Canyoneer Illusions Canyon and West Fork of Oak Creek Coconino National Forest, AZ

Directions

Route Map

Download GPX

Illusions Canyon and West Fork of Oak Creek GPX Track

I need to offset my substantial website costs somehow! You can download a hike/drive GPX to assist you here. Before sharing my GPX tracks with others, please remember my site is otherwise a free resource.

Add to Cart

View Cart

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.

Illusions Canyon has been on ever-present my radar since I first started canyoneering. Its mossy walls and gorgeous-looking rappels were always inspiring in photos, so my friends (Shawn, Josh, Yoshi) and I set out for a trip to Sedona. We prepared as best we could, complete with wetsuits, too much webbing, a new canyoneering pack, and a grappling hook (in case the final keeper pothole was in keeper mode). There are many ways to complete the route. We decided to spot a car on State Route 89A, then take another car to the plateau and descend Illusions Canyon and then the West Fork of Oak Creek (Call of the Canyon Trail). It seems like most people descend Illusions Canyon and then re-ascend to the plateau via a sneak route. Others start from State Route 89A, hike up a trail to the top of the plateau, and then descend the same way we did. I'd say despite the long shuttle, I think we were all in agreement that the one we chose was the way to go.

A note, mostly as a rant to myself: I break an average of two DSLR cameras per year in wet canyons, so I got a waterproof camera and I was extremely unhappy with the poor quality photos. This trip report is a combination of all my friends' cameras, plus my iPhone and waterproof crap, so a bit of a mess… I think I'd rather risk breaking a camera in order to get better shots of a place as gorgeous as this route deserved. If you want to see better pictures of West Fork and the area in general, check out my report on Immaculate Canyon. Anyway, onward.

From the top of the plateau, downed trees forced us to walk along the road before descending into the head of Illusions Canyon. The gully required some bushwhacking, but was overall fine. There's an avoidable rappel, but it was mossy and pretty, so we opted to go for it, testing the water for the first time. It was cold. Very cold. More bushwhacking led to a Coconino National Forest register at the start of the narrows. We signed and began the fun obstacles, avoiding some of the smaller rappels by just spotting each other. The canyon eventually narrowed significantly, and we were faced with a bunch of fun rappels and obstacles, including a really cool arch and some small potholes. Nothing out of the ordinary for a technical canyon in regard to difficulties, but the colors and shapes of the canyon were among the best I've seen. We just wished we weren't so cold and could enjoy it more. The canyon opened up after an 80 foot rappel and we let our bodies thaw for a bit before the last set of narrows, which were equally as beautiful as the previous section. The last rappel reportedly has a very deep pothole, and it wasn't visible from the top of the rap, so we were happy to see the pool was overflowing. Make sure you know your keeper escape techniques, because it could be a pretty big disaster if not.

From the bottom of the last rappel, we took off our gear and headed north toward the West Fork of Oak Creek. We had to do one more rappel to get out of our tributary and into Oak Creek, but then it was easy hiking through the overwhelmingly beautiful West Fork of Oak Creek. Like I mentioned before, I didn't have my camera with a wide angle lens and so I certainly couldn't do this hike justice. But it's gorgeous and I hope to do more technical routes that allow us to descend the Call of the Canyon Trail at some point.

Hire me or show me some love!

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!

Heading into the brushy gully from the trailhead.

It's not too bad, but meh.

First rappel we encountered, optional but pretty. Avoid via a slope on the right as you descend.

Continuing after the optional rappel through some brush.

At the canyon register as we suit up.

Starting the fun obstacles before Illusions Canyon begins to get narrow.

Me within the fun obstacle course section before the narrows. Photo by Travis Yoshimoto

Pretty section of lush greenery within Illusions Canyon.

One of many rappels that can be avoided by downclimbing or partner assists.

Me and Josh at our first rappel within the canyon. Illusions Canyon gets deeper from here. Photo by Travis Yoshimoto

Finally entering the narrows after a lot of gorgeous canyon scenery.

Incredible arch within an interesting section of Illusions Canyon.

Photo by Travis Yoshimoto

Photo by Shawn Pladas

Looking back up at the arch.

A particularly fun section, where we were able to slide down into a pool. Photo by Travis Yoshimoto

A gorgeous pool. Photo by Travis Yoshimoto

Photo by Travis Yoshimoto

There was a static line set up here for some reason, so we prudently used it to descend another fun slide into a pool. Photo by Travis Yoshimoto

Photo by Travis Yoshimoto

Yet another interesting rappel through winding narrows. Photo by Travis Yoshimoto

The 80-foot rappel that we mistakenly initially thought was the final rappel. It was really gorgeous, but no pothole at the bottom. Photo by Travis Yoshimoto

Josh coming down the 80-foot rappel. Photo by Shawn Pladas

Wideshot of the rappel. We had another set of narrows to come, which was too dark for any of our photos to come out, and we were cold and moving quickly. But it was really pretty. Photo by Travis Yoshimoto

There are a bunch of pretty potholes within the last section of narrows, ending at the final rappel with the infamous keeper pothole. It was overflowing during our visit. Photo by Travis Yoshimoto

Shot of the final rappel in Illusions Canyon.

Close-up of the final rappel. Photo by Travis Yoshimoto

After the last rappel, a much-needed group photo! You can see the keeper pothole was overflowing and therefore safe on our trip.

Working our way through some brush after the last rappel.

An unanticipated rappel to get out of our tributary and into the West Fork of Oak Creek.

Almost at West Fork of Oak Creek.

Where our tributary met up with West Fork of Oak Creek. Absolutely gorgeous.

A crazy rock feature as we worked east within West Fork of Oak Creek.

We were all pretty photo trigger happy here.

Our favorite area of West Fork of Oak Creek. Incredible walls.

Photo by Travis Yoshimoto

Just a ton of gorgeous features within West Fork of Oak Creek.

Eventually, a a sign marks the end of the trail, which in our case was the start of the trail...

Not as gorgeous because of trees blocking the views, but overall just an incredible canyon.

Trail along West Fork of Oak Creek.

Wilderness sign as we got back to the Call of the Canyon Trailhead.

Hire me or show me some love!

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!