Canyoneering Route Description

Big Tony Canyon - 4B IV R (X)
Escalante National Monument, Utah.

Quick Facts

2012-10-07, 7 people, 1 Day (Travel time in route 9.8 hours) Pictures Icon
2018-05-27, 7 people, 1 Day (Travel time in route 10.5 hours) - Group split (thru X, bypassed X  and Pothole Fork).  Time incl. 1 hour break at water.
2019-04-19, 9 people, 1 Day (Travel time in route 9.75 hours)
2022-11-05, 9 People, 1 Day (Travel time in route 10.4 hours) - Group split (some thru X and some bypassed X)

Time Required - 9 to 11 hours
Distance - 6.9 miles Total, 0.9 miles Technical
Rappels - 2 Rappels, Longest Rappel 70 feet.
Elevation Range - 4155 - 4720 Feet
Shuttle Required - No Vehicle - High Clearance, 4WD incase deep sand issues. Permit Required - No

Gear Used for Canyon

Rappelling and anchor gear, Ropes and or pull cords for rappels up to 70 feet and 40 feet of 1 inch webbing for sling placement.  Wetsuits recommended as there are spots that can hold waist to chest deep water and a couple spots where you may need to swim a short distance. The underground section can be cold and will likely always be waist deep in water in a narrow slot.  Knee and or elbow pads also recommended.  Bring a head light for the deep dark slot.

General Comments

Big Tony is a highly recommended route. It has a little of everything and is a beautiful place. The hike in provides great views over the area. In canyon there are flat sandy bottomed corridors, narrow slots with undulating walls, fun downclimbs over twisted geometry, a 400 foot long X section that can easily be bypassed, a deep narrow section of slot so deep with debris filling in the overhead crack you are essentially underground. The exit is down a long winding spring fed section of canyon with tall walls and lots of vegetation. Big Tony is a must do canyon in the area.

The X section of Big Tony is about 400 feet long and is easily bypassed by climbing up out of the canyon on the LDC side then walking a few hundred feet down canyon where you can scramble back into the canyon to continue. Just down canyon of the X section are a few spots where you will be forced off the deck 10 to 15 feet into an R rated section. So even if bypassing the X section the canyon still deserves an R rating. If your party splits for the X section and some go in and some bypass, the rim team can walk over to the rim as it rolls off and watch those in the X section from above which makes for good social fun between groups.  I have been through with someone 5 foot 1 inch tall who has made it through the X section so height is not a requirement here.

Large people can make it through Big Tony but will have a couple spots they wall have to stem / scramble up over form 5 to 10 feet up. There are only a couple of these spots so travel for our larger partners in crime will travel smoothly for most of the route.

Be sure to bring a head light in case it is needed when going down through the deep dark slot.  Getting up out of the deep dark slot can be physically taxing since you will need to stem up about 15 or 20 feet on slick clay covered walls.

Pothole Fork option
A small fork drops in on the LDC (east) side joining the canyon just after the R section.  The route option we chose in 2018 was to go down through the top of Big Tony down to the X section, split into two groups (some went through the X and some bypassed via the rim), the two groups rejoined below the X section then split again (some went down through the R section and some went over to the Pothole Fork), the two groups rejoined below the R section where the Pothole Fork rejoins.  The pothole fork was not very exciting and I recommend staying in Big Tony proper and enjoy the deep feeling R section instead.   This route description includes information for the Pothole Fork for those who just gotta go see it. 

Driving Directions

To get to the Trailhead

From the city of Escalante drive about 4 miles southeast on Hwy 12 to the turn off for Hole-In-The-Rock road on the right (extHoleInRock). The condition of the dirt Hole in the Rock road varies a lot with recent rains and road maintenance.  High clearance may be needed in extreme cases but most of the time passenger cars will be fine for the first 30 or 40 miles on Hole in the Rock road.

Travel about 31.9 miles southeast on Hole-In-The-Rock road to the turn off for Chimney Rock (exChimneyRk).

Turn left (northeast) onto Chimney Rock Road and drive about 1.9 miles to a sharp left turn in the road (CimneyRk02).

Follow the sharp turn left to drive east.  Beyond this sharp right turn (CimneyRk02) the road has a lot of deep sand.  High clearance / 4WD is recommended.

