Canyoneering Route Description

Dothraki Canyon - 3A II (III)
Hildale / Short Creek, Utah
Near Zion National Park

Quick Facts

09-15-18, 4 people, 1 Day (Travel time in route 8.7 hours)

Time Required - 7 to 9 hours
Distance via Squirrel Canyon TH - 4 miles Total, 0.8 miles Technical
Distance via Maxwell Park - 3.5 miles Total, 0.8 miles Technical
Rappels - 14 Rappels, Longest Rappel 180 feet.  Some raps can be downclimbed potentially reducing rap count
Elevation Range - 5170 - 7090 Feet
Shuttle Required - No from Squirrel Canyon TH.  1.6 Miles if from Maxwell Park Vehicle - Passenger Permit Required - No

Gear Used for Canyon

Rappelling and anchor gear, Ropes and or pull cords for rappels up to 180 feet and 80 feet of 1 inch webbing for sling placement.

General Comments

Dothraki Canyon is a great day out with great views on the approach, scenic narrows, fun downclimbs and multiple rappels. Dothraki Canyon may be a good alternative canyon if you find the near by Water Canyon over crowded. Dothraki Canyon is not recommended during the hottest part of summer as there is little water and may be quite warm. Dothraki is very much worth the visit.

The skinniest part of the canyon is between raps 3 and 4 where some light stemming is required to get over some tight spots and avoid getting your feet wet in a few spots. Even large barrel chested people will be able to fit through the smallest part with moderate effort. There have already been a couple of guys over 230 pounds fit through fine.

The last 7 of the 14 rappels are packed into the last 450 feet of canyon and stack up pretty close to one another. A few of the raps can be downclimbed. Depending on your downclimbing skills you may have fewer than 15 rappels.

There are two ways to approach Dothraki Canyon, from the Squirrel Canyon TH or from Maxwell Park. The approach from the Squirrel Canyon Trailhead requires no shuttle, is a little longer, and has sections of steep sand and loose rock to go up. The approach from Maxwell Park requires a shuttle of about 1.6 miles, is a little shorter, and has a few short sections to climb that are guesstimated to be rated as 5.7 to 5.8.

Approach from Squirrel Canyon trailhead:
The route description here is for the approach from Squirrel Canyon TH. This approach has about 600 feet of elevation gain up semi steep sandy road and use trails to the cliff band then follows up a ravine through the cliff band gaining an additional 450 feet with a few sections of very steep sand and loose rock. Take your time while navigating this section. Once at the top of the ravine you will be on a ridge known locally as the Dragon's Back which you then scramble and walk all the way up to the head of the canyon with great views over the area. The route up the ravine to the Dragon's Back has a couple of portions that are difficult to describe in words. Be ready to do a little route finding in a couple short sections, but overall the route is pretty intuitive.

Approach from Maxwell Park:
I have not done the Maxwell Park approach yet so I can not offer first hand knowledge about the climbing sections. The route was pointed out to me from Maxwell Park and I was told there are 2 or 3 sections of about 15 feet each that require climbing.

Both approach routes join on the ridge (known as the Dragon's Back) then follow the ridge to the head of the canyon. The Dragon's Back has no trails and involves sections of steep but easy scrambling and offer awesome views over the Hildale / Short Creek area. Looking up along the Dragon's Back is pretty special as well.

The head of the left fork of Dothraki Canyon is passed while on approach to the right fork. I have not done that fork but was told it has 3 rappels and is not as good as the right fork described here.

Thanks to Worth Bistline and Charlie Barlow for sharing this fun route. Taylor Bistline had been looking at this slot for years and got Charlie and Worth interested in it. The first couple times Worth and Charlie decided to go check the place out Taylor was busy and the trip postponed. Taylor was unable to join Worth and Charlie on the first decent on 07-14-18. In the interest of making this a quick fun day out for those who what to go through Dothraki most of the drops are bolted as natural anchor options at some of these drops can be tricky.

Worth had this to say for the reason behind the name Dothraki Canyon:
"... many of the locals call the approach, “dragon back ridge.” The creek in the canyon I’ve heard called “Horse Creek,” but I haven’t found records of either. We got creative and combined dragons and horses. Lol. Or, Game of Thrones people, the Dothraki, who are expert horseman and resemble the native Americans in many respects. Hence, Dothraki Canyon."

