Canyoneering Route Description

Slideanide Canyon - 3A (or B) II
Poison Springs area, Utah

Quick Facts

11-11-11, 9 people, 1 Day (Travel time in route 6.3 hours) - Time for both Slideanide and Arscenic combined. Pictures Icon
02-18-18, 7 people, 1 Day Travel time in route 4.2 hours) Slideanide only.

Time Required - 3 to 5 hours.
Distance - 3.8 miles Total, 0.5 miles Technical
Rappels - 2 Rappels, Longest Rappel 80 feet.
Elevation Range - 5180 - 4560 Feet
Shuttle Required - No Vehicle - High Clearance (possibly 4WD if the road is in bad shape) Permit Required - No

Gear Used for Canyon

Rappelling and anchor gear, Ropes and or pull cords for rappels up to 80 feet and 40 feet of 1 inch webbing for sling placement.  Wet suits may be desired in cold months.  The water in the canyon is in a few short pools.

General Comments

If you like elevator style down climbing one of the slots in the canyon offers a bit of fun.  Most of the water (but not all) can be avoided with some effort.  Slideanide Canyon is short fun route with a few scenic treat along the way.  Only 2 raps (possibly less depending on how you do things) and a lot of fun short down climbs.  The corkscrew slot near the end is interesting as well.

Driving Directions

To get to the Trailhead

From the junction of highway 95 and highway 276 (about 25.5 miles south of Hanksville), drive north on highway 95 about 5.8 miles to a dirt road turn off on the east side of the highway (extLoneCedarRd).  The dirt road is unnamed but will be referred to here as the Lone Cedar Road.  The road is not shown on some maps, but most maps do show the Lone Cedar Reservoir that this road runs next to which is about 0.3 miles off the highway.  As of Dec 2010 this is near mile marker 20.

Turn right (east) onto the Lone Cedar Road. Drive 6.1 miles, ignoring small side roads along the way, until you get to a Tee in the road (wLoneCedrDP-01).   

Turn left at the Tee and drive another 0.3 miles to where the road crosses a wide drainage where there is ample parking on both sides of the road (pkContrychSlid).  This is where you will park to start the route.

To leave the Exit Vehicle / Escape Pod

No exit vehicle is required.  This is done as a loop hike.

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 of the entire route.
Map of the exit section.

Details

The Approach:
From the parking spot (pkContrychSlid) start walking north east across the open rolling desert at a bearing of  35 degrees (true north not magnetic).

About 0.27 miles from the car the you will drop down into a wide drainage ( wSlideRP-01).  The dirt you had been walking on up to this drainage was a light reddish brown and the dirt on the other side of the drainage is a darker reddish brown.  After dropping into the drainage find an acceptable spot to scramble up out of the drainage on the other side to continue north west. 

Once up out of the wash continue north east across the rolling desert on a bearing of about 20 degrees.  Continue north east and route find your way through a convoluted mix of small hills.  About 2.2 miles along the desert will be another wide drainage (wSlideRP-02).  The floor of this drainage has a mix of dirt and slick rock.  Once down in the drainage turn left and walk north west down the drainge.

About 250 feet down the wash (distance depends on where you dropped into the drainage) will be a fork (wSlideRP-03).  At this fork turn right and walk north up the fork to the north.

About 700 feet up the fork in the drainage, the wash will begin to end.  As it does route find your way north up onto the hill (wSlideRP-04).

Once up on the hill veer right (north east) and walk about 800 feet over to the rim of Slideanide Canyon.  As you get to the rim walk along the rim to find the obvious head of the canyon (ySlideanideTp) where the shallow wash drops down into a large deep slot. 

The Canyoneering / Technical Section:
At the head of Slideanide Canyon (ySlideanideTp) is a short down climb of about 8 feet to a shelf where rap 1 is.

Rap 1 is right at the head of Slideanide, is anchored from a large rock about 8 feet back from the drop and drops about 80 feet down a slightly sloped wall with a 15 foot section of free hang about mid way down.

Note:
Optionally rap 1 can be bypassed.  I have not explored these bypass options but have been told they work.