About 0.7 miles farther is Chimney Rock and a place to park a few vehicles (ChimneyRock).  This is also where the deep sand ends.

Continue past Chimney Rock for about 1 mile to the end of the road to park (pkChimCoyoteA)

To leave the Exit Vehicle / Escape Pod

No exit vehicle is needed.  This is done as an out and back route.

Maps

GPS coordinate information listed at the bottom.  For information about waypoint naming and map symbols, refer to the Glossary page.

Map Link Icon
Click the links for maps of the route. Map of the drive into the route.
Map zoomed in on final part of drive.
Map of the entire route.
Map of zoomed in on lower part of route.
Map of zoomed in on upper part of route.

Details

The Approach:
From the parking area (pkChimCoyoteA) walk northeast toward the indent seen on the mesa in the distance. Aim slight left (west) of the indent. Walk through rolling dirt desert about 0.6 miles to where the dirt begins to extend out into slickrock.

Example Pic.

When the dirt begins to extend out into slickrock (ChimCoyote11) continue northeast about 400 feet and starting to contour down the left (west) side of the dirt toward a small short shallow slot about 400 feet away.

From the top of the small short shallow slot (ChimCoyote12) walk around on the left (west) side. The route down into Coyote Gulch from here will roughly follow down along the left (west) side of this side drainage. Continue northeast route finding your way down rolling slickrock for about 900 feet as you bypass another slot in this drainage about 400 feet long.

After bypassing and getting to the lower end (ChimCoyote13) of 400 foot long slot, continue northeast route finding your way along rolling slickrock about 900 feet to where dirt slopes lead down into Coyote Gulch. 

From the top of the dirt slopes (ChimCoyote14) follow one of many use trails down into Coyote Gulch about 200 feet northeast.

Once down in Coyote Gulch (jCyoteChimny1) turn right and walk east down Coyote Gulch a little over 500 feet to a weakness in the side of the gulch on the LDC side.

The weakness (jBigTonyApr) is between a left then a right turn in the gulch and right across from a gate on the RDC side of Coyote Gulch that does not appear to have any function. To go up to Big Tony, go directly across from the gate to a weakness on the LDC side that allows travel up the side of the gulch to the north just left (west) of what appears to be a side drainage / bowl. Route find your way north then northwest up the slickrock for about 0.25 miles until you get to the top of the rim looking down into lower Sleepy Hollow.

Once on the rim looking down into lower Sleepy Hollow / Big Tony (BigTony01), route find along rolling slickrock along the rim for about 1.6 miles up to the head of Big Tony. 

About 0.7 miles up along the rim you may pass near a large dirt high point (BigTony02) while on the long walk up to the head of Big Tony. This is kind of an arbitrary point since the terrain is forgiving and allows for route finding in a variety of ways.  Depending on your route through this area you may or may not pass by the same point we have.

About 1 mile farther along the rim you will be able to drop down into Big Tony (yBigTonyTp) by scrambling down sloped slickrock down into the shallow slot below

The Canyoneering / Technical Section:
From where the route drops into Big Tony (yBigTonyTp) the canyon soon becomes narrow where you will need to stem and galumph a short distance off the deck and cross over multiple small potholes and a few silos that can be crossed back to feet before reaching a long pool about 60 feet long about 400 feet down canyon.

The pool (BigTony03) is about 60 feet long that tall people can galumph over (Shorter people will likely wade to chest deep).

The next 1000 feet after the long pool starts with shallow v-slot to walk which gives way to very sculpted, twisted and undulating walls. The canyon soon begins to force you up off the deck 10 to 15 feet then back down multiple times. There are 2 potholes to cross with the first having an 8 foot downclimb into it and the second pothole a little tricky to cross as you hook around a left hand corner. Both potholes will be waist to chest deep if you go in (taller people will likely cross fine). Then there is a corridor about 300 feet long with a boulder debris pile at the end.

The boulder debris pile (BigTony04XPas1) is the start of the 350 feet long X section in Big Tony and where you have a few route options.

To bypass the X section climb up the boulder debris and make your way up to the LDC (east) rim to bypass the X section or go drop packs after the X section so you can return to do the X with no packs. Once on the rim route find your way about 350 feet down canyon to a slope where you can scramble back down into Big Tony after the X section.

