Canyoneering Route Description
Behunin Canyon - 3B III
Zion National Park, Utah.
05-17-09, 5 people, 1 Day (Travel time in route 12 hours)
09-12-10, 4 people, 1 Day (Travel time in route 11.75 hours)
08-04-12, 4 people, 1 Day (Travel time in route 9.25 hours)
12-25-22, 6 people, 1 Day (travel time in route 10 hours)
Time Required - 10 to 12 hours
Distance - 6.8 miles Total, 2.2 miles Technical
Rappels - 9 Rappels, Longest Rappel 170 feet.
Elevation Range - 4280 - 6300 Feet
Shuttle Required -No Vehicle - Passenger
Permit Required - Yes
Rappelling and anchor gear, two 200 foot ropes, 200 foot pull cord
(just in case), 70 feet of 1†webbing for sling placement. Wet suits
may not be needed during warmer months or when the canyon is mostly
dry but they are definitely recommended in cooler months.
Behunin Canyon in my opinion ranks high on the must do list.
It is a fun route and from start to finish just looks amazingly
scenic! It does not get a deep, tight twisted, pothole feel
that some have come to expect from Zion canyons but is still deep
and narrow in places. One my favorite sections involves a very long walk
(about 0.3 miles) down a narrow corridor like section with a flat
sandy bottom. One of the rappels at the end does require some
extra care as it is awkward to get to and on a sloped rock surface.
The canyon can hold a fair amount of water. If there have
been recent rains filling the canyon or better yet you are lucky
enough to do it under flowing conditions you may want to consider a
wet suit, especially if doing it in one of the cooler months.
I can not place exactly why, but Behunin is one of my favorites.
To get to the Trailhead
Park your vehicle at the Zion visitor center. From there
take the shuttle to the Grotto stop to begin the route.
To leave the Exit Vehicle / Escape Pod
There is no need to leave an exit vehicle. The Zion
Shuttle will bring you right back to the visitor center.
GPS coordinate information listed at the bottom. For information about waypoint naming and map symbols, refer to the
Glossary page.
Click the links for maps of the route.
Map of the entire route.
The Approach:
After getting off the shuttle at the Grotto stop (wGrottoBusStp),
walk across the road and start down the trail to Angel’s Landing.
The trail starts out flat and easy for a while but soon starts to
climb switchbacks as it climbs to Refrigerator Canyon.
Continue on the trail through Refrigerator Canyon. Next will
be a series of 21 short but steep switch backs called Walter’s
Wiggles (sWaltrsWiglsTp). A short distance after getting to
the top of Walter’s Wiggles you will come to Scout’s Lookout which
is about 2.1 miles from the trailhead. From Scout’s Lookout
follow the signs pointing to the West Rim Trail (not Angel’s
Landing).
As you continue up the West Rim Trail you will come to a section of
slick rock where it would be easy to lose the trail. A few
sign posts along the slick rock with a boot print on them have been
placed to mark the way over to the continuation of the trail.
After crossing the trail-less slick rock area, the trail will begin
to descend again. About 1.2 miles after Scouts Lookout the
trail will have a bridge (cWstRmBridge) that crosses a stream.
As you continue on from the bridge the trail will slowly begin to
climb again through wide open spaces with lots of views to take in.
About 0.75 miles after crossing the bridge the trail will begin to
get steeper as it starts into an area with more vegetation (some of
which had recently burned in a fire). The trail will no longer
be in a wide open area but will have walls on both sides.
The trail will start up a series of gentle switch backs with an
overall direction of southwest. About 1 mile after crossing
the bridge is where the switch backs will top out at an area kind of
like a saddle. At this saddle the trail will turn from an
overall direction of southwest and start up northeast. This is
where you will leave the trail (yBehuninTp). You will not be
going up the trail to the northeast. Look over the saddle to
the southwest to see into Behunin Canyon.
The Canyon / Technical Section:
From the saddle where you leave the main trail (yBehuninTp), follow
a use trail down the slope and to the right (west or northwest).
This use trail will work down the slope toward the canyon floor at
the top of Behunin Canyon.