Option one is to scramble down the LDC (east) side of the rim below rap 1 to a ledge about half way down rap 1.  Then down climb down climb the up canyon side of the ledge to about mid way down rap 1.  Then down climb the last part of rap 1 itself.

Option two is to find your way over to the top of a ravine about 150 feet down canyon of rap 1 on the RDC (west) side.  Scramble down the ravine to the canyon floor.

Down canyon of rap 1 are a few shallow pools that can be stemmed over with a little work and a few easy short down climbs.  As you continue down canyon the walls become more narrow. 

About 400 feet down canyon of rap 1 will be a down climb of about 25 feet (wSlideRP-05).  This down climb is sloped with smooth walls and is easily stemmed down.  At the bottom of this down climb could be a pool to wade through if it had recently rained.  Next stem down canyon under a set of choke stones.

About 100 feet down canyon is another down climb of about 20 feet.  The down climb is slightly sloped and easily stemmed down although it looks intimidating from the top as well as the bottom.  You may find webbing here that previous parties have set to rap or hand line this drop.  There are plenty of features for both hands and feet to assist with the down climb. 

Continuing down canyon are more little pools to stem over if it had recently rained.

A few hundred feet down canyon is another drop of about 20 feet (wSlideRP-06) where you may find webbing rigged from rocks by previous parties.  This drop is down climbable.  The down climb has lots of good hand holds at the top but the first 7 feet or so is moderately difficult.  The rest of the down climb is easy.

After the down climb you are starting down into a long narrow slot of a little over 300 feet long and descends over several drops.  Each of these drops drops can be down climbed and most are elevators.  Less confident down climbers can rig rappels at various points from choke stones in this slot.  If you enjoy elevator down climbs this is a pretty fun section!  I assume this section is where it the canyon got the name Slideanide. 

Near the end of the slot are a couple pools that if full of water will be a chest deep wade or possibly a swim for about 20 feet.  The first pool is easy to stem over but the second can be stemmed over by taller people and a significant amount of work.

After the pool is an easy sloped down climb to another pool where the canyon turns sharp right (wSlideRP-07).  The pool at this sharp right turn is not able to be stemmed around and will be chest high or a swim for a few feet if full.  This is also where a side slot / ravine joins in from the LDC side as you enter the pool.

 After turning sharp right travel is easy walking with one easy down climb of about 10 feet and a short narrow section for a little over 400 feet to where the canyon takes a wide but sharp left turn (wSlideRP-08).  As the canyon makes the left turn there is another drainage joining in from RDC.

Just after going around the left turn is the start of another slot with some fun in it.  This next narrows is corkscrew like as the drops in it twist around corners.

The first two down climbs in the corkscrew slot are both about 15 feet and relatively easy down climb / slides.  A hand line is useful for the first of these and can be rigged from a rock feature near the top.  The third drop in the corkscrew is what is labeled as rap 2.

Rap 2 (dSlideR2) is the last drop in the corkscrew section, is anchored from a pinch point at the top of the drop and drops a total of about 50 feet to a pool as you exit the corkscrew slot.  The first 10 feet of rap 2 is a bit awkward as it starts out over an over hanging boulder.  The mid section is sloped but no rope is actually needed.  The last portion of rap 2 is down a sloped slot with a slide of about 8 feet at the end down to a pool about knee deep.

Note:
Rap 2 is not a mandatory rappel but a rope is recommended rather you rap or down climb.  The first 15 feet is very awkward if you choose to down climb over the boulder and the anchor webbing will be VERY useful as a hand line to start the down climb.  After the first 15 feet the down climbing is easier with a short slide at the bottom.

After the corkscrew the canyon is easy travel and starts to widen out significantly.  About 600 feet down canyon is a large drainage joining in from RDC which is the bottom exit of Constrychnine Canyon (yConstrychBt).

The Exit:
From the confluence of Constychnine and Slideanide Canyons (yConstrychBt) there are two possible exits.  Both exits meet and join up on the rim to the west of Slideanide.