To travel down the X section, scramble under the boulder debris then immediately downclimb all the way to ground. Once on the ground the walls remain wide for a short distance then pinch in tight. While still on the floor squeeze into the crack continuing down canyon. As you continue through the tight walls there are 3 tubes / wide spots that you can use to stem / upclimb straight up. Depending on how large you are will determine which of the 3 tubes you can get to. Larger people in the first tube, medium people in the second tube and smaller people in the third tube. Any of the tubes are relatively easy to stem up with flowing twisted features in semi narrow spaces. The first tube will require you to stem up higher and require you to stem over a silo near the top. If you are able to get to the 2nd or 3rd tube you can avoid the silo just after the first tube. After getting up the tubes to a comfortable height, stem / galumph the rest of the X section. Most of the X Section you can be done back to feet but will be easier if stemmed and galumphed since you will go over 5 to 6 silos at about 50 feet up. Smaller people will need to drop down a few feet lower crossing a couple of the silos where it narrows a little. The movement in the X section is relatively easy and most fit people accustomed to stemming should be able to complete the X section if they are willing to take the risk of being up that high. I have been through with someone 5 foot 1 inch tall who has made it through the X section so height is not a requirement here.

If the group splits with some people doing the X section and some people bypassing, those on the rim can walk along with the X travelers for the last portion of the X section.

Example Pic.If bypassing the X section scramble up this boulder then work your way up one more small ledge on the way to the rim.  Then route find your way down canyon to the re-entry spot.

Example Pic.The last 6 to 8 feet of the re-entry after bypassing the X section may require a partner assist depending on skill level.  The last part of the scramble down goes almost vertical with features to get you down into a stem position between the walls about 5 to 10 feet off the deck, making re-entry an R rating.

Example Pic.After making it to the rim when bypassing the X section route find your way over to the re-entry spot shown.

Pothole Fork
If you are going to the Pothole Fork climb up to the rim like you are bypassing the X section.  Once on the rim route find rolling slickrock south southwest for about 800 feet over to the head of the Pothole Fork (yPHF-BigTonyTp) where you can scramble down gentle slopes into the canyon.  Down canyon the slot gets deeper but is still V-slot with shallow potholes to bridge / stem over.  About 350 feet down canyon is the first rap in the Pothole Fork (dPHF-BigT-R1) which is anchored using Sandtrap if dry or watertrap if wet and drops about 20 feet to a ledge on the LDC side where you can scramble around a pothole and arch. Down canyon is a few potholes to bridge stem over and a couple easy downclimbs before reaching rap 2 about 75 feet down canyon.  Rap 2 in the Pothole Fork (dPHF-BigT-R2) is anchored from an arch about head high on the RDC side and drops about 25 feet. After the rap is easy almost level travel for about 160 feet to the end of the fork where it rejoins the main canyon of Big Tony (BigTony05-PHF).  If you did the Pothole Fork skip the next paragraph.

When you get to the end of the X Section (BigTony04XPas2) rather you went through or bypassed, make your way down canyon about 1,000 feet to a boulder debris pile with a side drainage coming in on the LDC side. In that 1,000 feet there may be a lot of wading to waist deep deep if full with a couple spots being chest deep. This section starts narrow as you downclimb through and over a few silos where you will have short sections where you will be 10 to 15 feet off the deck. Then under a natural bridge, through one skinny squeeze spot that can be climbed up over about 8 feet if needed. Shortly after is one other tight spot to go over about 5 feet up or laydown and squirm under if sand is low and you are not too large. After the second squeeze spot the canyon gives way to a long sand bottomed corridor of a few hundred feet long with scenic undulating walls and may have more wading to waist deep if full.

From the boulder debris pile where the Pothole Fork rejoins (BigTony05-PHF), make your way down canyon a little over 100 feet to rap 1.

Rap 1 (dBigTonyR1) is anchored from one of many boulders and drops about 70 feet.

Just after rap 1 is a couple more boulder debris piles to scramble through and over with one elevator style downclimb of about 30 feet mixed in there. Shortly after is a skinny section where you will be 10 to 15 feet off the deck working your way down canyon and down to the floor. Next is the deep dark slot where little to no light enters.

From the start of the deep dark slot (BigTony06DrkTp) work your way down into the blackness below as you stem / slide down at an angle working your way down from choke stone to choke stone. This will get you to the canyon floor where it is very dark since the canyon walls above pinch off to almost nothing letting little to no light in. If dry you will have a pretty easy travel through this dark section as you turn sideways and shimmy down canyon. If wet this section can be a long wade up to chest deep and be slick with clay like mud on the walls.