The tall vertical wall at the head of the canyon is impressive as
you get closer to its base. Once on the canyon floor follow
down canyon along intermittent paths. In this upper part of
the canyon it is usually easier to travel up on the left (south)
side of the bank and out of the main water course. When
traveling in the water course and find an obstacle like a water
filled pothole or a tricky down climb, look around. There are
lots of ways around these, usually up and over to the left.
Depending on the amount of water in the canyon there may be some
pools of water to get across. Most are not very deep.
One we crossed was about waist high and might be a short swim if
there were more water. From the looks of things the depth
might make it to about 6 feet for a short distance if full.
About 0.4 miles from leaving the West Rim Trail is a pool of water
with a drop before it (wBehuninRP-1). There is no easy way to
down climb into the pool since it has a bad overhang. Climb up
and over LDC (east) to get up to a bypass use trail that will take
you a couple hundred feet down canyon before dropping back in.
Continuing down canyon are a few more spots of heavy vegetation or
small pools to bypass and some easy down climbs. About 0.9 miles
after leaving the West Rim Trail, the canyon turns sharply to the
left (east).
A few hundred feet beyond the left turn is a big drop in the water
course where Rap 1 is (dBehuninR1-2). Rap 1 is from a set of
bolted chains RDC (right down canyon). To get to the anchors
stay high and walk along a narrow ledge RDC. It will feel like
there is nothing out there, but keep going. You will
eventually find the bolted chains about chest high as you get near
the end of the ledge. Take your time as this ledge has a few
very narrow spots. Rap 1 drops down a short vertical section
to a ledge then continues down another wall that is slightly sloped
with an overall drop of about 100 feet.
We did notice some slings on trees LDC of the drop off for rap 1.
Getting over to the trees would offer a longer rappel but the
traverse over to them is a bit exposed and might be risky as
compared to the bolted chains RDC.
Rap 2 is near the bottom of rap 2 and is anchored from a pine tree
RDC. The pine is on a sloped portion of rock. One of the
roots from the tree is growing along the top of the rock and
provides an assist for your footing on the way over to the tree.
Rap 2 drops down a sloped wall about 100 feet.
At the bottom of rap 2, the rock slopes off fairly steep. To
get to rap 3 walk down the steep slope to a pine tree at the top of
another drop. When walking down the slope remember the water
course may be slippery. We found it best to walk significantly
RDC of the water course where it is not quite as steep. As you
get closer to the bottom of the slope you can than follow a more
level ledge over to the tree.
Rap 3 (dBehuninR3-4) is anchored from the tree at the bottom of the
slope from rap 2. Rap 3 drops a total of about 160 feet down a
vertical wall with a few ledges along the way. Rap 3 drops
into a pool about ankle deep.
Rap 4 is anchored from bolted chains on the other side of the small
pool at the bottom of rap 3. Rap 4 drops about 110 feet with a
few ledges along the way. Since Rap 4 is over 100 feet a
single 200 foot rope would not reach. Rather than use two
ropes we sent everyone down single strand. Before the last
person went down we tied a length of webbing to the end of the pull
side of the rope. After the last person, pull the rope, untie
the webbing and you’re done.
At the bottom of rap 4 is the canyon floor with a nice long flat
sandy bottom. If you would like to catch a quick break with
some cooler air go up canyon a hundred feet or so to a narrow slot
like area. It is cooler there.
Down canyon from rap 4 is easy walking along a sandy bottom which
soon becomes rolling slick rock. About 700 feet down canyon
from rap 4 is a large alcove elevated above the canyon floor
(wBehuninRP-2). It is an easy scramble up to it. The
alcove has a big sandy bottom which makes a good rest spot. We
took a lunch break here although not everyone liked the idea of
sitting in the sand. This would make a soft place to sleep if
camping.
Rap 5 (dBehuninR5) is about 500 feet down canyon of the alcove.
Rap 5 is anchored from a set of bolted chains RDC. To get to
the anchors walk down a rock slope to the right of an obvious drop
in the canyon on your left. The anchors are at foot level on
the rock you are walking on. The bolts feel secure in the rock
but the hangers on them are very loose. Rap 5 drops about 75
feet to a sandy canyon floor. It starts out flat and rolls off
to a vertical wall.
