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Sundance Canyon

Coconino National Forest, AZ Central Arizona

Distance: 1.7 mi
Net Gain: 800 ft
Time: 3-5 hrs
YDS Rating: Class 2
ACA Rating: 3B II
Longest Rappel: 180 ft
Route: Loop

Effort: 2.1/10
Personality: 6/10
Beauty: 7/10
Solitude: 4.4/10

What do these mean? →

Route map + Trailhead

Trailhead Coordinates

34.543130, -111.433820

The directions link below drops a pin on the trailhead coordinates and lets Google Maps pick the route. If the drive has rough roads or access issues that GPS nav might get wrong, I cover that in my trip report.

Trip report

Technical canyon warning

This is a technical canyon requiring canyoneering skills and specialized equipment. If you are not experienced with building anchors or using the gear required for technical canyoneering, do not attempt this route.

Jul 3, 2019 — Sundance Canyon shares a trailhead with Bear Canyon, but I set the TH coordinates to the spot where we dropped off the forest road into the drainage leading to Sundance Canyon. A few obstacles and mossy narrows teased us before getting to the actual slot section. A couple of slides/handlines into full swimmers (wetsuit definitely recommended even in early July, when we went) led to a short rappel that's avoidable if you're cool with jumping into a murky pool without scouting first. All too quickly, the narrows ended and we got to the big 180-footer, a think-twice lip overlooking the floor below. The rappel is partially free-hanging, and incredible, definitely among my favorite rappels to date. The cathedral-like bottom had us gawking for a minute as we looked up at where we came from. We found someone's cut hair at the base – I suppose s/he got it caught in a rappel device. Ouch.

From the mouth of Sundance Canyon, we crossed West Clear Creek a few times and located the trail back up to the plateau above. It's steep, but easy to follow once you locate it.

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Photos

27 photos

Dropping east from the forest road into the drainage leading to Sundance Canyon.
Some fun minor obstacles before getting to the narrower stuff.
A log downclimb before the first rappel.
A big pool with some nice lighting.
A slide.
Another slide, or optional rappel.
Another optional rappel, we slid.
A very pretty open section shortly before the big rappel.
Another rappel or slide, we rapped this one.
Just after the last slide, we got to the final rappel.
Looking down the final Sundance Canyon rappel.
Looking back up the rappel. It was a favorite big rappel for me.
Close-up of Matt on the right.
Another shot of the gorgeous room-like feature.
Looking out of the canyon from the base of the rappel.
Shortly after the last rappel, we got to West Clear Creek, which required a few sections of wading.
West Clear Creek.
Approaching the escape out of West Clear Creek on the left.
Class 2 stuff up the escape from West Clear Creek.
Looking down the way we came.
A short trail back to the trailhead.

Hire me or show some love!

Hire or refer me as a web developer, or send me a few bucks if you find my site useful. I'm not sponsored, so it's funded by yours truly. It also takes a ton of work to edit photos and write these reports. I really appreciate it!

Hire me PayPal Venmo Cash App