To get up out of the lower end this dark section you will need to stem up 15 to 20 feet up mostly vertical walls with few features. This can be very difficult if the canyon is wet and the walls are coted with clay like mud (ask me how I know this). After stemming up the 20 ish feet you will galumph down canyon at that height for about 80 feet to get to where you can walk.

Shortly down canyon is a boulder debris pile just after the long dark section (BigTony07DrkBt). Travel down canyon walking and enjoying deep narrow canyon with scenic undulating walls. Soon will be a section with a couple short downclimbs and a long corridor that can hold a lot of water making chest to waist deep wading and one section of about 60 feet to swim. The water here can be pretty cold.

At the other end of the long swim is more boulder debris to scramble over and through to the top of the final rap.

Rap 2 (dBigTonyR2) is anchored from a pinch point under a large boulder and drops about 70 feet to a very wide and vegetated canyon and the technical section ends (yBigTonyBt).

The Exit:
From where the canyon opens up after rap 2 (yBigTonyBt) walk the very wet and vegetated drainage enjoying the the beauty for about 1.2 miles to where Big Tony meets Coyote Gulch.

Just before reaching the end you can go up and over to the right (west) of a big monolithic rock (BigTony08) now traveling up out of the Big Tony Drainage. As you get to a large monolithic rock on the RDC (west) side of the drainage travel up to the right (west) of the monolith and route find your way back down into Coyote Gulch.

About 150 feet farther you will  drop back down to Coyote Gulch (jBigTonyExt) a little up stream of the actual confluence with the Big Tony drainage.  Turn right and walk west up Coyote Gulch about 0.6 miles back to where the approach route dropped into Coyote Gulch (jCyoteChimny1).

Turn left and make your way southwest up the dirt slopes and reverse the approach route back to the cars.

GPS Waypoint Information

Downloadable GPX files available at BG-Gear Store (easier than manual entry and a great way to support Bluugnome).
Waypoint naming convention and map symbol information can be found on the Glossary page.  Elevations are approximate.
BEFORE manually entering coordinates set your system to WGS84 datum and Lat/Lon hddd.ddddd° coordinate format. 
Inconsistent datum's and coordinate formats will result in location errors.

