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Canyoneering Route Description

Morocco Canyon - 3B I
North Wash, Utah.

Pictures 05-23-10

Quick Facts

05-23-09, 2 people, 1 Day (Travel time in route 2.5 hours)

Time Required - 2 to 4 hours
Distance - 2.1 miles Total, 0.3 miles Technical
Rappels - 6 Rappels, Longest Rappel 45 feet.
Elevation Range - 4140 - 4390 Feet
Shuttle Required -No Vehicle - Passenger Permit Required - No

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, Ropes and or pull cords for rappels up to 45 feet and 30 feet of 1” webbing for sling placement.

General Comments

Morocco Canyon is another fun very short adventure.  You will get a little wet on this route.  There are a few scenic surprises in this canyon so take time to enjoy where you are.  Information originally came from the Mini-Slot Guide to the Colorado Plateau.

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

To get to the Trailhead

From the Hog Springs Rest Area, drive North on Utah highway 95 1.0 miles and park alongside the east side of the road (pkCasablanca).  There is a very large area for parking here.  There will be a wide canyon heading east away from the road which is called Casa Blanca.

To leave the Exit Vehicle / Escape Pod

No exit vehicle is needed.  This is done as a loop route.

Maps

Map showing entire route.

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

GPS Waypoint Information

Details

The Approach:
From the parking area for Casa Blanca Canyon (pkCasablanca) look south across a drainage and over to the sand stone mountain side.  Look for a prominent flat rock face with dark desert varnish on it.  The route around the mountain will traverse over the top of that prominent rock face.

The line drawn shows the route up the first climb. 

Walk from the parking spot to the road and walk south to get to the other side of drainage.  Once on the other side of the drainage walk about 275 feet to the base of the sand stone mountain near a bowl shaped indent (wMoroccoRP-01).  Start the climb up the slope in this bowl shaped indentation.   

The climb up the side of the mountain does not involve any climbing.  If you need climbing skills then you are not following the best route up.  You will however have a few spots where some light scrambling will be needed.  

A little over 100 feet from the start of the climb up the slope becomes a little less steep.  Continue up the slope and continue traversing right (south).  You will be able to see the prominent flat rock face with the dark desert varnish on it.  You should notice 2 ledges running toward you from the top of the rock face.  Your goal is to get up onto then follow the top of these two ledges then walk them over to the top of the prominent rock face.  

Continue traversing as you climb and head for the left (north) end of the top of the two ledges leading over to the top of the rock face.  To get onto the top of the ledge (wMoroccoRP-02) you will need to scramble a little so hands are needed here.  This is about 450 feet from where you started up the slope from the desert floor.  

Traverse about 350 feet along the ledge and follow it over to the top of the prominent rock face (wMoroccoRP-03) you have been aiming for.  

From the top of the rock face the route is mostly level.  Follow north then east as the route curves around and starts to travel up along the rim of Morocco Canyon.  There are sections that are difficult to follow but they are very short.  Most of the route has a very easy to follow path.  

A few hundred feet up, the path will be a field of rock fall debris where the route is hard to follow.  It is short and your goal is to travel through and stay pretty level.  Do not try to climb or descend.  Just after the rock fall debris the route dumps out onto smooth slick rock with some good views down into the canyon.   

Part way along this slick rock will be a ledge about 20 feet down and closer to the rim (wMoroccoRP-04).  There is a gentle slope down to the lower ledge that looks inviting.  Do not drop down but stay on the higher ledge and continue east along the rim on the higher ledge.  

Another 400 feet will put you at the head of the canyon.  This is at the top of a deep and kind of narrow slot (yMoroccoTp).  Up canyon from here is very wide open.

The Canyon / Technical Section:
At the head of the canyon (yMoroccoTp) at the start of the deep kind of narrow slot is also rap 1.  

Rap 1 (yMoroccoTp) is anchored from a cairn anchor and drops about 40 feet into the deep narrow slot.  The bottom of rap 1 is sand filled so water might dig it out a bit deeper so plan on about 45 feet.  

About 50 feet after rap 1 is a tight squeeze for about 15 feet then a drop of about 25 feet.  The drop sometimes has webbing rigged for a rappel but is actually an easy sloped down climb.  At the bottom of the drop is a pothole that may be about chest deep in water if it were full.  There is standing room at the top of the pothole for a couple of people.  It is not too difficult to traverse across the pothole RDC.  Place a foot out about half way across on the right side then push off the left wall with your hands to step slash hop to the other side.  Once the first person is across they can help the rest over by pulling their arms as they hop over.  