Since the bottom exit of Constrychnine Canyon and the bottom exit of Slideanide Canyon are the same place both of these exit options can be used for either canyon.  To help avoid confusion in reading the naming of my waypoints I will call one the Contrychnine Exit and the other the Slideanide Exit.  This does not mean one exit is proffered over another depending on the canyon you descended.  The naming is is simply a way to reduce confusion.

The first option will be called the Constrychnine Exit since it starts up the side of the canyon wall directly across from the exit of Constrychnine.  This option is to start up west side of the canyon directly across from Constrychnine and get up onto the rim.  This exit is 0.5 miles shorter than the second option but has one section of class 4 scrambling that may be difficult for those that do not like exposure.

The second option will be called the Slideanide Exit since it continues farther down the Slideanide Drainge before starting up out of the canyon system.  This option is 0.5 miles longer than option one.  This second option offers slightly easier scrambling but there is more of it.

OPTION 1: ----------Contrychnine Exit (can be used for Constrychnine or Slideanide.

From the exit of Constrychnine Canyon (yConstrychBt) start scrambling up the west side of the canyon wall by starting up an almost ravine like area. 

Start of Exit
Start up the slope up into a wide ravine like area west directly across from the exit of Contrychnine Canyon.

A little over 100 feet up out of the canyon the will be a view farther up into the now more gentle sloped ravine (wConstrExRP-01).  You will also be able to see from here that the head of the ravine gets very steep.  From this point do not continue up the ravine but instead scramble up onto the ridge to the right (north east) side.

About 400 along the ridge you will cross over the top of the ravine you were traveling next to (wConstrExRP-02).  When you get to the head of the ridge, cross over to the west sided to get to the bottom of a chute.  Then start scrambling and up climbing the chute.

Start of Exit
After crossing the head of the ravine start climbing up this chute.

Climbing up the chute has one spot that give the feeling of exposure.  If you are uncomfortable with exposure take your time here and move slow there.  The moves are not difficult but it is also not an easy place for others to assist with a hand line so just move slow and take your time.

When you get to the top of the chute (wConstrExRP-03) veer right and walk around the bench you are on a short distance to find a way to continue up and to the west.

About 150 feet farther you will be on a more gently sloped area where you can turn left and start to travel south up the slick rock (jSlideExitJoin).  This is where the two options for the exit join and turn into one route.

Scroll down to the section for ROUTES JOIN to continue this exit.

OPTION 2: -----------Slideanide Exit (can be used for Constrychnine or Slideanide.

From the exit of Constrychnine Canyon where it joins the Slidenide route (yConstrychBt) walk north down canyon.

About 700 feet down canyon will be a drainage joining in from the left or west (wSlideExRP-01).  Shortly after is a larger drainage joining in from the right.

Another 0.25 miles down canyon is another drainage that drops in from the left or west.  A few hundred feet before this side drainage look for the start of a faint trail traversing up along the LDC side of the canyon (wSlideExRP-02).  

From the start of this faint trail, traverse down canyon and up the side to a spot where you can climb up onto slick rock.  The spot to climb up is just before reaching the large side drainage.  If you do not find the faint trail you can route find your way up the side of the canyon with the goal in mind of climbing up next to the south side of the side drainage.

At the end of the faint trail, scramble up onto a sandstone nose (wSlideExRP-03).  The sandstone nose is just before reaching the side drainage.

Once on the slick rock, route find your way up due south about 800 feet to a short up climb of about 5 feet (wSlideExRP-014).  

Continue south up to a saddle (wSlideExRP-05).  If you continue straight over the saddle you would drop down another drainage.  Instead turn right and scramble up onto the slick rock to the west before continuing south.  

After getting up onto the slick rock above the saddle, continue south about 250 feet to a dragons back feature (wSlideExRP-06).  Walk along the dragons back and continue south.

About 150 feet father is where the two exit routes join (jSlideExitJoin) but will go almost un-noticed when using this exit.

Scroll down to the section for ROUTES JOIN to continue this exit.