Driving Directions

To get to the Trailhead

From the junction of highways 9 and 59 in Hurricane Utah, drive about 21.8 miles to the turn of for Utah Avenue in the city of Hildale Utah (extUtahAve).   

Hildale is on the border of Utah and Arizona.  On the Utah side of the border the city is Hildale and the highway number is 59.  On the Arizona side of the border the city is Colorado City and the highway number is 389.  

Turn left (east) onto Utah Avenue.  Follow Utah Avenue 2.1 miles to where the street sweeps left (north) and becomes Canyon Street (extCanyonSt).   

Continue north on Canyon Street 0.8 miles to Water Canyon Road (ExtWaterCynRd).   

Turn right on Water Canyon Road which is dirt.  Follow Water Canyon Road 0.8 miles to a fork in the road (wWaterCynDP-01) and stay right at the fork.  Another 0.2 miles will be another fork (wWaterCynDP-02) turn right and park at the Squirrel Canyon TH.

If doing the Maxwell Canyon approach leave the exit vehicle here at Squirrel Canyon trailhead then......
Drive 1.6 miles south back down the Water Canyon road back to Canyon Street. 
Turn right (west) onto Canyon Street and follow it west about 0.5 miles to Maxwell Canyon.

The scramble route on the cliffs above is best viewed from the main parking area in Maxwell Canyon but the approach hike begins at the far end of the park in a large open dirt lot.

To leave the Exit Vehicle / Escape Pod

Park the exit vehicle at the Squirrel Canyon trailhead regardless of the approach used.

Maps

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 drive into the route.
Map of the entire route.
Map of first part of approach from Squirrel Canyon TH.
Map of the technical section.

Details

The Approach - From Maxwell Park:
I have not done the Maxwell Park approach yet so I can not offer first hand knowledge about the climbing sections. The route was pointed out to me from Maxwell Park and I was told there are 2 or 3 sections of about 15 feet each that require climbing. 

The scrambling / climb portion of the Maxwell approach is best seen from the parking area in the main part of the park. The line drawn shows the route. However the tall dirt hills up from the main parking lot do not lead up to the cliffs but are a false peak between the parking lot and cliffs. The best way to approach from Maxwell Park is to drive farther into the park to a large open dirt parking lot. From there hike north up around a dirt ridge and into a wash on the other side. That wash is then followed up which leads up to the high point of dirt slopes at the cliff base, which is where the scrambling begins. I have not done this route but have been given the details provided by those who have done it.

View from main parking area in Maxwell Canyon.  Scramble route best viewed here but route begins from farther into the park at large open dirt lot.

View from large dirt lot where the approach begins.

I have not done this route so there are no other details to offer at this time. 

Approach - From Squirrel Canyon trailhead:
From the Squirrel Canyon trailhead (pkSquirrelTH) walk south down the road about 200 feet to where a sandy use trail / ATV trail leaves the road (Dothraki01) and travels west up a sandy hill.  About 400 feet up the slope the trail joins a wider sandy road. Continue west up the slope following the sandy road up the hill for about 0.3 miles to a gentle left bend in the road.

View from main parking area in Maxwell Canyon.  Scramble route best viewed here but route begins from farther into the park at large open dirt lot.

From the gently swept left turn in the steep sandy road and a brief level spot (Dothraki02), continue west up the steep sandy road.

About 500 feet farther is a wide turn out in the road (Dothraki03). Continue up the sandy road from here as it slowly gets more narrow.

About 1000 feet farther the sandy road becomes too narrow for ATVs and is more of a use trail (Dothraki04). Continue west up the sandy ridge to the base of the cliffs.

Note:
On the exit this is where a small use trail meets up with this main trail on the ridge. To exit turn left and follow east down the sand ridge back to the Squirrel Canyon TH.

About 300 feet farther the sandy ridge meets the cliff band (Dothraki05). Turn left and go southeast along intermittent use trail and light scrambling roughly following the base of the cliff.

About 300 feet farther along the cliff band is the route crosses over a minor drainage (Dothraki06). Continue following use trail and light scrambling southeast along the cliff base for about 200 feet to the far side of a major ravine running southwest up the cliffs.

