Garden Creek Canyon in Grand Canyon National Park, AZ

Canyoneer Garden Creek Canyon Grand Canyon National Park, AZ

Class 2 3B (200 ft max) 15.1 miles 4400 gain 9-12 hrs Out + Back Mar 25, 2022
Effort
Beauty
Personality
Solitude

Garden Creek Canyon GPX Track

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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.

Garden Creek Canyon is a short, wet canyon near the Colorado River. It requires hiking from the south rim of the Grand Canyon along the Bright Angel Trail almost all the way down to the river, but not quite. The trail follows Garden Creek for a while, but avoids the technical section. Rather than waste time looking for parking closer to the trailhead, we parked at Lot D, a spacious lot a quarter mile away. The Bright Angel Trail, while it has excellent views, loses a bit of its charm due to the thick conga line and pungent smell of donkey urine. We passed one backpacker who may have actually smelled worse than the pack animals' excrement, and she had the brighest (knowing) smile on her face. A huge benefit of this popular trail is that there are water stations along the away, excellent for facilitating a reduction in water weight we'd need to carry. Many people do Garden Creek Canyon as a two-day endeavor, but this would require an overnight permit with the National Park.

Without stopping at the 1.5 and 3 mile comfort stations, we made our way down the many switchbacks along the Bright Angel Trail and took a little break at the Indian Garden Campground. This is a surprisingly beautiful little spot, complete with picnic tables, a bathroom, and budding cottonwood trees. The trail continues with a more lush vibe than the more dry first bit of the descent from the rim, created by the flow of Garden Creek. After entering a brief section of narrows along the trail and re-emerging to more expansive views, the head of Garden Creek Canyon popped in on the left.

We left the Bright Angel Trail and descended on slickrock into the flowing Garden Creek drainage, where we surreptitiously got quite naked in order to jump into our wetsuits. "It's quite warm," said Chris as he slipped on his sun-attracting black wetsuit, marking the 500th time one of us would say this phrase on our trip. We searched the watercourse for a reported piton that we could use to safely get into the canyon, but found nothing. The drop was too slippery and long to safely down-climb, so we searched elsewhere for where previous parties might have entered. After a few minutes we located some webbing on a boulder about 20 feet higher up on the left side of the canyon. While this rappel wouldn't lead directly through the first few small waterfall obstacles (sad face), it would get us out of the sun faster.

The next rappel had lovely bolts, as would the rest of the canyon. A 120' drop through gorgeous, winding narrows got us to the potential problem rappel of the day, a 360' cascade that reportedly has a ledge that would allow breaking this pretty significant drop into two parts. The rappel is characterized by a short section of narrows, followed by a gorgeous traverse within the watercourse, and then down a very slanted watefall. We somewhat irresponsibly decided we only wanted to carry two 70 meter ropes, which meant if we couldn't find the midway anchor station we could be in trouble. Chris couldn't locate the bolted anchor, but it's most likely he started looking for it too late, so there very well likely could be one there (no promises). Fortunately one of our lines was dynamic and the stretch allowed Chris to get within 50 feet of the ground, requiring some Class 3 down-climbing on the side of the slanted waterfall. Of course this unfortunately meant we had to skip the rap through the waterfall, but there was better stuff coming. Shortly after writing this trip report, someone reached out to inform me that there are in fact a pair of bolts for breaking the cascade into two shorter rappels. You just have to do a better job looking for them than we did. As in, any work at all.

Past the big cascade, a short (10 feet) rappel or slide into a deep pool served as a little obstacle just before the next rappel. The canyon narrowed again and the water was loud and prevented us the ability to communicate. We also forgot whistles, which would have allowed us to at least give little cues, so that was cool of us. I found this rappel to be the highlight of the day, a series of drops down winding waterfalls through gorgeous narrows. A short section of hiking through narrows led to the final rappel, another series of short cascades ending in a shallow pool.

From the bottom of the last rappel we could see the Bright Angel Trail. To reach it, I recommend keeping to the left of the Garden Creek watercourse until a social trail leads across and up to the trail. We packed up and then took the Bright Angel Trail back the way we came. This lower section along the trail had some very pretty narrows and foliage. I was tempted to hike the last half mile to the Colorado River, but dinner sounded better and both of my friends had already hiked rim to river on at least one occasion.

