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Canyoneering Route Description

Icebox Canyon - 3B III
Zion National Park, Utah

Pictures 11-04-07

Quick Facts

11-04-07, 3 people, 1 Day (Travel time in route 14.15 hours)

Distance - 13 miles Total, 2.93 miles Technical
Rappels - 9 Rappels, Longest Rappel 150 feet.  (Getting down the North Entry is 5 of the 9 raps.  1A thru 1E)

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

Rappelling and anchor gear, two 200 foot ropes, 50 foot of 9/16” webbing for hand line, 30 feet of 1” webbing for sling placement and wet suit (recommended minimum, 3 mil full in moderate temps).

General Comments

Trailhead start – Western trailhead for the La Verkin Creek Trail in the Kolob Canyon area of Zion.

Unfortunately this trip report may be a little fuzzy on some details since it was written months after we had done the route and my notes were a bit vague.  Memory tends to fade after time.  We also had multiple cameras with us that did not have the time stamps synchronized.  This makes it difficult to get a clear idea of a time line from the pictures.  Coordinates and Maps are accurate as always, it is just canyon details that are a bit fuzzy.  The pictures in the gallery should help you get a feel for the canyon as well.

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

To get to the Trailhead

From I15 exit the turn off for the Kolob Canyon section of Zion National Park.  Drive about 3.6 miles past the visitor center to the trailhead for La Verkin Creek.

To leave the Exit Vehicle / Escape Pod

No exit is needed for this route as it is done as a long loop.

Maps

Map showing entire route.

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Map showing mostly the technical section of Icebox Canyon and the side trips.

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GPS Waypoint Information

Details

The Approach:
From the La Verkin Creek trailhead / Lee Pass (tLaVerkinCk) follow the trail south.  At about 0.9 miles from the trailhead a stream comes in from the left (north east).  As you start to notice this creek or dry water coarse (depending on time of year) on the left find a way over to it (jIceboxCyn).  The trail will eventually cross it but you can save some walking distance by finding an appropriate path before the main trail intersects with it.

Follow this water course up stream which will soon turn east.  You will need to cross the water quite often as you follow the stream and travel on the banks will be easier in a lot of places.  A little bush whacking may be required in a couple spots but most of the route is over all clear. 

About 1.2 miles up this creek will be a 30 foot wall that appears to be a dead end to your travels (wIceboxRP-1).  After encountering this wall back up about 100 feet and look for a path up the right (south) bank.  Climb up onto the ridge above the creek that runs east (wIceboxRP-2).  Getting up onto the ridge above the creek will take a little scrambling in a couple spots.

Follow this water course up stream which will soon turn east.  You will need to cross the water quite often as you follow the stream and travel on the banks will be easier in a lot of places.  A little bush whacking may be required in a couple spots but most of the route is over all clear.  andstone and is a big contrast from the steep sandy vegetation filled ridge climbed to get here.  The contrast makes this trough entry something worth seeing.

The Canyon / Technical Section:
 From the top of the trough at the top of the ridge (yIceBoxTpNorth) follow it down as it begins to widen and flatten out as it slowly rolls off to vertical.  As the trough drainage begins to get steeper there will be a couple bolts which can be walked passed since the drainage is not steep enough to require rapping.  As the sandstone gets steeper more anchors are encountered.  There are multiple rap stations on the entry.  The first we did not use and another was bypassed on the way down since the bolt did not look secure.  Our descent used a series of 5 rappels down the North Entry to the canyon floor. 

My notes were vague so there are little solid details for the rap stations.  The series of 5 raps from the top of the trough to the canyon floor are collectively referred to as rap 1A through Rap 1E.  It appears there would be multiple possibilities for rap station combinations here.  What combination you use would depend on conditions, comfort level of the group, what beta was used for info and choices made during the decent.  The last rap for the entry into the canyon (Rap 1E) was the first rap with a vertical wall and drops about 150 feet.  The view up and down canyon while on this rap was great!

Views down the canyon while working down the series of entry raps are amazing.  Take time to look around.  Also of note is a huge ledge on the opposite side of the canyon part way down the sheer wall.  I imagined it a fun time to rappel down to the ledge and set up camp then rap down the next day to finish the canyon.

Once on the canyon floor below Rap 1E (dIceBoxR1-N) travel down canyon is easy wash walking combined with some boulder hoping and scrambling.  Depending on water levels there may be some pools to wade and swim through in this upper part of the canyon. 

Rap 2 (dIceBoxR2) is about 0.3 miles down canyon of rap 1.  Rap 2 is anchored by bolted hangers RDC along a ledge.  Rap 2 involves walking the ledge RDC then using the rope to help with balance as you traverse down to avoid a pool at the bottom.  If one were to slip or decide to just rap straight down off the anchors, the rap would drop down into a pool of water in a slot.  If you are careful and traverse along the wall the pool can be avoided except for getting wet up to about the knees.  Done this way the Rap 2 is more of a rope assisted down climb.

Shortly after rap 2 we is a very narrow section of the canyon with water at the bottom.  Down climb to the water in the slot.  On the right side about one foot under the water is a ledge.  It is possible to walk that ledge and get wet only to about the knees.  If you slip you will have a short swim to the other end of the pool.

Rap 3 (dIceBoxR3) is about 0.2 miles down canyon of rap 2.  Rap 3 drop about 8 feet into a very narrow slot filled with water about 100 feet long.  This water filled slot is just wide enough for a person.  Wearing a pack while in the pool may be cumbersome, especially if you try to turn around.  This pool is a long swim between tight narrow walls.  In the middle of the swim was a log jammed in between the walls.  After climbing over it the swim continued for about 50 feet.

 About 600 feet down canyon of rap 3 is a huge rock fall (wIceboxRP-3) to climb over.  After the rock fall area the canyon begins to widen a bit and has more vegetation.  About 0.4 miles down canyon of the rock fall are a couple of water falls with wide smooth rock water courses at the top of each.  They are carved out so nicely, it appears they do not belong there at all (almost man made looking).  These two water falls cascade from one to the other and would be incredible looking if there were more water than just a trickle. 

Rap 4 (dIceBoxR4) is about 0.4 miles down canyon of the rock fall and is LDC of the water falls.  RAP 4 is anchored from a tree dropps into an area densely packed with tree limbs, leaves and brush.

At the bottom of rap 4 is a steep slope leading to the canyon floor below the water falls.

Rap 5 is anchored from a tree and drops only about 10 feet down a sandy chute LDC.

After rap 5 the canyon is easy travel passing the view area for Kolob Arch (sVwKolbArch).  After Kolob Arch there is a defined trail following the water course leading to the junction with the La Verkin trail (yIceBoxBt).

The Exit:
From the junction to the La Verkin Creek trail (yIceBoxBt) turn right (south west) and follow the La Verkin Creek trail south west.  About 1.8 miles from the junction the trail gets very close to La Verkin Creek and is a scenic spot to take a break by the water (sLaVrknCk1), if you have enough time to enjoy it.  About 1.1 miles from the scenic spot is Camp Site 3 (lLaVrknCmp3) and the trail turns right (north).  About 3.4 miles past camp site 3 is the La Verkin Creek trailhead / Lee Pass (tLaVerkinCk) where your journey comes to an end back where you started.

GPS Waypoint Information

Back to the Canyoneering Trip Report List page.

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