At first glance it seems someone did not tighten the nuts on the
anchors enough. On closer inspection it appears the hangars
have been pulled up and down repeatedly as people have got on
rappel. This constant wiggle has eroded the sandstone away
under the hanger. The nuts were froze in place on the hangers
and not able to be tightened.
I think the placement of the anchors has caused the wear and tear.
They are positioned so that the most natural way to rig onto this
rappel is by standing close it with the anchors at foot level
causing those not being careful to pull up on the anchor rather than
along the rock surface.
We did use these anchors but provided a back up for all but the last
person down. These anchors are in bad need of replacement.
If these anchors are used, a backup should be provided and each
person should take as much care as possible to scoot down the rock
and not stand up causing an upward pull on the anchor.
Another option for rap 5 would be to rap into the head of the drop
off. Walk back up to the head of the drop off and look for a
large tree that would make a good anchor. It would require
some down climbing to get to the tree.
At the bottom of rap 5 is the start of a long narrow corridor.
The walls are close and pretty high and the bottom is soft white
sand. The cool thing about this corridor is that it is about
0.3 miles and almost completely straight the entire length!
Soft sand in a straight narrow corridor for that far feels like
walking down part of the biggest natural maze in the world.
At the end of this long corridor the canyon makes a brief jog to the
left (east).
If you continue straight instead of going left at the jog in the
canyon, you can take a short side trip up another small slot just
for fun. If you go to the end of the slot and scramble up on
the slope to the left (east) there is webbing tied to a tree that
looks like it had not been used in a while and was maybe part of a
different route down the canyon.
Ok back to the route, turn left (east) at the end of the long
corridor. About 50 feet ahead will be a log lying horizontal
next to a big drop. There is webbing tied to the log for an
anchor. That is the first option for rap 6 (rap6a).
Rap 6a (dBehuninR6) is from the log and drops down about 60 feet to a
large pool. Dropping in at rap 6a would put you
deep enough into the pool where you would need to swim.
Rap 6b is the second option for rap 6. When you
see the log for rap 6a look to the right (south) and
notice a lot of small trees and bushes along the canyon
wall. There is a use trail through this area about
50 feet or so to tree with webbing on it. That is
the anchor for Rap 6b. Rap 6b drops about 50 feet
to the same pool. In high water conditions this
pool will be a swimmer rather using rap 6a or 6b.
Under lower water conditions, the spot you drop to in
the pool is less than waist deep. The first person
will get a little wet and then be able to pull the rest
of the people over to dry ground as they get to the
bottom of the rap.
At the bottom of Rap 6 is a sandy bottomed wash leading
down canyon (south) from the pool. Looking north
across the pool is a long straight canyon leading north
that parallels the portion of Behunin you have been
descending thus far. I plan to take a side trip up
that canyon on a future trip to see what it’s like up
there. I will add a side note to this in the event
I do that.
If you like listening to canyon frogs you might enjoy
taking a few minutes to sit by the pool and keep quiet.
The frogs here can get pretty loud. It’s a nice
touch I think.
Down canyon from rap 6 is more, easy walking in nice
soft sand. There is another corridor to walk but
not nearly as long or tall as the one earlier.
About 0.2 miles down canyon of rap 6 is a small pool
with some log debris piled in it (wBehuninRP-3).
Down climb the logs to the pool and walk or wade to the
other side then continue down canyon in more sand and a
couple scrambles up on the side walls of the canyon to
avoid some debris.
Rap 7 (dBehuninR7) is about 350 feet down canyon from the down climb
to and across the small pool. Rap 7 is anchored by
a set of bolted hangers RDC. I found Rap 7 very
fun as it drops overall about 90 feet over two stages.
Below the first stage is landing with a pothole.
The pothole is small around but pretty deep. As
you rappel stay RDC to avoid the pothole. Next
walk around the pothole and start down the second stage.
The second stage is shorter than the first. The
bottom of the second stage drops into a pool that will
be a bit over waist deep depending in water conditions.
The deepest part is right where the water course will
drop into the pool. When you start down the second
stage try not to walk right down the water course.
