing, a natural anchor can be set up. Not far below the bolted rap are several natural water-slides you must slide down and into pools. Prepare to get completely soaked! Make sure to visit Hell Roaring Canyon along the way, which contains a spectacular narrow gorge. Passage is blocked by a huge chockstone, but a really good climber can climb up behind the boulder (assuming the hole behind it doesn’t get plugged by flashflood debris) and to the rim. After visiting Hell Roaring, return to Professor Creek and follow it downstream. The final obstacle, and the crux of the trip is a 30 foot rap through through the waterfall. You will get soaked, and setting up the rap is very tricky. Make sure you learn natural anchors, and please don’t leave and slings or bolts that are visible from below. The waterfall is much photographed from below, and a bunch of slings and bolts will mess up the scene for someones photograph of the falls.
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Behind the Rocks: Many good, but very short slots here. The longest one on the map is OK, but bushwacking is a serious distraction.
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