Click to show / expand the list of waypoints below........
Big Tony (1) - Drive into Trailhead
  1. extHoleInRock          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.72769   W -111.53143        Elev: NaN Feet
    Turn off to Hole-In-The-Rock road from Hwy 12.
  2. exHarrisWash          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.60644   W -111.42794        Elev: NaN Feet
    Turn off to Harris Wash Road to the east.
  3. extEgypt          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.54114   W -111.36176        Elev: 5,279 Feet
    Turn off to the Egypt Road to the east (left on the drive in on Hole in the Rock road..
  4. extDryForkTH1          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.46638   W -111.22344        Elev: 4,890 Feet
    Turn off of Hole-In-The-Rock road toward Dry Fork trailhead. BLM road 252 This is about 25 miles down Hole in the Rock road.
  5. exRedwell          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.42104   W -111.16191        Elev: 4,581 Feet
    Exit to Red Well on BLM road 254.
  6. exChimneyRk          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.39317   W -111.14345        Elev: 4,831 Feet
    Exit to Chimney Rock off off Hole in the Rock road. This is about 31.9 miles down Hole in the Rock road.
  7. CimneyRk01          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.39800   W -111.13679        Elev: 4,878 Feet
    Exit off to a faint side road to the east.
  8. CimneyRk02          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.41562   W -111.12539        Elev: 4,735 Feet
    Junction in the road. Turn right (east) to drive out to Chimney Rock which gets deep and sandy beyond this point.. Another road contiues north.
  9. ChimneyRock          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.41085   W -111.11288        Elev: 4,685 Feet
    Chimney Rock with lots of area to park and camp.
  10. pkChimCoyoteA          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.41648   W -111.09846        Elev: 4,720 Feet
    Park at end of dirt road here to start the hike to many canyons in this area. Big Tony, DDI, Lower PINTAC, Headless Hen, Raven and others. To go toward Big Tony, walk northeast toward the indent seen on the mesa in the distance. Aim slight left (west) of the indent. Walk through rolling dirt desert about 0.6 miles to where the dirt begins to extend out into slickrock. To go toward Raven and Headless Hen, walk northwest on a bearing of about 326 degrees for about 0.65 miles to where the open desert begins to hit slickrock. A GPS or good navigation skills will be helpful here as there are no obvious landmarks.
Big Tony (2) - Approach
  1. pkChimCoyoteA          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.41648   W -111.09846        Elev: 4,720 Feet
    Park at end of dirt road here to start the hike to many canyons in this area. Big Tony, DDI, Lower PINTAC, Headless Hen, Raven and others. To go toward Big Tony, walk northeast toward the indent seen on the mesa in the distance. Aim slight left (west) of the indent. Walk through rolling dirt desert about 0.6 miles to where the dirt begins to extend out into slickrock. To go toward Raven and Headless Hen, walk northwest on a bearing of about 326 degrees for about 0.65 miles to where the open desert begins to hit slickrock. A GPS or good navigation skills will be helpful here as there are no obvious landmarks.
  2. ChimCoyote11          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.42328   W -111.09231        Elev: NaN Feet
    A section of the dirt desert begins to extend out into slickrock. Continue northeast about 400 feet and starting to contour down the left (west) side of the dirt toward a small short shallow slot about 400 feet away.
  3. ChimCoyote12          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.42413   W -111.09136        Elev: NaN Feet
    Top of a small short shallow slot to walk around on the left (west) side. The route down into Coyote Gulch from here will roughly follow down along the left (west) side of this side drainage. Continue northeast route finding your way down rolling slickrock for about 900 feet as you bypass another slot in this drainage about 400 feet long.
  4. ChimCoyote13          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.42570   W -111.08949        Elev: NaN Feet
    Lower end of the slot about 400 feet long in the side drainage, continue northeast route finding your way along rolling slickrock about 900 feet to where dirt slopes lead down into Coyote Gulch.
  5. ChimCoyote14          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.42687   W -111.08674        Elev: NaN Feet
    Top of dirt slopes leading down into Coyote Gulch. Follow one of many use trails down into Coyote Gulch about 200 feet northeast.
  6. jCyoteChimny1          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.42729   W -111.08622        Elev: 4,190 Feet
    Route down from the end of the Chimney Rock road meets Coyote Gluch here. To continue to Big Tony, walk east down Coyote Gulch a little over 500 feet to a weakness in the side of the gulch on the LDC side. The weakeness is between a left then a right turn in the gulch and right across from a gate.
  7. jBigTonyApr          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.42724   W -111.08469        Elev: 4,210 Feet
    There is a gate here on the RDC side of Coyote Gulch that does not appear to have any function. To go up to Big Tony, go directly across from the gate to a weakness on the LDC side that allows travel up the side of the gulch to the north just left (west) of what appears to be a side drainage / bowl. Route find your way north then northeast up the slickrock for about 0.25 miles until you get to the top of the rim looking down into lower Sleepy Hollow.