Instead move a few feet LDC and rap down a smooth wall
to the pool below. This will put you in a
shallower section of the pool. Climb out the other side
of the pool. After getting out of the pool
the canyon takes a sharp right where you will find
another pool. This pool can be bypassed by walking
along a ledge RDC just above the pool. One section
of this ledge is very narrow and will be very difficult
to pass while wearing a pack. The best idea here
is to get one person across and pass packs.
After getting past the pool the canyon once again has a
sandy floor in another short corridor. Continue
down canyon about 450 feet to get to rap 8. You
will find a rock pile leading up along the left wall.
Up this rock pile is an alternate rap station for rap 8.
To get to the rap station for rap 8 we used turn right
and drop down onto a sandy area to continue along the
canyon floor. There will be a lot of large
boulders in the water course. Scramble over these
(we found it easiest on the left). As you get over
a huge boulder you will see a sloped section of rock
before it drops off. That is rap 8. The
anchor for rap 8 is not visible until you start to climb
down to the sloped rock beyond the huge boulder.
Rap 8 is anchored from a choke stone under the huge
boulder you just climbed over. Rap 8 is about 100
feet and drops down a series of steep ledges. At
the bottom is a big landing. The views from the
bottom of rap 8 are great with Mountain of the Sun seen
in the distance. From the bottom of rap 8 walk out
to the ledge and look down and left about 15 feet.
You should be able to see the anchors for rap 9.
To get to the anchors for rap 9, drop down into a slot LDC.
The down canyon end of the slot has a drop down to another slot.
Drop down this second slot to where the anchors for rap 9 can be
found
Rap 9 (dBehuninR8-9) has two sets of anchors. The first set is cluster of
chains with 4 bolted hangers. The second set is 2 bolted
hangers further out on the ledge. The chains were used as a
safety tie in while rigging the rope and getting on rappel on the
second set. Rap 9 drops about 170 feet down a mostly vertical
wall. Along the way is another set of anchors with webbing
attached and some hanging gardens on the wall. Take your time
on rap 9 to enjoy the view down, the hanging gardens on the wall and
the great view out of the canyon and the rest of the park in the
distance.
The Exit:
After rap 9, scramble down a few rocks to a sandy bottom
(yBehuninBt). Continue
down canyon from here to get to the Emerald Pools trail. Travel
down canyon from here is through a large boulder field where you
will have to find your own route scrambling and down climb through
the boulder field. As you get closer to the Emerald Pools
Trail you may find a few paths to the left of the drainage.
These paths are short and only bypass short sections and you may or
may not find them. From the bottom of rap 9 to the Emerald
Pools Trail, plan on finding your own way through the large boulder
debris.
Once at the
Emerald Pools trail, turn left and walk down to the junction for the Kayenta Trail
(jKayentaEmrld).
From there you can take the trail back to either the Zion Lodge or
the Grotto stop where you started. In either case, you then
take the Zion shuttle back to the visitor center where you left your
vehicle.
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........
| Behunin (1) - Approach |
- wBusStpGrotto
Lat/Lon (WGS84): N 37.25908
W -112.95121
Elev: 4,280 Feet
The Grotto shuttle stop on the Zion - Floor of the Valley road.
- tAngleLnd
Lat/Lon (WGS84): N 37.25998
W -112.95152
Elev: 4,300 Feet
Angel's Landing Trailhead.
- sWaltrsWiglsTp
Lat/Lon (WGS84): N 37.27534
W -112.95128
Elev: NaN Feet
Top of Walter's Wiggles. 21 short steep switchbacks cut into the rock for the trail.
- jWestRimS
Lat/Lon (WGS84): N 37.27492
W -112.95085
Elev: 5,330 Feet
Junction off the Angel's Landing trail for the Southern West Rim Trailhead. This is known as Scouts Lookout.
- yRefrigUpr-Tp
Lat/Lon (WGS84): N 37.28297
W -112.95367
Elev: 5,860 Feet
Top entry for Upper Refrigerator Canyon. This is the top of a steep ravine about 40 feet from the trail.
- cWstRmBridge
Lat/Lon (WGS84): N 37.28598
W -112.95582
Elev: 5,590 Feet
A bridge allowing the trail to cross a stream.