About 200 feet farther you will be on the far south side of a ravine running southwest up the cliffs (Dothraki07). As you look southwest up the ravine notice that there is a major / large ravine on the right and a smaller ravine on the left running parallel to the large ravine. Start up the far left (southeast) side of the minor ravine roughly following the left wall for about 250 feet to the base of what looks like a large monolith rock in the ravine. Starting up into this ravine is steep but well featured and easy to travel scrambling.

Note: As you go up the ravine to the base of the monolith stay left following up along the base of the left wall until you are cliffed out at the base of the monolith. You want to go all the way up to the base of the monolith and not try to cut out early. There are a few spots where you can go to the right but they will lead to difficult terrain.

Note: A couple sections of this portion of the ravine are very steep and loose sand and you will need to use hands and feet to get up these.

View from main parking area in Maxwell Canyon.  Scramble route best viewed here but route begins from farther into the park at large open dirt lot.

Once at the base of what looks like a monolith blocking progress up the ravine (Dothraki08) scramble right (northwest) following chunky rock and dirt up along the base of a cliff for about 60 feet to get over to where you can go around a corner and begin to scramble up to the left (southwest) going up a rocky ridge.

Note: This 60 foot section has some very loose rock and a mix of live and dead vegetation. Pay close attention here as some of the rock may break away and not all the vegetation is strong enough to support you.

Once out near the crest of a ridge (Dothraki09), turn left (southwest) and begin scrambling up the ridge following an easy to walk and scramble route to the right (northish) of the ridge and not directly on the crest. After about 50 feet you can easily scramble up toward the crest of the ridge.

As you get close to the crest of the ridge (Dothraki10) you will see an easy scramble up of about 15 feet gentle angle and well featured. You can go farther south and go up but it leads to more difficult scrambling.

View from main parking area in Maxwell Canyon.  Scramble route best viewed here but route begins from farther into the park at large open dirt lot.

After getting up this scramble follow up steep but much easier terrain with one more minor scramble up for about 300 feet to the crest of the Dragon's Back.

Once on the crest of the Dragon's Back (Dothraki11), walk and scramble about 140 feet over and down to a saddle.

The large saddle (Dothraki12) continue northwest up the ridge by scrambling up the slick rock directly up from the crest of the saddle. The scramble up looks intimidating and difficult but is straight forward and pretty easy.

Note: The approach up from Maxwell Canyon gets to the ridge here where both approach routes join.

About 500 feet along the ridge is a minor high point (Dothraki13) along the Dragon's Back. From here you have a great view looking up along the Dragon's Back you will be traveling. It looks like it will be a lot of scrambling work but travels a lot easier than it looks. Continue northwest along the crest of the ridge with a mix of scrambling and walking.

About 0.5 miles along the Dragon's Back is short semi level section (Dothraki14). Kind of an arbitrary point as you will just be following the ridge.

About 1000 feet farther along the ridge is a saddle slightly left of the crest of the ridge (Dothraki15) where travel is easier with less scrambling. Travel from here slowly gets wider and is more walking and no scrambling.

About 1200 feet farther is a semi level open area (jDothrLF) where you can walk southeast down into the top of the left fork of Dothraki Canyon.

Note:
I have not done the left fork of Dothraki but have been told it is not as good as the main / right fork.  There are 3 raps in the left fork where the last one drops down from a ledge into the main canyon.

 To continue to the main canyon / right fork continue northwest up the gently sloped dirt and rock about 300 feet then veer right and walk northeast another 300 feet over to the head of Dothraki Canyon.

The Canyoneering / Technical Section:
From the head of Dothraki Canyon (yDothrakiTp) walk down canyon walking along sloped slickrock on the LDC (northeast) side for about 250 feet to a tree for rap 1.

Rap 1 (dDothrakiR01) anchored from a tree and drops about 95 feet down the LDC wall to the canyon floor. Top of the rap is sloped then gives way to a vertical wall with some free hang on the way down.

After rap 1 are several downclimbs as the canyon drops rapidly between narrow walls sometimes about shoulder width apart. One of these downclimbs can be tricky over the sloped, sand covered slick rock where partner assist or hand line may be a good idea.

Rap 2 (dDothrakiR02) is on a ledge on the LDC side anchored from 2 bolted hangers about head high and drops about 150 feet down the vertical LDC wall. Optionally boulders at your feet can be used as the anchor. As you lean out on rope at the top of the rap you have great views down the long narrow canyon. After rap 2 walk down canyon about 200 feet between shoulder width walls to rap 3.