  8. BigTony01          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.43017   W -111.08215        Elev: NaN Feet
    On the rim of Sleepy Hollow / Big Tony about 0.25 mile after leaving Coyote Gulch. Route find along rolling slickrock along the rim for about 1.6 miles up to the head of Big Tony.
  9. BigTony02          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.43985   W -111.08077        Elev: 4,620 Feet
    Route up to Big Tony passes near a large dirt high point while on the long walk up to the head of Big Tony. This is kind of an arbitrary point since the terrain is forgiving and allows for route finding in a variety of ways.
  10. yBigTonyTp          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.45259   W -111.07903        Elev: 4,680 Feet
    Top of Big Tony where you can scramble down sloped slickrock down into the shallow slot below. Down canyon of here it soon becomes narrow where you will need to stem and galumph a short distance off the deck and cross over multiple small potholes and a few silos that can be crossed back to feet before reaching a long pool about 60 feet long about 400 feet down canyon.
Big Tony (3) - The Canyon
  1. yBigTonyTp          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.45259   W -111.07903        Elev: 4,680 Feet
    Top of Big Tony where you can scramble down sloped slickrock down into the shallow slot below. Down canyon of here it soon becomes narrow where you will need to stem and galumph a short distance off the deck and cross over multiple small potholes and a few silos that can be crossed back to feet before reaching a long pool about 60 feet long about 400 feet down canyon.
  2. BigTony03          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.45155   W -111.07949        Elev: NaN Feet
    Pool about 60 feet long that tall people can galumph over (Shorter people will likely wade to chest deep). The next 1000 feet after the long pool starts with shallow v-slot to walk which gives way to very sculpted, twisted and undulating walls. The canyon soon begins to force you up off the deck 10 to 15 feet then back down multiple times. There are 2 potholes to cross with the first having an 8 foot downclimb into it and the second pothole a little tricky to cross as you hook around a left hand corner. Both potholes will be waist to chest deep if you go in (taller people will likely cross fine). Then there is a corridor about 300 feet long with a boulder debris pile at the end.
  3. BigTony04XPas1          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.44906   W -111.08008        Elev: NaN Feet
    Boulder debris pile at the end of a corridor. This is the start of the 350 feet long X section in Big Tony. To bypass the X section climb up the boulder debris and make your way up to the LDC (east) rim to bypass the X section or go drop packs after the X section so you can return to do the X with no packs. Once on the rim route find your way about 350 feet down canyon to a slope where you can scramble back down into Big Tony after the X section. To travel down the X section, scramble under the boulder debris then imediately downclimb all the way to ground. Once on the ground the walls remain wide for a short distance then pinch in tight. While still on the floor squeeze into the crack continuing downcanyon. As you continue through the tight walls there are 3 tubes / wide spots that you can use to stem / upclimb straight up. Depending on how large you are will determine which of the 3 tubes you can get to. Larger people in the first tube, medium people in the second tube and smaller people in the third tube. Any of the tubes are reletively easy to stem up with flowing tiwsted features in semi narrow spaces. The first tube will require you to stem up higher and require you to stem over a silo near the top. If you are able to get to teh 2nd or 3rd tube you can avoid the silo just after the first tube. After getting up the tubes to a comfortable height, stem / galumph the rest of the X section. Most of the X Section you can be done back to feet but will be easier if stemmed and galumphed since you will go over 5 to 6 silos at about 50 feet up. Smaller people will need to drop down a few feet lower crossing a couple of the silos where it narrows a little. The movement in the X section is reletively easy and most fit people accustomed to stemming should be able to complete the X section if they are willing to take the risk of being up that high. I have been through with someone 5 foot 1 inch tall who has made it through the X section so height is not a requirement here. If you have some people doing the X section and some people bypassing, those on the rim can walk along with the X travelers for the last portion of the X section.
  4. BigTony04XPas2          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.44795   W -111.08004        Elev: NaN Feet
    This is the end of the 350 foot long X section where you can also scramble back down from the LDC side if bypassed. To re-enter Big Tony scramble down the steep slickrock. The last part of the scramble down goes almost vertical with features to get you down into a stem postiton between the walls about 5 to 10 feet off the deck, making re-entry an R rating. About 1,000 feet down canyon of here is a boulder debris pile with a side drainage coming in on the LDC side. In that 1,000 feet there may be a lot of wading to waist deep deep if full with a couple spots being chest deep. This section starts narrow as you downclimb through and over a few silos where you will have short sections where you will be 10 to 15 feet off the deck. Then under a natural bridge, through one skinny squeeze spot that can be climbed up over about 8 feet if needed. Shortly after is one other tight spot to go over about 5 feet up or laydown and squirm under if sand is low and you are not too large. After the second squeeze spot the canyon gives way to a long sand bottomed corridor of a few hundred feet long with scenic undulating walls and may have more wading to waist deep if full.