On the other side of the pothole is a rock feature that should capture your attention but is left out of this description so you can have the surprise of finding it.  No worries, you cannot miss it.  

Just around the corner after the pothole is a narrow slot with a large choke stone jammed in it.  On the other side of the choke stone is a drop that looks larger than it is and drops down to a wide open section of canyon.  This drop is rap 2.  

Rap 2 (dMoroccoR2) is anchored from a large choke stone large choke stone overhead in a tight slot and drops down a sloped slot then opens to a vertical wall which then gives way to some overhanging free rap.  The total drop is about 35 feet.  There is a large hole / alcove in the wall along the rap.  35 feet of rope will drop you onto a ledge that is about 15 feet up from the canyon floor with an easy walk off RDC.  

Just down canyon of rap 2 LDC is a view of the huge alcove you could see from the rim as you hiked to the head of the canyon.  A few hundred feet down canyon of rap 2 the wide open canyon drops into a narrow section that is not very deep but soon get a little deeper after a few more hundred feet.  In that deeper section is a drop of about 20 feet which I am calling rap 3.  

Rap 3 (dMoroccoR3) is anchored from a choke stone embedded in the wash and drops about 20 feet.  It is possible to down climb rap 3 but it looks difficult from the top so I am labeling it a rappel.  The start of rap 3 goes over a boulder and has an overhang under the boulder making the rap a bit awkward.  

About 40 feet after rap 3 the canyon opens up kind of wide again.  Another 200 feet down canyon are a couple of pools one right after the other at the bottom of down climbs (wMoroccoRP-05).  Each pool can be stemmed over if you like.  It is also possible to bypass the pools by climbing up high RDC.  

Rap 4 (dMoroccoR4-5) is about 100 feet after the pools.  Rap 4 is anchored from a cairn anchor and drops about 20 feet to a pool that can be anywhere from ankle deep to belly high depending on water levels. Rap 5 is about 50 feet down canyon of rap 4.  Rap 5 is anchored from a choke stone RDC wedged between a larger rock and the canyon wall.  Rap 5 can be down climbed by some but is better left as a rap and drops about 15 feet with some overhang under a boulder.  

Just below rap 5 is a down climb of about 15 feet.  The down climb has an awkward start as it goes out over a large choke stone.  Once over the choke stone it is an awkward drop.  A good solution here would be to meat anchor everyone down then have the last person down climb while being spotted.  Jumping here would be a bad idea as there are multiple stones to roll an ankle on.  

Shortly after the down climb is a pool that is unavoidable.  Depending on water levels it can be anywhere from waist to chest deep or maybe a swimmer.  If it were a swimmer it would only be about 20 feet across.  The water is very cold but short lived.  A slow slide about 8 feet down the slick rock will place you gently in the water where you can walk across.  

After the pool the canyon widens out again offering good sun light to warm up in after the pool.  A little over 200 feet down canyon of the pool is a ravine the joins in from LDC near the top of a narrow slot.  Just around the corner a short distance down the narrow slot is the top of rap 6.  

Rap 6 (dMoroccoR6) is anchored from a few choke stones placed in the water course near the top of the rap.  Rap 6 drops about 30 feet and is the last rap.  

After rap 6, walk about 350 feet to the road (yMoroccoBt).  To get to the road you will need to traverse along the right (north) side by a wash.

The Exit:
Once at the road (yMoroccoBt) walk north down the road 0.3 miles back to the cars.

Fun Comparison Below

Abby is on the last rappel of Morocco in May of 2010. This is what the rap looks like with no water flow. 

Here is Luke standing near the bottom of the final rappel in Morocco Canyon during a medium rain storm in September of 2011.  This is what the final rappel looks like when the area gets some rain. 

As a side note, Dave looked up the precip records for Hanksville Utah which is about 20 miles from here.  On the day of this picture (09-17-11) www.weather.com shows 0.09 inches of rain fall in Hanksville.  The day before shows 0.37 inches of rain in Hanksville.  Imagine what this rappel would look like with over 3 times this amount of water!  This helps put the idea of flash flood danger a little more in perspective. 

GPS Waypoint Information

Back to the Canyoneering Trip Report List page.

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