Rap 3 (dDothrakiR03) is anchored from 2 bolted hangers on the RDC wall and drops about 30 feet through a narrow crack. You will need to lean out over the narrow crack to reach the anchor. Alternately a knot chalk anchor can be used and the rappel done in the down canyon direction on the LDC side.

After rap 3 is a downclimb of about 8 feet followed by the skinny section of the canyon. The skinny section requires some light stemming to get over a few spots and avoid getting your feet wet in a couple spots. The skinniest spot is still wide enough for even the large guys to fit and is only a few feet long.

Rap 4 (dDothrakiR04) is anchored from bolted hangers on the RDC side and drops about 55 feet down through narrow crack.

Down canyon of rap 4 is some flat walking narrows and another skinny section but not as skinny as the section up canyon. There is one short drop between narrow walls where you can stem down canyon over a choke stone between narrow walls to avoid possibly deep water below. Then the canyon becomes wider and offers a long section of flat easy walking with trees and tall walls.

About 1000 feet down canyon of rap 4 is where the left fork drops into the main / right fork from a ledge about 60 feet up on the RDC side (jDothrakiConf) and is easily overlooked while traveling down the main canyon. If you keep an eye up on the ledge you may be able to see webbing tied to a tree that was used to rap down from the left fork.

About 500 feet farther is a short narrow section (Dothraki16) about 150 feet long just before rap 5. Just before reaching rap 5 is a drop of about 15 feet which is bypassed going around on the LDC side to a more gentle slope.

Rap 5 (dDothrakiR05) is anchored from 2 bolted hangers on the LDC side and drops about 70 feet down vertical wall. A safety tether is a good idea here as the rap station is exposed.

After rap 5 is more flat walking with a couple minor scrambles before reaching rap 6.

Rap 6 (dDothrakiR06) is anchored from 2 bolted hangers where the canyon makes a short jog to the left and drops about 20 feet down vertical wall. At the bottom of the rap can be water and will usually avoidable but may get your feet wet if there is a lot of water.

Down canyon is a couple short easy downclimbs in narrow canyon to the next rap about 100 feet down canyon.

Rap 7 (dDothrakiR07)  is anchored LDC from 2 bolted hangers and drops about 60 feet down to a narrow section.

Just after rap 7 is a couple stem style downclimbs of about 12 foot each that are well featured but may be a little wide for some people who may want a meat anchor.  Rap 8 is about 300 feet down canyon.

Rap 8 (dDothrakiR08) is anchored from a tree head high where the canyon makes a short right jog and drops about 40 feet. Shortly down canyon is the next rap.

Rap 9 (dDothrakiR09) is anchored LDC from bolted hangers and drops about 35 feet down sloped rock. Rap 9 could be downclimbed but would be a little spicy at the top. Shortly down canyon is the next rap.

Rap 10 (dDothrakiR10) is anchored LDC from bolted hangers and drops about 12 feet. Rap 10 can be downclimbed as a wide stem with slick walls near the bottom. Shortly down canyon is the next rap.

Rap 11 (dDothrakiR11) is anchored LDC from 2 bolted hangers and drops about 25 feet. Shortly down canyon is the next rap.

Rap 12 (dDothrakiR12) is anchored LDC from bushes and drops about 25 feet and can be downclimbed but could be spicy about midway down as you transition out of a chute / crack. The anchor for rap 12 may be hard to find as it is from a bush at the top of some rocks and you need to look up there for it. Shortly down canyon is the next rap.

Rap 13 (dDothrakiR13) is anchored from a log at the top and drops about 15 feet. Rap 13 can be downclimbed as a stem style downclimb but slick walls may make it difficult. Optionally you can bypass rap 13 by going up and over on the LDC side and scrambling down a sloped ledge. The log anchor is dependent on some large rocks that felt a little loose so it may disappear one day. Be prepared to find another anchor or just downclimb. Shortly down canyon is the next rap.

Rap 14 (dDothrakiR14) is anchored LDC from 2 bolted hangers and drops about 180 feet over rock ledges, boulders and some bushes to fight over. There is a second anchor slung from a rock if you want to break this rappel into two.

