Canyoneer Shake Tree Canyon Tonto 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.

Shake Tree Canyon is a short canyon with more rappels and beauty than we could have possibly expected. On a map, it appears to just be a short little inconspicuous crack on the east side of the Mazatzal Mountains, but what appears to just be one big waterfall drop is actually many and we were able to get a pretty full day playing on the many obstacles within. I actually passed right by Shake Tree Canyon when I hiked Mazatzal Peak last year, the drop when viewing the canyon from above an inviting canyoneering adventure. The canyon is apparently spring-fed so we started the day feeling overall positive about the potential for some flowing water, despite the years of drought in the southwest.

The hike begins from the Barnhardt Trailhead, taking the Y Bar Trail #44, which leads generally south. The rocky trail makes some wide switchbacks on the gentle slope, then traverses in and out of arroyos along the base of the Mazatzal Mountains' eastern foothills. It's in great shape with some nice views to the east, and we quickly made it to the drop-in point just north of Shake Tree Canyon. Here we were unable to locate a social trail and instead just started down, where some bushwhacking left us a bit bloody. The sound of flowing water greeted us and we started down the canyon.

A few little down-climbs, boulder-hopping fun, and gymnastics to avoid small pools got us to the first rappel, a two-tiered set of small waterfalls into pools. The second rappel was also short, but we were enjoying the waterfalls and sun overhead which kept us warm, despite the cold water. We didn't even bust out our wetuits yet (and although we did later, likely could have made it just fine without them).

Past the second rappel were some cool water-carved formations and boulder-hopping obstacles leading to the big rappel of Shake Tree Canyon. A tree with a near-horizontal branch served as the anchor for the rappel, which started with a 20-foot drop to a ledge, and then a long drop off a waterfall. I would say this rap is a bit tricky. As the first person down, I was tempted to follow the watercourse, but that would result in a significant pendulum if I were to slip. Instead I tiptoed off a lip on the right-down-canyon side of the fall, a bit concerned of the somewhat sharp edge the rope was laying on. A bit of free-hanging took me to the bottom and into a shallow pool. The waterfall is bigger and more impressive than it had appeared in research photos.

After we all got down we continued to the 4th rappel, a short low-angled rappel through a small slot that carved a small notch through an otherwise flat face, a really cool feature. This portion of Shake Tree Canyon is deeper and darker and we chose to put our wetsuits on, unsure what was to come. The last few rappels were short and pretty. We were able to bypass one by down-climbing on large boulders.

The final rappel took us into the brushy drainage, so we took our gear off and bushwhacked for a few hundred feet, keeping a lookout for a social trail. We located one on the left, but it was short-lived. Our group split up here, myself and a a few others choosing to ascend a bouldery gully at the base of a cliff while others took the brushy and sun-exposed slope just north. We encountered some Class 3 within the gully, but I was happy with this choice. Once the gully became a bit too brushy, we scrambled north and up to the slope above where we met up with our other friends and made our way through brush (not as bad as anticipated) back to the Y Bar Trail.

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Starting along the Y Bar Trail.

Ascending the Y Bar Trail.

Entering the Mazatzal Wilderness.

Along he Y Bar Trail.

Some nice views along the Y Bar Trail as it weaves in and out of arroyos.

The head of Shake Tree Canyon is visible in the center of this photo.

View back before the drop-in point.

Descending into the head of Shake Tree Canyon, some bushwhacking to contend with.

The head of Shake Tree Canyon.

Some fun obstacles before reaching the first rappel.

First rappel.

Close-up of the first rappel.

Rap 1.

Rap 2.

Bottom of rap 2.

Class 3 obstacles leading down the canyon.

Cool water-carved stuff along the way.

Approaching the big rappel (right).

Close-up of rap 3.

Rap 3, seen from above. It was a surprisingly big waterfall.

Close-up at Matt at the free-hanging portion. Note how he's not within the watercourse, instead dropping off the lip above.

At the bottom of rap 3.

Rap 4.

Bottom of rap 4, looking up at rap 3.

Very cool carved feature in this otherwise flat wall, rap 4.

Rap 4.

Rap 3 and 4 seen top left, rap 5 right.

Close-up of the beautiful rap 3 and 4.

Rap 5.

Rap 5 from below.

Rap 6.

The slippery rap 6. Every one of us lost our footing where Shawn is.

We skipped rap 7, instead down-climbing the boulders.

Top of rap 8.

Gorgeous water-carved chute on rap 8.

Looking up rap 8.

View up at rap 8.

Rap 9, the final rappel. The pool is avoidable.

A bit of bushwhacking through the drainage, then we located a faint, short social trail that took us north and out of the drainage.

We chose to ascend this bouldery gully rather than bushwhack.

View back down the gully as we ascend back to the Y Bar Trail.

We left the gully when it became brushy (seen right) and ascended the hot slope to gain the trail.

Back on the Y Bar Trail, Shake Tree Canyon's head seen on the right.

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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!