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Canyoneering Route Description

Fire Canyon - 2A I
Valley of Fire National Park, Nevada.

Pictures 03-01-09

Quick Facts

03-01-09, 1 people, 1 Day (Travel time in route 3.5 hours)

Distance - 4.8 miles Total, 1.7 miles Technical
Rappels - 0 total, longest rap N/A.

See the Canyoneer Trip Report Explanation Notes page for an explanation of how the technical mileage or the gear used list is determined.

Gear Used for Canyon

A 30 foot rope is recommended to assist those not comfortable with some of the scrambling and stemming.

General Comments

I found reference to this hike / canyon route on the Climb Utah site.  The route starts from Mouse’s Tank trailhead then continues past Mouse’s Tank and into the Fire Canyon Wash.  The route continues through Fire Canyon Wash to highway 169.  There are a few spots to scramble and one spot to stem down a slot to get back to the canyon floor.  The rest of the route is easy walking in semi narrow to wide open areas of Fire Canyon Wash.  The wide open areas are extremely peaceful feeling on days with good weather.

The narrow sections are sporadic and short.  The canyon doesn’t have that super narrow feel some expect on canyoneering routes.  So in some ways this would be considered more of a great hike through a scenic area with a few fun scrambles and stemming. If you like to see animal tracks in the sand this is a great canyon to check out.  The sand is riddled with various animal tracks and very few human tracks.  More and more human tracks start to appear as you get a mile or so from the highway.

Getting to the Trailhead and Exit Vehicle (Escape Pod) Parking

To get to the Trailhead

Travel on Scenic Highway 169 to the turnoff for the Valley of Fire visitor center.  Turn toward the visitor center and drive 1.25 miles to the Mouse’s Tank trailhead.  This is where you will start the route.

To leave the Exit Vehicle / Escape Pod

Travel east on Scenic Highway 169 to the turnoff for the Valley of Fire visitor center.  From this turn off, continue 2.5 miles east on hwy 169.  Here you will find a turn off to a dirt road on the left (north) side of the road.  This turn off is just before crossing the main wash for Fire Canyon and has room for 4 or 5 cars to park.  Leave the exit vehicle here.  If you intend to go back up canyon to your original start point, no exit vehicle will be needed.

Maps

Map showing entire route.

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GPS Waypoint Information

Details

The Approach:
From the Mouse’s Tank trailhead (tMouseTank) follow the hiking trail southeast toward Mouse’s Tank.  There are quite a few petro glyphs along this trail.  About 0.2 mile from the trailhead are a couple of walls with petro glyphs right next to the trail on the left (sPetroGlyf3).

At 0.3 miles (just shortly past the petro glyphs next to the trail will be an easy scramble to the left (north) to leave the trail.  This easy scramble up can also be used to access Mouse’s Tank.  This scramble (yFireCyn-MT-Tp) marks the start of what will be labeled as the technical portion of the route.  Technically there is no real technical section on the route.  Leaving maintained trails is the best way to denote the start of the technical section.

The Canyon / Technical Section:
Once at the top of this scramble (wFireCynRP-01), walk another few feet to where it starts to drop down the other side.  To the right will be a large sandstone slab.  Follow the faint path near this slab as it leads down to the east.  Following this path will lead to a drop off  (wFireCynRP-02) of about 25 feet.  As you reach this drop off go left on a 2-3 foot high ledge and look on the other side for a chute.  Follow the chute down to the canyon floor in soft sand.

A little over 400 feet down canyon from the bottom of the chute will be a trail or side canyon that joins from the left (wFireCynRP-03).  Continue to the right. 

Another 100 feet or so down canyon will be another trail or side canyon joining from the right (wFireCynRP-04).  Continue to the left.  Shortly after is a short narrow section with high walls. 

Near the end of the narrow section is an arch LDC (wFireCynRP-05) that is easily missed.  It has a lot of dead bushes and vegetation blocking the view to it.

