Devil’s Drain Canyon Loop

Jan 12, 2020 — Devil's Drain Canyon was a long-awaited technical canyon in Lake Mead. I met up with a couple of new friends (Sarah and Tim), and got Adam and Frances away from peakbagging for a day of canyon fun. A couple of years ago, I hiked down to Moonscape Hot Springs via a non-technical route. This loop is a great technical addition to that route.

A couple of really burly vehicles could serve as a shuttle to shave about a mile off this hike, but we hoofed it from the junction of Canyon Point Road and Canyon Point Mesa Road, heading north onto a mesa with increasingly pretty views toward the Black Canyon as we progressed. The mesa slowly curved east and became more narrow, eventually appearing like it would drop off completely. However, a Class 3 scramble continued east along the rim down toward a crumbly-looking yellow dirt saddle. Although very steep, there weren't any surprise moves during the scramble and the exposure is minimal. Once at the yellow saddle, we began a slightly aggravating descent on the steep, loose slope heading south. You'll notice the yellow-colored dirt features end at a small and jagged cliff, and below this cliff is black volcanic rock again. We followed the rim of this cliff and stumbled on the first rappel. You can easily bypass this rappel by continuing down the loose slope rather than following the cliff rim, but it's the highlight rappel of Devil's Drain, the drain itself! There are two holes in the feature, the smaller one being the fun little hole to rappel through.

There was a minor partner-assist obstacle just before the biggest rappel of the day. This second rappel gave me a bit of vertigo. It's a two-tiered rappel, but we did it in one shot without issues pulling the rope. Another big rappel followed shortly after, and then the technical stuff was over for the day.

We continued down Devil's Drain Canyon, some Class 2/3 obstacles leading through really pretty scenery before entering a short section of narrows. Just after the cliffs opened up, the sounds of a spring meant ample water for brush in the canyon. Fortunately, most of the brush can be avoided by keeping to a social trail on the left, but eventually it was unavoidable as the canyon narrowed up again. I recommend just staying in the watercourse once this happens. Our attempts to avoid it via the slopes and cliff faces didn't save any time. The algae and colors within the watercourse are nice and the brush had minimal prickliness. We made it to the top of a warm waterfall, which we bypassed on the right via a Class 3 scramble. Below the waterfall is a sandy wash and easy walking to Moonscape Hot Spring. We hung out for a bit before realizing how late it was getting and continued east toward the Colorado River.

About halfway between the waterfall and the Colorado River is a side canyon on the right, which would serve as our ascent route. This canyon is known as Emerald Pools Canyon. It's got some really pretty features, including a small section of narrows, some boulder-hopping, and minor route-finding to avoid brush. When the canyon begins to open up a bit, keep to the left and cairns will mark a Class 2 route along the cliffs to avoid the brush in Emerald Pools Canyon's watercourse. Once the canyon becomes even more open, the brush peters out and the only obstacles are the occasional Class 2/3 scramble over boulders. We followed Emerald Pools Canyon to its head, where we were met by a wide section of uninteresting desert, which we traversed southwest and down into the canyon known as Weeping Spring Canyon. Heading left (east) leads to the technical route of this canyon, and right (west) leads up the long wash and finishes on the somewhat aggressive Class 2/2+ talus field ascent to Canyon Point. Watch out for broken glass as you near the rim. We followed the road back to where we parked.