Canyoneer Frye Creek Canyon (S’mores Canyon) Coronado National Forest, AZ

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This is a technical canyon. If you are unfamiliar with how to build anchors or the gear required for canyoneering do not attempt this route.

Nestled on the northeastern side of the Pinaleno Mountains, Frye Creek Canyon boasts an incredibly cool granite playground with gorgeous waterfalls and fun technical rappels. The drainage is also known as S'mores Canyon, probably because the canyon is smushed within Mount Graham's foothills (very cute, whoever named it). Reaching the trailhead at Frye Mesa Reservoir is likely doable by any non-sedan. We parked before the final descent to the reservoir because there were some firemen doing a training course, but more on that later. If you have two 4WD vehicles you could set up a shuttle and save a mile of hiking, but we just walked that extra little bit.

The canyon is split into two parts, so it can be done as the upper and/or lower portions, but I highly recommend doing the whole thing. This is a nice break-up of the canyon in case the first bit turns out to be too swift for comfort and you need a bail point. The two portions are separated by some creek walking with very cool features. There were bolted anchors where it mattered (slick granite doesn't make for great anchor-building opportunities), and natural anchors when possible. The canyon also seems to get a fair amount of non-canyoneer traffic, but the prettiest stuff definitely requires gear to reach. It's worth checking the flow of the canyon to ensure there's at least some water before driving way out here since the best part of this canyon is the natural waterpark-vibe. And of course if the flow is too high, it could be a much scarier endeavor.

We hiked south along the road, reaching its end and continuing along the Frye Canyon Trail #36. This took us up toward the head of S'mores Canyon. A social trail led down into the drainage, where we put on our wetsuits and continued through some light bushwhacking and slick polished granite that knocked us on our butts more than once. We reached the first series of pools, short rappels dropping between 30-60 feet, and then got to a 100-footer, which rapped directly down a waterfall. From the top of the fall we could see 15+ firefighters carrying on farther down the drainage (near the optional bail-point) but we couldn't make out what they were actually doing just yet. We felt like nerds in our wetsuits since the sun was out and there were a bunch of shirtless bros just ahead, but we certainly needed our wetsuits later. Stirred from our homoerotic fantasies, we did the 4th rappel and continued down the watercourse, passing a couple of slides (one of which we used a handline) and got to the top of a small rappel. We couldn't find an anchor, but did figure out what the firefighters were doing. A thick, fixed rope traversed the left side of the canyon above the waterfall, leading down to below the falls. Rather than fiddle around with building an anchor, we scurried along the traverse and got down to the end of the first portion of S'mores Canyon.

Some gorgeous polished granite features with cute obstacles, light bushwhacking, and bits of boulder-hopping took us down S'mores Canyon's middle portion. A unique section included alow-angle, slick cascade that had a fixed line for descending more safely. If this line isn't here on your visit, I'd definitely recommend setting up a rappel. Eventually we made it to the lower, longer technical portion of the canyon. There were a couple of short rappels as the canyon narrowed and became deeper, slowly progressing to the final featured series of rappels, characterized by gorgeous chambers with deep pools. The second to last rap was kind of like an assisted slide down a waterfall and emptied into a large and open chamber, and then the final rap took us down a lower-angle cascade.

From the bottom of the last rap, we took a social trail leading around the left side of Frye Mesa Reservoir and back to the dirt road.

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Starting along the dirt road. S'mores Canyon seen on the far left.

At the end of the road where we picked up the Frye Canyon Trail. The top portion of S'mores Canyon is seen left.

Close-up toward the first portion of the canyon.

Along the Frye Canyon Trail.

The Frye Canyon Trail continues, but we dropped off of it into the drainage seen center.

Slick granite immediately upon entering S'mores Canyon. We suited up and started down.

Some short slides and then the first rappel, which was off a pinch point RDC.

View back toward rap 1 and rap 2.

Rap 3, two-tiered. You can see the end of the road we hiked in on, visible top center.

Rap 3 from below.

Rap 4, the last required rap for the top portion.

Rap 4 from below.

Close-up of Matt in the waterfall.

We set up a handline to get down a short slide.

View back toward the first few rappels.

Little pools in the slickrock.

View back.

There was a rope that stretched along the left side of the canyon, traversing above a small waterfall. We couldn't find any bolts, so we assume this is always here in some form?

View back along the fixed rope. The waterfall we are avoiding is seen on the left.

View back up from the base of the falls. Dan seen above on the fixed line traverse.

A pretty spot to hang out. This is a bail point if necessary.

Onward down canyon, some light bushwhacking and creek rock-hopping.

A fun little obstacle along the way.

The water carved the rock here in such a way that it was shooting in an arch.

View back up-canyon.

A slippery cascade. There was a fixed handline to use to get down this portion.

View back up at the cascade. Dan slid down the last bit.

Another shot back at the pretty cascade.

Onward, more obstacles as we continue through the canyon.

Rap 5, the first for the second section of S'mores Canyon.

View back up at rap 5.

More gorgeous granitic features.

A little pool.

Rap 6.

View back at rap 6.

Another shot of rap 6, which entered a short narrow section.

Rap 7.

Rap 7 from below.

View behind me, just above rap 8.

Rap 8, now entering the narrowest portion of S'mores Canyon.

View back up rap 8.

Rap 9.

Matt coming down rap 9.

Wider shot of rap 9, a really scenic spot.

Matt on rap 9.

Another shot back at rap 9.

Top of rap 10.

Rap 10.

S'mores Canyon opened up and we headed to the left around the reservoir.

View back at the reservoir, S'mores Canyon seen center.

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Hire/refer me as a web developer or send me a few bucks if you find my site useful. I’m not sponsored, so all fees are out-of-pocket and my time preparing trip reports is unpaid. I really appreciate it!