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Starting along the Bright Angel Trail.
Starting along the Bright Angel Trail.
A carved tunnel along the trail.
A carved tunnel along the trail.
Descending. You can see the rim above.
Descending. You can see the rim above.
Close-up toward the many switchbacks along the Bright Angel Trail.
Close-up toward the many switchbacks along the Bright Angel Trail.
View at the canyon the Bright Angel Trail descends.
View at the canyon the Bright Angel Trail descends.
View back up toward the rim.
View back up toward the rim.
Some pretty plants along the trail, shortly before reaching the Indian Garden Campground.
Some pretty plants along the trail, shortly before reaching the Indian Garden Campground.
Indian Garden Campground.
Indian Garden Campground.
Continuing along the Bright Angel Trail as it enters some narrows.
Continuing along the Bright Angel Trail as it enters some narrows.
Garden Creek's drainage becomes more obvious on the left.
Garden Creek's drainage becomes more obvious on the left.
View back the way we came.
View back the way we came.
The Bright Angel Trail opens up again, exiting the narrows.
The Bright Angel Trail opens up again, exiting the narrows.
The technical portion of Garden Creek Canyon comes into view on the left (tree in the center).
The technical portion of Garden Creek Canyon comes into view on the left (tree in the center).
Head of Garden Creek Canyon. The first rappel is not within the watercourse, instead located on the left side of the canyon, center of this photo.
Head of Garden Creek Canyon. The first rappel is not within the watercourse, instead located on the left side of the canyon, center of this photo.
Close-up toward the head of Garden Creek.
Close-up toward the head of Garden Creek.
First rappel.
First rappel.
Matt coming down the first rappel, skipping a few of the small waterfall obstacles.
Matt coming down the first rappel, skipping a few of the small waterfall obstacles.
Close-up of the last bit of the first rappel.
Close-up of the last bit of the first rappel.
Second rappel, 120'.
Second rappel, 120'.
View back as I start down rap 2, which wanders a little before dropping.
View back as I start down rap 2, which wanders a little before dropping.
Rap 2, wandering a bit.
Rap 2, wandering a bit.
Gorgeous carved narrows within Rap 2.
Gorgeous carved narrows within Rap 2.
Rap 2's drop.
Rap 2's drop.
View back at rap 2.
View back at rap 2.
Matt coming down rap 2.
Matt coming down rap 2.
Rap 3, the big cascade.
Rap 3, the big cascade.
Chris starting down the big cascade rappel. We did it as one big rappel, but apparently there's a midpoint for splitting it into two parts.
Chris starting down the big cascade rappel. We did it as one big rappel, but apparently there's a midpoint for splitting it into two parts.
Close-up of the drop.
Close-up of the drop.
Bottom of the big cascade.
Bottom of the big cascade.
Close-up toward the bottom of the gorgeous cascade.
Close-up toward the bottom of the gorgeous cascade.
Chris looking back toward the big cascade.
Chris looking back toward the big cascade.
Image 31 from gallery
A short obstacle. If the pool is deep enough, you can slide in.
A short obstacle. If the pool is deep enough, you can slide in.
Start of our 4th rappel, my favorite. The anchor is bolted farther up to help avoid a potentially problematic pull.
Start of our 4th rappel, my favorite. The anchor is bolted farther up to help avoid a potentially problematic pull.
View down the rappel.
View down the rappel.
Image 35 from gallery
Gorgeous waterfall.
Gorgeous waterfall.
Close-up of the bottom of the rap.
Close-up of the bottom of the rap.
At the bottom of the rap, looking back.
At the bottom of the rap, looking back.
Another shot looking back at the gorgeous narrows.
Another shot looking back at the gorgeous narrows.
A short hike through some narrows to the final rappel.
A short hike through some narrows to the final rappel.
Final rappel of Garden Creek Canyon.
Final rappel of Garden Creek Canyon.
View back as Chris comes down the final rap.
View back as Chris comes down the final rap.
Final rappel.
Final rappel.
Close-up at Chris on the last rap.
Close-up at Chris on the last rap.
Chris at the bottom of the last rap. The Bright Angel Trail is visible in the sun on the left.
Chris at the bottom of the last rap. The Bright Angel Trail is visible in the sun on the left.
Hiking along the Bright Angel Trail, ascending back to the rim.
Hiking along the Bright Angel Trail, ascending back to the rim.
View back as we make our way up the Bright Angel Trail.
View back as we make our way up the Bright Angel Trail.
Sunset photo, almost back to the rim.
Sunset photo, almost back to the rim.

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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!