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Canyoneering Route Description

The Subway - 3B III
Zion National Park, Utah

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Pictures 05-17-08

Quick Facts

05-17-08, 4 people, 1 Day (Travel time in route 8.25 hours)

Distance - 7.8 miles Total, 1.3 miles Technical
Rappels - 4 Rappels, Longest Rappel 25 feet (down a slightly sloped wall).

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

Gear Used for Canyon

Rappelling and anchor gear, 200 foot rope (60 foot is all that is needed), 50 foot of 9/16” webbing for hand line and wet suits 3mm full recommended when days are in the 70's and 80's.

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

General Comments

The Subway's standard route is not too technically demanding.  It is possible to do the route with no rappelling by using a hand line for each of the rappels but for safety this is not recommended.

Hikers are told they can see "The Subway" by hiking in from the bottom (starting at the Left Fork of the North Creek trailhead) and going up to "The Subway".  If this is done only a small portion of the scenic area of "The Subway" can be seen.  If you want to see all of the good stuff, this route should be done from the top down.  The more scenic and commonly photographed portion of "The Subway is the section up canyon of rap 4.  Only a small portion of the good stuff is down canyon of rap 4.

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

To get to the Trailhead

From the South Gate entrance to Zion National Park, drive about 14 miles west on highway 9 to the turn off for Kolob Reservoir (Kolob Reservoir Road).  Drive another 15.6 miles to the Wildcat Canyon trailhead. Park your car and start your route.

To leave the Exit Vehicle / Escape Pod

From the South Gate to Zion National Park, drive about 14 miles west on highway 9 to the turn off for Kolob Reservoir (Kolob Reservoir Road).  Drive about 8.2 miles to the Left Fork of North Creek trailhead.  Park the exit vehicle here then continue up to the Wild Cat Canyon trailhead to begin the route.  Leave a vehicle here as the escape pod.

Maps

Map showing entire route.

Click for High-Res version.
Right Click then select "Save Target As" to save the Hi-Res version.

Zoomed in map showing upper route in and technical portion of the route.

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Right Click then select "Save Target As" to save the Hi-Res version.

GPS Waypoint Information

Waypoint coordinates are given with the WGS84 datum and in Lat/Lon hddd° mm.mmm' format unless otherwise noted.

Details

The Approach:
From the Wildcat Canyon trailhead (tWildCatCyn) follow the trail about 1 mile to the Northgate peaks trail junction (you will pass the Hop Valley connector trail junction shortly before the Northgate junction).  Turn right (south) at the junction (jNorthGatePks) and follow the Northgate Peaks trail.   

400 or 500 feet after turning onto the Northgate Peaks trail will be a signed junction for the Subway route (jSubwayRte).  Turn left (southeast) and follow the trail leading to a wide open slope of white slick rock.   

Continue southeast down the white slick rock slope.  As the slope begins to get steeper notice the tree line below.  Continue southeast at an angle down the slick rock slope.  There should be a few cairns along the way to mark the route to a trail that starts east through the trees (wSubWayRP-01).  This trail into the trees is about 0.2 miles from the Subway junction on a bearing of 142°.  

From here follow the trail through alternating sections of trail and slick rock.  Route points wSubWayRP-02 through wSubWayRP-05 are points where the trail starts back up after a slick rock section.  From where the trail started into the trees it follows a generally southeast direction as it winds through the landscape.  There are multiple use trails cut into this area so you may find a slightly different route upon subsequent visits.  

About 1 mile from the Subway junction the trails and cairns should lead you to a long steep drop (wSubWayRP-06) to the shelf below.  

After dropping down to the shelf below, continue southeast about 600 feet to where the trail crosses a large wash (yRussellGlchTp).  The wash is Russell Gulch.   

Continue across Russell Gulch and follow a sandy trail up to another slick rock section.  Looking straight ahead (southeast) you will see a small peak sandstone peak on the other side of the sand stone.  The peak will have a large slot running down it with lots of trees growing in it.  Follow along the slick rock toward this peak with a forested slot running down it.  The slick rock through here has a lot of cross bedding running along it.  Some of this cross bedding forms natural sidewalk like sections to walk on.  As you get closer to the peak you will be able to see a saddle to the left (east) of it with a beehive at the top.  

Walk up the slope to get to the beehive (sSeagullSlopTp).  The beehive marks the top of what I call Seagull Slope.  Looking down (southeast) Seagull Slope the cross bedding in the slick rock looks like currents in the ocean.  Going down Sea Gull Slope (when doing the standard Subway approach) it feels like you are a sea gull flying over ocean currents.  That is why I named it Sea Gull Slope.  

From the beehive (sSeagullSlopTp) walk down Seagull Slope to the south east.  At the bottom of Seagull Slope is a trail continuing through sections of sand and vegetation mixed with slick rock.  

A short distance later the trail will cross a wash (wSubWayRP-07).  After crossing the wash follow the trail along mixed sections of sad and slick rock.  (wSubWayRP-08) and (wSubWayRP-09) are points where the trail resumes after crossing sections of slick rock.

About 0.5 miles from the bottom of Seagull Slope is a chute on the right side of a the trial (wSubWayRP-10).  Down climb this chute to get to the last section of Russell Gulch just before it meets the Left Fork of North Creek.  At the bottom of the chute will be a pool that is formed at the bottom of a water fall (not always running with water) in a grotto like area (sRuslGlchGroto).

