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Boy Scout Canyon Hot Springs

Lake Mead National Recreation Area, NV Southern Lake Mead

Distance: 3.8 mi
Net Gain: 1,100 ft
Time: 2-4 hrs
YDS Rating: Class 3
ACA Rating: 3A III
Longest Rappel: 350 ft
Route: Out/Back

Effort: 2.6/10
Personality: 7/10
Beauty: 6/10
Solitude: 4.1/10

What do these mean? →

Route map + Trailhead

Trailhead Coordinates

35.972665, -114.769867

The directions link below drops a pin on the trailhead coordinates and lets Google Maps pick the route. If the drive has rough roads or access issues that GPS nav might get wrong, I cover that in my trip report.

Trip report

Technical canyon warning

This is a technical canyon requiring canyoneering skills and specialized equipment. If you are not experienced with building anchors or using the gear required for technical canyoneering, do not attempt this route.

Dec 15, 2016 — The notoriously tall free-hanging rappel down to Boy Scout Hot Springs was as fun, beautiful, and scary as we could have hoped. From the Boy Scout Canyon Trailhead, take the wash down until it narrows. On our visit, there was a fixed rope to get down to the top of the rappel. Since we don't have a 350 foot rope, we spliced two ropes together, passing over the knot. After getting onto the lower of the two ropes, my caribiner got stuck locked and I was hanging there figured out what to do – a little terrifying. The rappel was great, but definitely not to be taken lightly. We couldn't communicate at all because of how loud the echoes bounced around, and certianly not a lot of people come this way.

From the base of the rappel, we continued down the canyon to Boy Scout Canyon Hot Springs, and then further to the Colorado River. Along the way, we enjoyed the downc-climbs and rushing water that makes Boy Scout Canyon so interesting. Make sure you leave time for the scramble (Class 3+) out of the canyon. We did not finish before dark (so the photos seen below are from another trip down Boy Scout Canyon a year later), and we got lost for a bit, immediately convinced we were going to have to spend the night in the desert. I left the two options for ascent on the attached map. Eventually, we found our way, pulling the standard Class 3 stuff you usually find in Lake Mead on fairly solid rock, and continued through the desert on a social trail back into Boy Scout Canyon. We grabbed our rope and headed back up the canyon.

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Photos

39 photos

Starting down Boy Scout Canyon from the trailhead.
Some Class 2+ obstacles in the wash.
We escape from Boy Scout Hot Springs comes from over the hills on the right, a few hundred feet before the canyon begins to narrow.
Entering Boy Scout Canyon.
Gorgeous pink narrows.
A fixed line to get down to the rappel.
Looking back at the fixed line.
Shawn heading down the big rappel.
View down the drop, just before I started my descent.
Looking back up at the Boy Scout Canyon rappel.
Heading down Boy Scout Canyon.
Entering the narrows before the hot springs.
Some obstacles, which may or may not have fixed ropes.
It got too dark to take photos on my last visit, so the following photos were from another trip a year later, picking up where I left off.
Continuing down Boy Scout Canyon.
Boy Scout hot springs.
Some runoff, view up-canyon.
Some minor downclimbing through a flowing narrow section.
Approaching the Colorado River.
Standing in the Colorado River, view back toward Boy Scout Canyon.
Back a bit up Boy Scout Canyon, we found the exit gully. It's not super obvious, so pay attention.
Along the route up the escape gully, view toward the Colorado River.
Class 2/3 gully that makes the route reasonable. It's a fairly straightforward ascent from here. Just one Class 3 section ahead.
View back into the gully we came through.
Shortly after the gully, we got to the Class 3 section to gain the rim. It's not nearly as scary as it looks in this photo.
Looking back down the Class 3 section, Colorado River in the distance.
At the top of the escape. We headed along a social trail that led back into Boy Scout Canyon.

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Hire or refer me as a web developer, or send me a few bucks if you find my site useful. I'm not sponsored, so it's funded by yours truly. It also takes a ton of work to edit photos and write these reports. I really appreciate it!

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