Canyoneering Route Description

Keyhole Canyon - 3B I
Zion National Park, Utah.

Quick Facts

06-01-08, 6 people, 1 Day (Travel time in route 1.7 hours) Pictures Icon
09-06-08, 5 people, 1 Day (Travel time in route 2.2 hours) Pictures Icon
09-06-08, 2 people, 1 Day (Travel time in route 1.75 hours) In the Dark!
08-01-09, 3 people, 1 Day (Travel time in route 2.1 hours) Pictures Icon

Time Required - 1.5 to 2 hours
Distance - 0.7 miles Total, 0.2 miles Technical
Rappels - 2 Rappels, Longest Rappel x60 feet.  Longest rap of 60 feet is 2 stages (optionally two raps of 30 feet each).
Elevation Range - 5420 - 5620 Feet
Shuttle Required -No Vehicle - Passenger Permit Required - Yes

Gear Used for Canyon

Rappelling and anchor gear, Ropes and or pull cords for rappels up to 60 feet and 50 feet of 1 inch webbing for sling placement and to offer handlines if desired.  Wet suits are a good idea even in warm weatehr.

General Comments

Keyhole Canyon is a super short fun run and a great introductory canyon for new people. In this short route you get down climbing, wading / swimming (including a 60 foot long swim in a very narrow slot) and rappelling into water (sometimes a swim).

Driving Directions

To get to the Trailhead

From the East Entrance Gate of Zion National Park on highway 9, drive 1.9 miles West. There is a small turn out on the south side of the road that will fit 2 or 3 cars.  The route is started from here and finished here.  The waypoint for the trailhead is where the route leaves the highway about 200 feet east of this parking area.

To leave the Exit Vehicle / Escape Pod

No exit vehicle is needed.  This is done as a loop 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 entire route.

Details

The Approach:
From where you parked the cars walk East on highway 9 about 200 feet where the route leaves the highway.  From there head about 0.2 mile north, up the wash leaving the road.  Looking up the wash is a small spire just to right of the major peak ahead.  Hike up to the top of the ridge between the major peak and the small spire.  Once at the top of the ridge (wKeyholeRP-01) just to the left of a small spire look down over the ridge to see down into the next wash. 

From the top of the ridge it is a steep but easy down climbing to the bottom of the wash on the other side of the ridge.  Part of the way down there is a set of bolt and hangers for rappelling (wKeyholeRP-02).  This section was easy enough to just down climb and I am not sure why someone took the time to install the bolts.

The Canyon / Technical Section:
Once at the bottom of the down climb (yKeyholeTp) a wash continues north.  Do not follow the wash north.  Instead look left (west) as soon as you get to the bottom of the down climb.  You will see a narrow slot with lots of rocks along the bottom.  The beginning of that slot is what I have marked as the beginning of the technical portion of Keyhole Canyon.   This narrow section is a little over 400 feet long and has a few easy down climbs of about 8 to 10 feet.  The first one starts from a log wedged between the walls (wKeyholeRP-03).   This first section can have ankle to knee deep water or water a little over waist high depending on water levels.  At the end of this narrow section the canyon opens to a pool and a sandy area (wKeyholeRP-04).

About 200 feet after the canyon opens, look along the left (south west) wall for a narrow slot.  This is where Rap 1 is located and is anchored LDC with 2 bolt and hangers.  Rap 1 (dKeyholeR1) drops about 25 to 30 feet into the narrow slot under a log into a pool of water.  This pool maybe waist deep or be deep enough to require swimming depending on water levels.

A short distance after rap 1 is a down climb about 8 feet into a pool of water a couple feet deep.  There is webbing tied to the choke stone at the top of the down climb to assist.  This down climb can be a little tricky.  If the water levels are high in the canyon, the pool at the bottom of the down climb will be a swimmer.  As you get toward the other side of the pool it becomes shallow enough to stand.

Immediately after the down climb on the other side of the pool is Rap 2 (dKeyholeR2) anchored RDC from a glue in anchor and drops over 2 stages of about 25 feet each (both stages landing in pools).
___Note: there is a single bolted hanger on the RDC side at the mid stage if you want to break this rap into two rappels of 30 feet each.

Continue down deep narrow canyon with a few downclimbs of 4 to 9 feet each.

After most of the down climbs is a narrow slot full of water (wKeyholeRP-05).  Narrow (3 foot wide) slot with a 60 feet long swim. After the swim continue in narrow slot for a few hundred feet with 6 foot downclimb.

A little over 300 feet after the swim is where the canyon opens and the technical section ends.  This section has one easy down climb of about 6 feet.  Taller people can stem the walls to down climb this.  There are sections of water to wade through on the way out.

When you see a way to climb out LDC you have that option.  Climbing out will avoid a little over a hundred feet of water filled canyon.  If you are enjoying the water you can continue in the water course until it opens up in the wash at the exit of the canyon.

The Exit:
After exiting the narrow technical section (yKeyholeBt), continue just over 300 feet down the wash to the road.  It is then about 0.1 miles east on the road to the cars to conclude the route.

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........
Keyhole (Zion) - Waypoints
  1. pkKeyhole          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.22414   W -112.90127        Elev: 5,389 Feet
    Parking turn out for Keyhole Canyon. Large enough for 2 - 3 cars.
  2. tKeyholeBeg          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.22394   W -112.90058        Elev: 5,430 Feet
    Trailhead for the start of Keyhole Canyon.
  3. wKeyholeRP-01          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.22654   W -112.90065        Elev: 5,620 Feet
    On top of ridge to the left of a small spire.
  4. wKeyholeRP-02          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.22675   W -112.90070        Elev: 5,600 Feet
    A set of bolt and hangers to assist down climb. Not really needed but there anyway.
  5. yKeyholeTp          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.22687   W -112.90077        Elev: 5,590 Feet
    Top entry for Keyhole Canyon.
  6. wKeyholeRP-03          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.22679   W -112.90166        Elev: 5,534 Feet
    Log in the slot with a 10 foot DC.
  7. wKeyholeRP-04          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.22682   W -112.90219        Elev: 5,520 Feet
    Canyon opens up.
  8. dKeyholeR1          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.22690   W -112.90242        Elev: 5,520 Feet
    Rap 1 for Keyhole Canyon. 25-30 feet. Anchored LDC from 2 bolt and hangers.
  9. dKeyholeR2          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.22676   W -112.90302        Elev: NaN Feet
    Rap 2 in Keyhole Canyon. Double rap 25 feet to pool then 25 feet to pool. Anchored RDC from a glue in anchor. Also a single Bolt and hanger RDC at the top of the second stage.
  10. wKeyholeRP-05          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.22603   W -112.90323        Elev: NaN Feet
    Narrow swim in a slot about 60 feet long.
  11. yKeyholeBt          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.22547   W -112.90282        Elev: 5,460 Feet
    Bottom exit of Keyhole Canyon.
  12. tKeyholeEnd          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.22473   W -112.90259        Elev: 5,420 Feet
    Trailhead for the end of Keyhole Canyon.

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