After getting to the bottom of the last rap (Dothraki17) look down canyon and note a use trail in the sand high on the bank on the RDC side. To exit you will continue down canyon to where you can claw your way up steep sand slope to get to that use trail then follow that use trail over to the sand ridge with a trail / road running down to the Squirrel Canyon TH. This is the same sand ridge used if you approached the canyon from the Squirrel Canyon TH.

A rubble filled slope to scramble down about 200 feet down canyon of the final rap is marked as the end of the technical canyon (yDothrakiBt).

View from main parking area in Maxwell Canyon.  Scramble route best viewed here but route begins from farther into the park at large open dirt lot.

The Exit:
From the end of the canyon (yDothrakiBt ) walk down canyon with a couple short drops for about 250 feet to where you can claw your way up the sand slope on the RDC side.

Leave the drainage (Dothraki18) and claw your way up the steep sand bank on the RDC side up to the use trail above.

Abut 400 feet farther the use trail crosses over a minor drainage. Follow the use trail southeast about 200 feet over to the large sand ridge with a larger use trail.

Once on the larger use trail (Dothraki04) turn left and follow east down the sand ridge back to the Squirrel Canyon TH. 

GPS Waypoint Information

Click to show / expand the list of waypoints below........

Dothraki (1) - Drive in to Trailhead

extUtahAve          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.00351   W -113.00152        Elev: NaN Feet Hwy 59 and Utah Ave. extCanyonSt          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.00361   W -112.96330        Elev: NaN Feet Canyon St and Utah Ave ExtWaterCynRd          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.01456   W -112.96230        Elev: NaN Feet Turn off for Water Canyon road. wWaterCynDP-01          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.02268   W -112.95406        Elev: NaN Feet Fork in the dirt road stay right on the drive in to Water Canyon. Dothraki01          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.02575   W -112.95369        Elev: 5,160 Feet Sandy use trail / ATV trail leaves the road and travels west up a sandy hill. About 400 feet up the slope the trail joins a wider sandy road. Continue west up the slope following the sandy road up the hill for about 0.3 miles to a gentle left bend in the road. wWaterCynDP-02          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.02609   W -112.95330        Elev: NaN Feet Fork in the dirt road stay left on the drive in to Water Canyon or if doing Dothraki Canyon turn right and park at the Squirrel Canyon TH. pkSquirrelTH          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.02629   W -112.95283        Elev: 5,170 Feet