ROUTES JOIN:
About 350 feet south is a cliff band and a point slightly to the right.  Around the right (west) side of the point is an easy scramble up the last part of the cliff band.  At the top of the cliff band (wSlideConRP-90) you will be greeted with lots of wide open rolling desert.

From the top out of the climb (wSlideConRP-90) walk as due south as the land will allow about 1.1 miles to get back to the road.  The natural flow of the land will steer you more east if you are not careful.  If you choose your route well you can follow various ridges to make travel pretty easy.  There will be a couple large drainages to cross on the way though.  If you are too far west the drainages are more rugged and difficult to cross.

As you travel from the top out to the road you will find many areas where foot traffic has made short social trails.  There is no one best route through this area.  It is a series of rolling hills and small drainages that you just have to figure your way across.  You could travel this route 10 times and likely take a slightly different route out every time.

About 0.7 miles from the top out of the climb up will be a major wash to cross (wSlideConRP-91).  Then another 0.2 miles and you will cross over another major wash (wSlideConRP-92).  After the second major wash is another 0.2 miles to the road (wSlideConRP-93).  

When you get back to the road turn right (west) and walk back to where you parked (pkContrychSlid).  The distance on the road will depend on where you met back with the road.  Likely anywhere from 0.3 to 0.1 miles.  You will not be able to see the road until you are only about 20 feet from it.  Don’t expect to see the road off in the distance on your way to it.