- yBehuninTp
Lat/Lon (WGS84): N 37.28253
W -112.96999
Elev: 6,300 Feet
Top entry for Behunin Canyon.
|
| Behunin (2) - The Canyon and Exit |
- yBehuninTp
Lat/Lon (WGS84): N 37.28253
W -112.96999
Elev: 6,300 Feet
Top entry for Behunin Canyon.
- wBehuninRP-1
Lat/Lon (WGS84): N 37.27785
W -112.97060
Elev: NaN Feet
Pool of water with no easy down climb to it. Climb up and over to the left (east) to bypass along intermittent paths.
- jMtMajestic
Lat/Lon (WGS84): N 37.27176
W -112.96934
Elev: 5,780 Feet
Junction (no trail) where the route to Mount Majestic starts out of Behunin Canyon. This is just after where Behunin turns sharp left (east) and just before rap 1.
- dBehuninR1-2
Lat/Lon (WGS84): N 37.27161
W -112.96785
Elev: NaN Feet
Raps 1 and 2 in Behunin Canyon.
Rap 1 is anchored from bolted chains RDC way out on a ledge and drops about 100 feet down a slight slope.
Rap 2 is near the bottom of rap 1 and anchored from a tree RDC and drops about 100 feet down a slope.
- dBehuninR3-4
Lat/Lon (WGS84): N 37.27159
W -112.96719
Elev: NaN Feet
Raps 3 and 4 in Behunin Canyon.
Rap 3 is anchored from a tree and drops about 160 feet down a slightly sloped wall to a pothole.
Rap 4 is anchored RDC by bolted chains and drops about 110 feet down a vertcal wall with sections of free hang.
- wBehuninRP-2
Lat/Lon (WGS84): N 37.26978
W -112.96636
Elev: 5,350 Feet
An elevated alcove on the west side of the canyon. It has a big soft sandy bottom which is great for a break. This might also make a good camp spot if you so desired.
- dBehuninR5
Lat/Lon (WGS84): N 37.26836
W -112.96603
Elev: NaN Feet
Rap 5 in Behunin Canyon.
Anchored from bolted chains RDC but these need replaced badly. Alternately a tree can be used.
Rap 5 drops about 75 feet to a soft sandy floor in a narrow section of the canyon.
- dBehuninR6
Lat/Lon (WGS84): N 37.26452
W -112.96459
Elev: NaN Feet
Rap 6 in Behunin Canyon has an A and a B option.
Rap 6a is from a fallen tree and drops 60 feet to a large pool that would be a swimmer.
Rap 6b is about 50 down a use trail to a slung tree a drops about 50 feet to near the edge of the pool where it is less than waist deep if low water conditions exist in the canyon.
- wBehuninRP-3
Lat/Lon (WGS84): N 37.26188
W -112.96347
Elev: NaN Feet
A short down climb along some logs into a pool about 6 feet below.
- dBehuninR7
Lat/Lon (WGS84): N 37.26113
W -112.96273
Elev: NaN Feet
Rap 7 in Behunin Canyon.
Rap 7 anchored from bolted hangers and drops overall about 90 feet down 2 stages. Stay LDC on the second stage (not in the water course) to avoid a deep section of a pool below.
- dBehuninR8-9
Lat/Lon (WGS84): N 37.26003
W -112.96214
Elev: NaN Feet
Raps 8 and 9 for Behunin Canyon.
Rap 8 is anchored from a choke stone and drops about 100 feet down a series of ledges.
R9 is anchored from bolted anchors and drops about 170 feet down a vertical wall.
- yBehuninBt
Lat/Lon (WGS84): N 37.25974
W -112.96207
Elev: 4,710 Feet
Bottom exit of Behunin Canyon.
- jKayentaEmrld
Lat/Lon (WGS84): N 37.25745
W -112.96058
Elev: 4,440 Feet
Junction of the Kayenta trail and the Emerald Pools Trails
- tAngleLnd
Lat/Lon (WGS84): N 37.25998
W -112.95152
Elev: 4,300 Feet
Angel's Landing Trailhead.
|