Dothraki (2) - Approach from Squirrel to where approach routes join

pkSquirrelTH          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.02629   W -112.95283        Elev: 5,170 Feet wWaterCynDP-02          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.02609   W -112.95330        Elev: NaN Feet Fork in the dirt road stay left on the drive in to Water Canyon or if doing Dothraki Canyon turn right and park at the Squirrel Canyon TH. Dothraki01          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.02575   W -112.95369        Elev: 5,160 Feet Sandy use trail / ATV trail leaves the road and travels west up a sandy hill. About 400 feet up the slope the trail joins a wider sandy road. Continue west up the slope following the sandy road up the hill for about 0.3 miles to a gentle left bend in the road. Dothraki02          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.02740   W -112.95827        Elev: NaN Feet Gently sweeped left turn in the steep sandy road and a brief level spot. Continue west up the steep sandy road. Dothraki03          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.02730   W -112.96002        Elev: NaN Feet Wide turn out in the road. Continue up the sandy road from here as it slowly gets more narrow. Dothraki04          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.02639   W -112.96335        Elev: NaN Feet Sandy road becomes too narrow for ATVs and is more of a use trail. Continue west up the sandy ridge to the base of the cliffs. On the exit this is where a small use trail meets up with this main trail on the ridge. To exit turn left and follow east down the sand ridge back to the Squirrel Canyon TH. Dothraki05          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.02620   W -112.96440        Elev: 5,780 Feet Sandy ridge meets the cliff band. Turn left and go southeast along intermittent use trail and light scrambling roughly following the base of the cliff. Dothraki06          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.02556   W -112.96370        Elev: NaN Feet Route crosses over a minor drainage. Continue following use trail and light scrambling southeast along the cliff base for about 200 feet to the far side of a major ravine running southwest up the cliffs. Dothraki07          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.02530   W -112.96313        Elev: 5,810 Feet Far south side of a ravine running southwest up the cliffs. As you look southwest up the ravine notice that there is a major / large ravine on the right and a smaller ravine on the left running parallel to the large ravine. Start up the far left (southeast) side of the minor ravine roughly following the left wall for about 250 feet to the base of what looks like a large monolith rock in the ravine. Starting up into this ravine is steep but well featured and easy to travel scrambling. Note: As you go up the ravine to the base of the monolith stay left following up along the base of the left wall until you are cliffed out at the base of the monolith. You want to go all the way up to the base of the monolith and not try to cut out early. There are a few spots where you can go to the right but they will lead to difficult terrain. Note: A couple sections of this portion of the ravine are very steep and loose sand and you will need to use hands and feet to get up these. Dothraki08          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.02470   W -112.96345        Elev: NaN Feet Base of what looks like a monolith blocking progress up the ravine. From here scramble right (northwest) following chunky rock and dirt up along the base of a cliff for about 60 feet to get over to where you can go around a corner and begin to scramble up to the left (southwest) going up a rocky ridge. Note: This 60 foot section has some very loose rock and a mix of live and dead vegetation. Pay close attention here as some of the rock may break away and not all the vegetation is strong enough to support you. Dothraki09          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.02481   W -112.96356        Elev: NaN Feet Crest of a ridge. Turn left (southwest) and begin scrambling up the ridge following an easy to walk and scramble route to the right (northish) of the ridge and not directly on the crest. After about 50 feet you can easily scramble up toward the crest of the ridge. Dothraki10          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.02477   W -112.96373        Elev: NaN Feet As you get close to the crest of the ridge here you will see an easy scramble up of about 15 feet gentle angle and well featured. You can go farther south and go up but it leads to more difficult scrambling. After getting up this scramble follow up steep but much easier terrain with one more minor scramble up for about 300 feet to the crest of the Dragon's Back. Dothraki11          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.02394   W -112.96399        Elev: 6,290 Feet On the crest of the Dragon's Back. Walk and scramble about 140 feet over and down to a saddle. Dothraki12          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.02406   W -112.96445        Elev: 6,280 Feet Saddle on Dragon's Back. Continue northwest up the ridge by scrambling up the slick rock directly up from the drest of the saddle. The scramble up looks intimidating and difficult but is straight forward and pretty easy. Note: The approach up from Maxwell Canyon gets to the ridge here where both approach routes join.

Dothraki (3) - Approach Second Half

Dothraki12          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.02406   W -112.96445        Elev: 6,280 Feet Saddle on Dragon's Back. Continue northwest up the ridge by scrambling up the slick rock directly up from the drest of the saddle. The scramble up looks intimidating and difficult but is straight forward and pretty easy. Note: The approach up from Maxwell Canyon gets to the ridge here where both approach routes join. Dothraki13          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.02518   W -112.96523        Elev: 6,450 Feet Minor high point along the Dragon's Back. From here you have a great view looking up along the Dragon's Back you will be traveling. It looks like it will be a lot of scrambling work but travels a lot easier than it looks. Continue northwest along the crest of the ridge with a mix of scrambling and walking. Dothraki14          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.03076   W -112.96967        Elev: NaN Feet Short semi level section on the ridge. Kind of an arbitrary point as you will just be following the ridge. Dothraki15          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.03292   W -112.97236        Elev: NaN Feet Saddle slightly left of the crest of the ridge where travel is easier with less scrambling. Travel from here slowly gets wider and is more walking and no scrambling. jDothrLF          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.03529   W -112.97467        Elev: 7,030 Feet Semi level open area where you can walk southeast down into the top of the left fork of Dothraki Canyon. To continue to the main canyon / right fork continue northwest up the gently sloped dirt and rock about 300 feet then veer right and walk northeast another 300 feet over to the head of Dothraki Canyon. yDothrakiTp          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.03674   W -112.97429        Elev: 7,090 Feet Top of Dothraki Canyon (main draiange / right fork). Walk down canyon walking along sloped slickrock on the LDC (northeast) side for about 250 feet to a tree for rap 1.

