Bloodhound Canyon | Dirty Devil

Canyoneering Bloodhound Canyon - Dirty Devil Canyoneering Bloodhound Canyon

Dirty Devil

Overview | Getting There | Route | Photos | Maps | Comments

Overview

MAPS: Angel Cove, UT

Sun

Mostly sunny, with a high near 45. West northwest wind around 3 mph.

45 | 24

Mon

Mostly sunny, with a high near 49.

49 | 28

Tue

A slight chance of rain after 5pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 45.

45 | 25

Wed

A slight chance of rain and snow before 11am. Mostly sunny, with a high near 45.

45 | 26

Thu

A chance of rain and snow after 5pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 41.

41 | 23

View Full Weather Details
SEASON: Any, hot in the summer
GEAR: Standard Technical, Excellent Natural Anchor Skills. Bring enough rope for a 30 m ( 99 ft. ) rappel depending on anchor position.
RAPPELS: 3+ to 15 m ( 50 ft. )
WATER: Generally little or none except after rains or extended cool/wet periods like spring. It tends to dry out quickly in hot dry weather.
FLASHFLOOD: Moderate

Sun

Mostly sunny, with a high near 45. West northwest wind around 3 mph.

45 | 24

Mon

Mostly sunny, with a high near 49.

49 | 28

Tue

A slight chance of rain after 5pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 45.

45 | 25

Wed

A slight chance of rain and snow before 11am. Mostly sunny, with a high near 45.

45 | 26

Thu

A chance of rain and snow after 5pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 41.

41 | 23

View Full Weather Details
Views along the exit. Either countour around the left or cut over around the right of the dome on the exit.

Views along the exit. Either countour around the left or cut over around the right of the dome on the exit.

"Fun but not exceptional" is I believe how Diane described Bloodhound Canyon. That pretty much sums up my feelings as well! The canyon is short and not terribly scenic but does offer several anchor and/or downclimbing challenges. The challenges make it fun, but not terribly exceptional.

Note: On my first attempt through, after recent rains, all pools were full of water making anchor finding/building exceedingly difficult. I retreated. On my second trip, Diane and I ended up using one deadman anchor and two sandtrap anchors to descend the canyon. Be sure you have solid anchor skills! Aside from sand, there is not much to work with in several spots unless ferrying rocks for a fair distance away.
First rappel in Bloodhound Canyon

First rappel in Bloodhound Canyon

Downclimb on the way to the first rappel .

Downclimb on the way to the first rappel .

Getting There

From Hanksville, travel south on Highway 95. 10.1 miles south of Hanksville, at mile post 10.1, turn east (left) off the highway on the signed Angel Point Trail Road #0100.

  • Reset your odometer as you turn off Highway 95 ( 12S 530839mE 4232060mN / N38° 14' 10" W110° 38' 51" )
  • 1.7 miles, stay left ( 12S 533177mE 4232026mN / N38° 14' 08" W110° 37' 15" )
  • 2.5 miles, turn right on road #0101 and reset your odometer. ( 12S 534117mE 4232786mN / N38° 14' 33" W110° 36' 36" )
  • 0.8 miles, cattle guard ( 12S 535083mE 4231908mN / N38° 14' 04" W110° 35' 57" )
  • 3.4 miles, turn left onto road #0103 and reset your odometer ( 12S 538064mE 4230240mN / N38° 13' 10" W110° 33' 55" )
  • 1.1 miles, cross slickrock. This is a rough section that will stop low clearance vehicles. ( 12S 539104mE 4231673mN / N38° 13' 56" W110° 33' 12" )
  • 2.9 miles, Benign Trailhead. Nondescript parking spot after the road has made a turn. There are likely tire tracks here at a small parking area. ( 12S 540225mE 4234082mN / N38° 15' 14" W110° 32' 25" )
  • 3.7 Bloodhound Canyon Trailhead. Road #4477 goes off on the right. Park at this junction. The canyon is on the left (north) side of the road and starts in the shallow wash. ( 12S 540857mE 4235256mN / N38° 15' 52" W110° 31' 59" )
Big downclimb toward the bottom of the canyon.

Big downclimb toward the bottom of the canyon.

Final section.

Final section.

Route

Approach (10-20 minutes)
From the trailhead, wander down the shallow wash. It slowly deepens with several small downclimb and dryfalls that are passable on the left. As the canyon begins cutting into sandstone in earnest, an initial couple of down climbs leads to the first rappel.

Canyon
The first drop is short (8 m ( 27 ft. )) and will likely require a deadman. If this pool is full of water, anchors in the canyon will be even tougher to find. Proceed with caution!

After the first rappel, the canyon is easy for a couple of minutes until it makes a left-hand turn. There is an exit here, then the canyon narrows and drops through a series of medium deep potholes. These are not hard to escape but may require a spot to help downclimb into. Past the potholes comes the next rappel. This 10 m ( 33 ft. ) rappel is tough to find an anchor for. We used a sandtrap. Below the rappel another big looking drop turns out to be a very reasonable slabby down climb. Fun!

A few more minor obstacles and the fun comes to an end with the final rappel before the canyon opens. Again, we used a sandtrap here. The actual rap is about 15 m ( 50 ft. ), but we used 30 m ( 99 ft. ) of rope to put the sandtrap higher up and in a better position. This deposits you into a shallow pothole before a final short down climb.

Exit (30-45 minutes)
From the last rappel, continue down the canyon a couple of minutes to a large cottonwood on the left and an obvious exit. Hike up the exit to the sandstone cliff, then head left along the wall until a low angle groove provides access up a layer. Once up, cut right and up the obvious weakness.

At the top of the weakness, contour back left either along the rim, or cut around the dome and re-join the canyon just above the first rappel.

Follow the canyon back upstream to the trailhead.


Maps

Printable Maps:

Trailhead

12S 540857mE 4235255mN

N38° 15' 52" W110° 31' 59"
Canyon Start

12S 539888mE 4236238mN

N38° 16' 24" W110° 32' 38"
Exit

12S 539241mE 4236407mN

N38° 16' 29" W110° 33' 05"

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