  5. BigTony05-PHF          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.44495   W -111.08077        Elev: 4,525 Feet
    Boulder debris pile at the end of a corridor that is a few hundred feet long. At this boulder debris pile is also where the Pothole Fork rejoins the main canyon coming in on the LDC side.
  6. dBigTonyR1          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.44452   W -111.08035        Elev: NaN Feet
    Rap 1 - Big Tony. Anchored from one of many boulders and drops about 70 feet. Just after rap 1 is a couple more boulder debris piles to scramble through and over with one elevator style downclimb of about 30 feet mixed in there. Shortly after is a skinny section where you will be 10 to 15 feet off the deck working your way down canyon and down to the floor. Next is the deep dark slot where little to no light enters.
  7. BigTony06DrkTp          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.44389   W -111.07967        Elev: NaN Feet
    Approximate start of the deep dark slot in Big Tony. Work your way down into the blackness below as you stem / slide down at an angle working your way down from choke stone to choke stone. This will get you to the canyon floor where it is very dark since the canyon walls above pinch off to almost nothing letting little to no light in. If dry you will have a pretty easy travel through this dark section as you turn sideways and shimmy down canyon. If wet this section can be a long wade up to chest deep and be slick with clay like mud on the walls. To get up out of this dark section you will need to stem up 15 to 20 feet up mostly vertical walls with few features. This can be very difficult if the canyon is wet and the walls are coted with clay like mud (ask me how I know this). After stemming up the 20 ish feet you will galumph down canyon at that height for about 80 feet to get to where you can walk.
  8. BigTony07DrkBt          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.44273   W -111.07874        Elev: NaN Feet
    Boulder debris pile just after the long dark section. Travel down canyon walking and enjoying deep narrow canyon with scenic undulating walls. Soon will be a section with a couple short downclimbs and a long corridor that can hold a lot of water making chest to waist deep wading and one section of about 60 feet to swim. The water here can be pretty cold. At the other end of the long swim is more boulder debris to scramble over and through to the top of the final rap.
  9. dBigTonyR2          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.44137   W -111.07884        Elev: NaN Feet
    Rap 2 - Big Tony. Anchored from a pinch point under a large boulder and drops about 70 feet to a very wide and vegetated canyon. Alternately this can be broken up into two separate raps of about 20 then 50 feet each. Breaking this rap inot two raps may help with rope pull issues.
  10. yBigTonyBt          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.44123   W -111.07888        Elev: 4,450 Feet
    Bottom of Big Tony technical section. Walk the very wet and vegetated drainage enjoying the the beauty for about 1.2 miles to where Big Tony meets Coyote Gulch.
Big Tony (4) - Exit
  1. yBigTonyBt          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.44123   W -111.07888        Elev: 4,450 Feet
    Bottom of Big Tony technical section. Walk the very wet and vegetated drainage enjoying the the beauty for about 1.2 miles to where Big Tony meets Coyote Gulch.
  2. BigTony08          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.42688   W -111.07833        Elev: NaN Feet
    Going up and over to the right (west) of a big monolithic rock now traveling up out of the Big Tony Drainage. As you get to a large monolithic rock on the RDC (west) side of the drainage travel up to the right (west) of the monolith and route find your way back down into Coyote Gulch. There is an inscription at this point dated May 16, 1902 - Ezya Mcinelly.
  3. jBigTonyExt          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.42650   W -111.07838        Elev: 4,155 Feet
    Bottom of the Big Tony route where you drop back down to Coyote Gulch a little up stream of the actual confluence with the Big Tony drainage.
  4. jBigTonyApr          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.42724   W -111.08469        Elev: 4,210 Feet
    There is a gate here on the RDC side of Coyote Gulch that does not appear to have any function. To go up to Big Tony, go directly across from the gate to a weakness on the LDC side that allows travel up the side of the gulch to the north just left (west) of what appears to be a side drainage / bowl. Route find your way north then northeast up the slickrock for about 0.25 miles until you get to the top of the rim looking down into lower Sleepy Hollow.
  5. jCyoteChimny1          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.42729   W -111.08622        Elev: 4,190 Feet
    Route down from the end of the Chimney Rock road meets Coyote Gluch here. To continue to Big Tony, walk east down Coyote Gulch a little over 500 feet to a weakness in the side of the gulch on the LDC side. The weakeness is between a left then a right turn in the gulch and right across from a gate.
  6. ChimCoyote14          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.42687   W -111.08674        Elev: NaN Feet
    Top of dirt slopes leading down into Coyote Gulch. Follow one of many use trails down into Coyote Gulch about 200 feet northeast.