Dothraki (4) - The Canyon

yDothrakiTp          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.03674   W -112.97429        Elev: 7,090 Feet Top of Dothraki Canyon (main draiange / right fork). Walk down canyon walking along sloped slickrock on the LDC (northeast) side for about 250 feet to a tree for rap 1. dDothrakiR01          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.03621   W -112.97362        Elev: 7,049 Feet Rap 1 - Dothraki Canyon. Anchored from a tree and drops about 95 feet down the LDC wall to the canyon floor. Top of the rap is sloped then gives way to a vertical wall with some free hang on the way down. After rap 1 are several downclimbs as the canyon drops rapidly between narrow walls sometimes about shoulder width apart. One of these downclimbs can be tricky over the sloped, sand covered slick rock where partner assist or hand line may be a good idea. dDothrakiR02          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.03533   W -112.97289        Elev: NaN Feet Rap 2 - Dothraki Canyon. On a ledge on the LDC side anchored from 2 bolted hangers about head high and drops about 150 feet down the vertical LDC wall. Optionally boulders at your feet can be used as the anchor. As you lean out on rope at the top of the rap you have great views down the long narrow canyon. After rap 2 walk down canyon about 200 feet between shoulder width walls to rap 3. dDothrakiR03          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.03484   W -112.97248        Elev: NaN Feet Rap 3 - Dothraki Canyon. Anchored from 2 bolted hangers on the RDC wall and drops about 30 feet through a narrow crack. You will need to lean out over the narrow crack to reach the anchor. Alternately a knot chalk anchor can be used and the rappel done in the down canyon direction on the LDC side. After rap 3 is a downclimb of about 8 feet followed by the skinny section of the canyon. The skinny section requires some light stemming to get over a few spots and avoid getting your feet wet in a couple spots. The skinniest spot is still wide enough for even the large guys to fit and is only a few feet long. dDothrakiR04          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.03420   W -112.97170        Elev: NaN Feet Rap 4 - Dothraki Canyon. Anchored from bolted hangers on the RDC side and drops about 55 feet down through narrow crack. Down canyon of rap 4 is some flat walking narrows and another skinny section but not as skinny as the section up canyon. There is one short drop between narrow walls where you can stem down canyon over a choke stone between narrow walls to avoid possibly deep water below. Then the canyon becomes wider and offers a long section of flat easy walking with trees and tall walls. jDothrakiConf          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.03205   W -112.96967        Elev: NaN Feet Confluence where the two forks join. The left fork drops into the main / right fork from a ledge about 60 feet up on the RDC side and is easily overlooked while traveling down the main canyon. If you keep an eye up on the ledge you may be able to see webbing tied to a tree that was used to rap down from the left fork. Dothraki16          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.03110   W -112.96854        Elev: NaN Feet A short narrow section about 150 feet long just before rap 5. Just before reaching rap 5 is a drop of about 15 feet which is bypassed going around on the LDC side to a more gentle slope. dDothrakiR05          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.03081   W -112.96814        Elev: NaN Feet Rap 5 - Dothraki Canyon. Anchored from 2 bolted hangers on the LDC side and drops about 70 feet down vertical wall. A safety tether is a good idea here as the rap station is exposed. After rap 5 is more flat walking with a couple minor scrambles before reaching rap 6. dDothrakiR06          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.03041   W -112.96780        Elev: NaN Feet Rap 6 - Dothraki Canyon. Anchored from 2 bolted hangers where the canyon makes a short jog to the left and drops about 20 feet down vertical wall. At the bottom of the rap can be water and will usually avoidable but may get your feet wet if there is a lot of water. Down canyon is a couple short easy downclimbs in narrow canyon to the next rap about 100 feet down canyon. dDothrakiR07          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.03013   W -112.96749        Elev: NaN Feet Rap 7 - Dothraki Canyon. Anchored LDC from 2 bolted hangers and drops about 60 feet down to a narrow section. Just after rap 7 is a couple stem style downclimbs of about 12 foot each that are well featured but may be a little wide for some people who may want a meat anchor. dDothrakiR08          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.02946   W -112.96675        Elev: NaN Feet Rap 8 - Dothraki Canyon. Anchored from a tree head high where the canyon makes a short right jog and drops about 40 feet. Shortly down canyon is the next rap. dDothrakiR09          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.02931   W -112.96657        Elev: NaN Feet Rap 9 - Dothraki Canyon. Anchored LDC from bolted hangers and drops about 35 feet down sloped rock. Rap 9 could be downclimbed but would be a little spicy at the top. Shortly down canyon is the next rap. dDothrakiR10          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.02916   W -112.96642        Elev: NaN Feet Rap 10 - Dothraki Canyon. Anchored LDC from bolted hangers and drops about 12 feet. Rap 10 can be downclimbed as a wide stem with slick walls near the bottom. Shortly down canyon is the next rap. dDothrakiR11          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.02900   W -112.96624        Elev: NaN Feet Rap 11 - Dothraki Canyon. Anchored LDC from 2 bolted hangers and drops about 25 feet. Shortly down canyon is the next rap. dDothrakiR12          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.02889   W -112.96603        Elev: NaN Feet Rap 12 - Dothraki Canyon. Anchored LDC from bushes and drops about 25 feet and can be downclimbed but could be spicy about midway down as you transition out of a chute / crack. The anchor for rap 12 may be hard to find as it is from a bush at the top of some rocks and you need to look up there for it. Shortly down canyon is the next rap. dDothrakiR13          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.02878   W -112.96584        Elev: NaN Feet Rap 13 - Dothraki Canyon. Anchored from a log at the top and drops about 15 feet. Rap 13 can be downclimbed as a stem style downclimb but slick walls may make it difficult. Optionally you can bypass rap 13 by going up and over on the LDC side and scrambling down a sloped ledge. The log anchor is dependent on some large rocks that felt a little loose so it may disappear one day. Be prepared to find another anchor or just downclimb. Shortly down canyon is the next rap. dDothrakiR14          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.02867   W -112.96565        Elev: NaN Feet Rap 15 - Dothraki Canyon. Anchored LDC from 2 bolted hangers and drops about 180 feet over rock ledges, boulders and some bushes to fight over. There is a second anchor slung from a rock if you want to break this rappel into two. Dothraki17          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.02856   W -112.96558        Elev: NaN Feet From the bottom of the last rap look down canyon and note a use trail in the sand high on the bank on the RDC side. To exit you will continue down canyon to where you can claw your way up steep sand slope to get to that use trail then follow that use trail over to the sand ridge with a trail / road running down to the Squirrel Canyon TH. This is the same sand ridge used if you approached the canyon from the Squirrel Canyon TH. yDothrakiBt          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.02820   W -112.96528        Elev: 5,700 Feet Bottom of Dothraki Canyon. This is just after a rubble filled slope to scramble down about 200 feet down canyon of the final rap. Walk down canyon with a couple short drops for about 250 feet to where you can claw your way up the sand slope on the RDC side.