From the grotto walk about 250 feet down stream to the junction of Russell Gulch and The Left Fork of North Creek (ySubWayTp).  This is what is marked as the top of the Subway canyon route.

The Canyon / Technical Section:
From the junction of Russell Gulch and the Left Fork of North Creek (ySubWayTp) turn right (south west / down stream) to start down the Subway canyon route.

Rap 1 (dSubWayR1) is about 500 feet down canyon of the Russell Gulch junction.  Rap 1 is RDC (right down canyon) and anchored with webbing tied around a choke stone.  It is only a 12 foot rap but has a slightly awkward start down a slot between the canyon wall and a large boulder.

Shortly after rap 1 you get to see hints of what The Subway section of the canyon might look like.  The wall on the left is under cut so much it appears to be half of a tunnel.  The further down canyon you get the more water you start to see.  About 0.3 miles down canyon of rap 1 is a pool that will likely be the first swim of the day.  The canyon continues in and out of the water with a few very short down climbs.

Rap 2 (dSubWayR2) is about 0.5 miles down canyon of rap 1.  Rap 2 is anchored from a glue in anchor RDC about 7 feet up on the wall.  Rap 2 drops only about 6 feet into a narrow slot full of water.  This was my favorite raps on the route because of the swim right after it and the round choke stone overhead part way along the swim.  The water in the slot below Rap 2 is only waist deep directly below the rap but gets deeper just beyond and requires swimming in a few places.  About 30 feet into the slot is a large, perfectly round volcanic rock wedged between the walls a few feet overhead.  It is quite the contrast to the lightly colored sandstone walls of the water filled slot.  The swim length is about 150 feet. The canyon widens a little until Rap 3 is reached about 0.2 miles down canyon of rap 2.

Rap 3 (dSubWayR3) is anchored RDC from a glue in anchor about 5 feet up on the wall and drops about 10 feet to a slot filled only knee deep with water.  Below Rap 3 is the start of another narrow slot section.  Rap 3 is short but scenic.  There is a small natural arch next to the rap LDC.  The rap looks great watching from below, as someone descends in flowing water with the natural arch next to them.  There is another natural arch near the bottom of the slot about 2.5 feet in diameter that can be crawled through just for fun.

Just below rap 3 is a trough about 2 feet wide cut in the canyon floor in a narrow section.  The trough is full of water but the ledges are exposed allowing one to walk along the trough.  This trough is at the upper end of the commonly photographed section of the Subway.  The walls on both sides are cut in deeply and appear to be 2 halves of a tunnel.  The canyon makes a hard right where another water course joins.  After following the canyon right more of the subway shape is seen.  This short section of the canyon definitely deserves the name “The Subway”.  It becomes obvious why it is the subject of so many photos.

A short distance after the canyon makes the hard right, is a wide water fall.  No need to bypass this water fall.  There is an easy to find spot where the drop is only 3 and half or 4 feet and is easy to slide down.

Rap 4 (dSubWayR4) is about 1000 feet down canyon of rap 3.  Rap 4 is LDC of a water fall with a drop of about 25 feet.  After getting to the top of the water fall look down canyon LDC for a set of anchors at the top of a sloped wall down to the canyon floor.  Rap 4 is anchored from 2 bolted and hangars at the top of a sloped wall about 25 feet high.  Just above the anchors is another single anchor as well.

Below rap 4 is a little more of The Subway.  Those starting from the bottom of this route and stopping here miss some of the best portions of "The Subway".  I recommend doing this route from the top down if you want to see the good stuff.                                    

About 350 feet down canyon of rap 4 is the end of the scenic "Subway" section (sTheSubwayBt).  After the scenic "Subway" section the canyon starts to widened out and makes a good spot to break for lunch and enjoy the way and scenery.  Below "The Subway" are a lot of wide flat sections of rock with the water flowing over it.  The rock in this area is a deep rust color and is very slick.  It would be easy to slip and hurt yourself in this section.  There are also a few small waterfalls worth stopping at for some picture moments.  Just below these short scenic water falls and slick rust colored rock is what I have marked as the bottom of the canyon route (ySubWayBt). 

The Exit:
From the bottom of the canyon route (ySubWayBt) follow the Left Fork of North Creek Trail back to the trailhead to the exit vehicle.  Beyond this point, the route is a mix of trails on the canyon sides and areas where walking through the water is needed.

About 1.2 miles down canyon from the en of the "Subway" section is a large with rock RDC with dinosaur tracks on it (sDinosaurTrks).  Some of the tracks are quite deep and very clear.  The tracks are on a couple of very large white boulders RDC.

About 1.2 miles down canyon from the dinosaur tracks is the junction for the trail up the side of the right ( north west) side of the canyon to the exit vehicle parked at the Left Fork of North Creek trailhead.  The junction for the exit trail is 0.5 miles from where Pine Spring wash comes in RDC.  A sign with a foot step on it (jFootTrlSgn01) is posted about 225 feet before reaching the exit trail.  From where the exit trail meets the main canyon wash (jLftFrkNrthCk) the ascent up to the trailhead is up a steep ravine and soon turns to a steep trail along the hill side to the top to the Left Fork of North Creek trailhead.

Links to Pictures are at the top of the page.

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