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........
Slideanide (1) - Drive in to Trailhead.
  1. extLoneCedarRd          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 38.09720   W -110.62157        Elev: 5,090 Feet
    Turn off for the road toward the Poison Springs canyons. The road is not shown on some maps but the Lone Dedar Reservoir which this road runs by is shown on most maps about 0.3 miles off the highway. Road is unnamed but will be referred to here as the Lone Cedar Road.
  2. wLoneCedrDP-01          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 38.09207   W -110.53031        Elev: 5,170 Feet
    Tee in the road on the drive into the Poison Springs Canyons. Turn left here to continue the drive in to Constrychnine Canyon.
  3. pkContrychSlid          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 38.09252   W -110.52610        Elev: 5,175 Feet
    Parking for Constrychnine and Slideanide. Lots of room here on both sides of the road.
Slideanide (2) - Approach and The Canyon
  1. pkContrychSlid          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 38.09252   W -110.52610        Elev: 5,175 Feet
    Parking for Constrychnine and Slideanide. Lots of room here on both sides of the road.
  2. wSlideRP-01          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 38.09515   W -110.52376        Elev: NaN Feet
    Approach route drops down into a drainge. THis is the drainge that would lead down to the top of Arscenic if you went down the drainge almost a half mile.
  3. wSlideRP-02          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 38.09787   W -110.52273        Elev: NaN Feet
    After traveling over a convoluted mix of rolling desert the approach route drops down to another drainge here.
  4. wSlideRP-03          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 38.09836   W -110.52336        Elev: 5,110 Feet
    Fork in the drainge. To continue toward Slideanide Canyon turn right and walk up the fork to the north.
  5. wSlideRP-04          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 38.10046   W -110.52316        Elev: NaN Feet
    Up on the hill above the top end of a drainage. This is about 800 feet from the side of Slideanide Canyon to the north.
  6. ySlideanideTp          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 38.10161   W -110.52036        Elev: 5,120 Feet
    Top entry for Slideanide Canyon. This is also where rap 1 is. Rap 1 is anchored from
  7. wSlideRP-05          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 38.10248   W -110.52136        Elev: NaN Feet
    Start of the down climb section and begins approx here with a down climb of about 25 feet that is sloped and easily stemmed down.
  8. wSlideRP-06          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 38.10375   W -110.52241        Elev: NaN Feet
    This is where the long narrow section with elevators starts. At the start here is a drop to down climb of about 20 feet with the first 7 being a little challenging.
  9. wSlideRP-07          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 38.10399   W -110.52350        Elev: NaN Feet
    This is where the canyon takes a sharp right as you drop into an unavoidable pool after the slot with the fun elevators. This is also where a side slot / ravine joins in from LDC.
  10. wSlideRP-08          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 38.10519   W -110.52327        Elev: NaN Feet
    The canyon takes a wide but sharp left turn here before entering teh corkscrew section.
  11. dSlideR2          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 38.10530   W -110.52385        Elev: NaN Feet
    Rap 2 - Slideanide Canyon. Anchored from the boulder you climb over. Drops about 50 feet total with the first 10 feet is awkward. This drop can be down climbed but the start is very difficult.,
  12. yConstrychBt          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 38.10686   W -110.52467        Elev: 4,610 Feet
    Bottom exit of Constrychnine Canyon where it joins in to the Slidenide route.
Slideanide (3) - First part of Standard Exit
  1. yConstrychBt          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 38.10686   W -110.52467        Elev: 4,610 Feet
    Bottom exit of Constrychnine Canyon where it joins in to the Slidenide route.
  2. wSlideExRP-01          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 38.10874   W -110.52528        Elev: NaN Feet
    First canyon down stream of Constrychnine that joins in from the left (west).
  3. wSlideExRP-02          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 38.11169   W -110.52709        Elev: 4,565 Feet
    Faint trail climbing up the LDC side of the canyon toward anoher side drainage.
  4. wSlideExRP-03          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 38.11216   W -110.52766        Elev: NaN Feet
    Sandstone nose to scramble up onto after a faint trail traversing up out of the wash below.
  5. wSlideExRP-04          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 38.11014   W -110.52789        Elev: NaN Feet
    Short up climb of about 5 feet.
  6. wSlideExRP-05          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 38.10947   W -110.52741        Elev: NaN Feet
    The climb up gets up to a saddle here. Continuing straight ahead would drop down another side drainage. Turn right to scramble up onto the slick rock to the west before continuing south.
  7. wSlideExRP-06          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 38.10877   W -110.52729        Elev: NaN Feet
    Dragons back feature to walk along.
  8. jSlideExitJoin          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 38.10836   W -110.52721        Elev: 4,920 Feet
    This is where the two exit route options for Constrychnine and Slideanide Canyons join into one route.
Slideanide (4) - Short cut to bypass first part of Standard Exit
  1. yConstrychBt          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 38.10686   W -110.52467        Elev: 4,610 Feet
    Bottom exit of Constrychnine Canyon where it joins in to the Slidenide route.
  2. wConstrExRP-01          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 38.10732   W -110.52538        Elev: NaN Feet
    Climb up out of the canyon levels off a little here. Do not continue up the ravine but insteade scramble up onto the ridge to the right (north east).
  3. wConstrExRP-02          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 38.10807   W -110.52620        Elev: 4,812 Feet
    Ridge crosses along the top of the the ravine.
  4. wConstrExRP-03          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 38.10815   W -110.52686        Elev: 4,925 Feet
    Top of the chute. Walk right around the bench to find a way to continue up and west.
  5. jSlideExitJoin          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 38.10836   W -110.52721        Elev: 4,920 Feet
    This is where the two exit route options for Constrychnine and Slideanide Canyons join into one route.
Slideanide (5) - Last part of Exit
  1. jSlideExitJoin          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 38.10836   W -110.52721        Elev: 4,920 Feet
    This is where the two exit route options for Constrychnine and Slideanide Canyons join into one route.
  2. wSlideConRP-90          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 38.10731   W -110.52779        Elev: 5,053 Feet
    Top out of the climb up out of the canyon. The last part of the climb up is on the west side of a point.
  3. wSlideConRP-91          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 38.09813   W -110.52376        Elev: NaN Feet
    Major wash to cross.
  4. wSlideConRP-92          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 38.09471   W -110.52232        Elev: NaN Feet
    Another major wash to cross over.
  5. wSlideConRP-93          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 38.09233   W -110.52213        Elev: 5,180 Feet
    Back on the road from the Constrychnine and Slideanide exit.
  6. pkContrychSlid          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 38.09252   W -110.52610        Elev: 5,175 Feet
    Parking for Constrychnine and Slideanide. Lots of room here on both sides of the road.

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