Dothraki (5) - Exit

yDothrakiBt          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.02820   W -112.96528        Elev: 5,700 Feet Bottom of Dothraki Canyon. This is just after a rubble filled slope to scramble down about 200 feet down canyon of the final rap. Walk down canyon with a couple short drops for about 250 feet to where you can claw your way up the sand slope on the RDC side. Dothraki18          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.02782   W -112.96462        Elev: NaN Feet Leave the drainage here and claw your way up the steep sand bank on the RDC side up to the use trail above. Dothraki19          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.02664   W -112.96404        Elev: NaN Feet Sand trail crosses over a minor drainage here. Follow the use trail southeast about 200 feet over to the large sand ridge with a larger use trail. Dothraki04          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.02639   W -112.96335        Elev: NaN Feet Sandy road becomes too narrow for ATVs and is more of a use trail. Continue west up the sandy ridge to the base of the cliffs. On the exit this is where a small use trail meets up with this main trail on the ridge. To exit turn left and follow east down the sand ridge back to the Squirrel Canyon TH. Dothraki03          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.02730   W -112.96002        Elev: NaN Feet Wide turn out in the road. Continue up the sandy road from here as it slowly gets more narrow. Dothraki02          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.02740   W -112.95827        Elev: NaN Feet Gently sweeped left turn in the steep sandy road and a brief level spot. Continue west up the steep sandy road. Dothraki01          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.02575   W -112.95369        Elev: 5,160 Feet Sandy use trail / ATV trail leaves the road and travels west up a sandy hill. About 400 feet up the slope the trail joins a wider sandy road. Continue west up the slope following the sandy road up the hill for about 0.3 miles to a gentle left bend in the road. pkSquirrelTH          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.02629   W -112.95283        Elev: 5,170 Feet