About 350 feet beyond this arch is a section with rock fall debris.  Climb over the large rocks to where the canyon turns right.  To continue down canyon you will need to drop down a flat slab bout 8 or 10 feet (wFireCynRP-06) then down one more down climb to a narrower section.  The narrow section can and does hold water depending on the time of year.  So if there have been recent rains you may need to get a little wet (only to the knees or so).  I have been able to stem across this section in when it is full of water.

Shortly after the section that can hold water you will come to a drop of about 30 feet or so (wFireCynRP-07).  To bypass the drop, travel up the slope LDC then climb down a steep but easy slope to the floor below the drop.

About 250 feet after climbing around the drop and back to the canyon floor, a canyon joins from the left (wFireCynRP-08).  Continue to the right. 

Another 200 – 300 feet down canyon another canyon joins from the left (wFireCynRP-09).  Once again continue right. 

Now the canyon opens up and heads mostly east for about 0.6 miles .  The wash is wide, flat, and sandy with only a few small obstacles to climb over.  It is very peaceful feeling in this area.  There are very few if any people tracks and lots of animal tracks.  Lizards, snakes, birds, rabbits, coyote and big horn sheep tracks can be seen here.  Along this stretch you will see wide open spaces and lots of beautiful rock formations.  Stay in the main wash as various smaller washes join the wash you are in.  You will also pass a fairly large water hole (seasonally holding water) in the middle of the wash (wFireCynRP-10).

At the end of the 0.6 mile long open section the main wash will turn left and head north (wFireCynRP-11).  After turning left the wash begins to narrow again.  About 550 feet from this turn, the sand in the wash turns white (rather than the pinkish red you have been in) and the wash turns right (wFireCynRP-12) as it heads to an even more narrow section.

About 550 feet after the white sand area is a crack / drop in the wash about 30 feet (wFireCynRP-13).  Step over the crack to the left side of the canyon and climb down the easy scramble to the canyon floor.

About 350 feet past this drop, is another drop of about 35 feet, which is comprised of a series of potholes (wFireCynRP-14).  When these potholes are pretty dry and have what appears to be wet sand in them, I still do not recommend dropping down into them.  The sand can look like it is wet and compacted enough to stand on as you cross the potholes.  Looks can be deceiving.  In these potholes is extremely soft goopy mud that only looks like nice hard wet sand.  Enter at your own risk.  If you still think your eyes are right try throwing in a small rock and watch.

To bypass these potholes climb about 400 feet up the steep sloped rock RDC.  About 150 feet up the slope you will see a crack that looks down climbable.  Do not take this one, it cliffs out.  Continue up the slope the full 400 feet or so to the top of another crack (wFireCynRP-15).  This one is down climbable.  Near the bottom of this crack you will need to stem down a very narrow part about 12 feet.  If you are a skilled down climber this will be very easy.  If not have someone go first to spot you or have someone lend a hand with the rope you brought along.

After down climbing this slot you can turn left and walk about 100 feet up the wash to see the bottom of the potholes you bypassed.  Or you can turn right and scramble up and over some rocks to the main wash again to continue your route.  Once in the main wash you are done with the technical section of the canyon.  This is marked on the map as the bottom exit of Fire Canyon (yFireCynBt).

The Exit:
About 500 feet past the bottom exit is what I have named Picnic Rock (sPicnicRock).  The rock sits right in the middle of the wash and has a flat table like surface about 4 feet from the wash floor.  It is the perfect spot to stop for a snack before the 2.7 mile walk down the wash to the lower trailhead where you parked the exit vehicle.

The rest of the canyon is pretty wide open and is mostly walking on flat sand.  There are a couple spots to rock hop over but they are short and easy.  This section has that same peaceful feeling and lots of animal tracks as the upper wide area did.  The difference is the numerous human tracks all over.  The closer you get to the lower trailhead the more human tracks you will find.

Along the way you will see an arch (sFragileArch) over head LDC that has a section so small it looks like the wind will snap it off any time.  Another set of 2 small arches (sDoubleArch) very low RDC will be just over head height. 

Just before getting to the road you will see a set of buildings (wFireCynBldngs) RDC that have been fenced off.  Just past these buildings turn right and walk up out of the wash to find a dirt road that will lead you back to the parking at the lower trailhead (tFireCanyon).

GPS Waypoint Information

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