  7. ChimCoyote13          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.42570   W -111.08949        Elev: NaN Feet
    Lower end of the slot about 400 feet long in the side drainage, continue northeast route finding your way along rolling slickrock about 900 feet to where dirt slopes lead down into Coyote Gulch.
  8. ChimCoyote12          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.42413   W -111.09136        Elev: NaN Feet
    Top of a small short shallow slot to walk around on the left (west) side. The route down into Coyote Gulch from here will roughly follow down along the left (west) side of this side drainage. Continue northeast route finding your way down rolling slickrock for about 900 feet as you bypass another slot in this drainage about 400 feet long.
  9. ChimCoyote11          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.42328   W -111.09231        Elev: NaN Feet
    A section of the dirt desert begins to extend out into slickrock. Continue northeast about 400 feet and starting to contour down the left (west) side of the dirt toward a small short shallow slot about 400 feet away.
  10. pkChimCoyoteA          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.41648   W -111.09846        Elev: 4,720 Feet
    Park at end of dirt road here to start the hike to many canyons in this area. Big Tony, DDI, Lower PINTAC, Headless Hen, Raven and others. To go toward Big Tony, walk northeast toward the indent seen on the mesa in the distance. Aim slight left (west) of the indent. Walk through rolling dirt desert about 0.6 miles to where the dirt begins to extend out into slickrock. To go toward Raven and Headless Hen, walk northwest on a bearing of about 326 degrees for about 0.65 miles to where the open desert begins to hit slickrock. A GPS or good navigation skills will be helpful here as there are no obvious landmarks.
Big Tony (5) - Pothole Fork Option
  1. BigTony04XPas1          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.44906   W -111.08008        Elev: NaN Feet
    Boulder debris pile at the end of a corridor. This is the start of the 350 feet long X section in Big Tony. To bypass the X section climb up the boulder debris and make your way up to the LDC (east) rim to bypass the X section or go drop packs after the X section so you can return to do the X with no packs. Once on the rim route find your way about 350 feet down canyon to a slope where you can scramble back down into Big Tony after the X section. To travel down the X section, scramble under the boulder debris then imediately downclimb all the way to ground. Once on the ground the walls remain wide for a short distance then pinch in tight. While still on the floor squeeze into the crack continuing downcanyon. As you continue through the tight walls there are 3 tubes / wide spots that you can use to stem / upclimb straight up. Depending on how large you are will determine which of the 3 tubes you can get to. Larger people in the first tube, medium people in the second tube and smaller people in the third tube. Any of the tubes are reletively easy to stem up with flowing tiwsted features in semi narrow spaces. The first tube will require you to stem up higher and require you to stem over a silo near the top. If you are able to get to teh 2nd or 3rd tube you can avoid the silo just after the first tube. After getting up the tubes to a comfortable height, stem / galumph the rest of the X section. Most of the X Section you can be done back to feet but will be easier if stemmed and galumphed since you will go over 5 to 6 silos at about 50 feet up. Smaller people will need to drop down a few feet lower crossing a couple of the silos where it narrows a little. The movement in the X section is reletively easy and most fit people accustomed to stemming should be able to complete the X section if they are willing to take the risk of being up that high. I have been through with someone 5 foot 1 inch tall who has made it through the X section so height is not a requirement here. If you have some people doing the X section and some people bypassing, those on the rim can walk along with the X travelers for the last portion of the X section.
  2. yPHF-BigTonyTp          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.44622   W -111.07966        Elev: 4,610 Feet
    Top entry of Pothole Fork of Big Tony Canyon where you can scramble down gentle slopes into the canyon. Note: Up canyon of here is shallow wide V-slot for a few hundred feet. Down canyon the slot gets deeper but is still V-slot with shallow potholes to bridge / stem over.
  3. dPHF-BigT-R1          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.44540   W -111.08020        Elev: NaN Feet
    Rap 1 - Pothole Fork of Big Tony. Anchored using Sandtrap if dry or watertrap if wet and drops about 20 feet to a ledge on the LDC side where you can scramble around a pothole and arch. Down canyon is a few potholes to bridge stem over and a couple easy downclimbs before reaching rap 2 about 75 feet down canyon.
  4. dPHF-BigT-R2          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.44530   W -111.08042        Elev: NaN Feet
    Rap 2 - Pothole Fork of Big Tony. Anchored from an arch about head high on the RDC side and drops about 25 feet. After the rap is easy almost level travel for about 160 feet to the end of the fork where it rejoins the main canyon of Big Tony.
  5. BigTony05-PHF          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.44495   W -111.08077        Elev: 4,525 Feet
    Boulder debris pile at the end of a corridor that is a few hundred feet long. At this boulder debris pile is also where the Pothole Fork rejoins the main canyon coming in on the LDC side.

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