Canyoneering Route Description

Red Breaks Loop  - 3A III
Escalante National Monument, Utah.

Quick Facts

10-05-14, 3 people, 1 Day (Travel time in route 7.25 hours) Pictures Icon

Time Required - 6.5 to 8.5 hours
Distance - 8.5 miles Total, 2.8 miles Technical
Rappels - 1 Rappels, Longest Rappel 20 feet.
Elevation Range - 4970 - 5710 Feet
Shuttle Required - No Miles Vehicle - Passenger Permit Required - No

Gear Used for Canyon

Rappelling and anchor gear, Ropes and or pull cords for rappels up to 20 feet and 15 feet of 1 inch webbing for sling placement. 

General Comments

The Red Breaks Loop route travels up the Big West Fork of Red Breaks Canyon then down the Upper West Fork of Red Breaks Canyon.  While the Red Breaks Loop is not technically challenging it still provides a little challenge as you stem and galumph along in skinny sections of canyon.  This loop route is very beautiful and very worth the visit.  Red Breaks Loop should be put on the to do list if you like beautiful skinny slots.

Mud can make this route difficult to upclimb.  Small packs recommended since parts of the route are in skinny slot where you may have trouble hauling a large pack up behind you as you.  Large people can do this but will have to work harder in a few skinny places.

Be kind to the bush at rap 1 as it may be the only good anchor for the next party.  While some people report to have downclimbed the only rap in this canyon it is not recommended. It is a spicy downclimb and most people will need to rappel the drop. If you have never been through the Red Breaks loop, bring rope for the rappel.

Wet suits. are not needed but three are a couple spots that can hold a little water after recent rains.  The canyon will generally be dry though.

Driving Directions

To get to the Trailhead

From the city of Escalante drive about 4 miles southeast on Hwy 12 to the turn off for Hole-In-The-Rock road on the right (extHoleInRock). The condition of the dirt Hole in the Rock road varies a lot with recent rains and road maintenance.  High clearance may be needed in extreme cases but most of the time passenger cars will be fine for the first 30 or 40 miles on Hole in the Rock road.

Travel about 10.6 miles to the turn off on the left to Harris Wash (exHarrisWash). 

Turn left onto the Harris Wash road and drive east about 2.6 miles to a fork in the road (exHarisWsh221).  At the fork continue to the left (northeast).

Drive about 3.4 miles to the Harris Wash Trailhead (tHarrisWash).  There is room for multiple vehicles in this area. The road continues north for a little ways but vehicles are prohibited beyond the parking area.

To leave the Exit Vehicle / Escape Pod

No exit vehicle is needed.  This is done as a loop / out and back route.

Maps

GPS coordinate information listed at the bottom.  For information about waypoint naming and map symbols, refer to the Glossary page.

Map Link Icon
Click the links for maps of the route. Map of the drive into the route.
Map of the entire route.
Zoomed in Map 1.
Zoomed in Map 2.

Details

The Approach up into Big West Fork:
From the parking area (tHarrisWash) walk north along the road for a little over 400 feet to where the route exits out of a vegetated area and crosses Harris Wash in a wide open sandy area (RedBreaks01). 

Note:
There are many wide gentle grade washes in this area and it kind of feels like one big open wash.

Continue north about 900 feet to another (RedBreaks02) wide open sandy wash crossing over a small minor wash in a light vegetated area between the two sandy washes but it is shallow and may go un-noticed.  This wash is the Red Breaks Canyon drainage.  A dirt road that looks well used continues across the drainage and travels northeast and goes out toward the Cosmic Orange Juicer. To continue up to Read Breaks do not follow the road.  Instead veer left and continue north up the Red Breaks drainage.

About 0.6 miles up the Red Breaks Canyon drainage the wash begins to have vertical walls (RedBreaks03) as you walk up the wash.  When you get to where the walls begin to narrow up you have two options to continue the route.

Option 1
Continue up the wash a little over 500 feet farther up the wash between the narrow walls is the bottom of dry fall (RedBreaks05UP) about 30 feet tall.  The dry fall can be upclimbed on the LUC (west) side. The upclimb is of moderate difficulty and most should be able to get up it pretty easily. If you can not get up this dry fall you can turn back and use the bypass trail.

Option 2
From where the walls begin to get narrow reverse your route back down the wash about 500 feet to where a bypass trail starts up the RDC / LUC (west) side of the drainage (RedBreaks04).  Follow the bypass trail up out of the wash north along the west rim about 1000 feet to where it drops back down to the wash just above the 30 foot dry fall (RedBreaks05UP).  The start of the bypass trail is sometimes cairned and easily missed as it starts up out of wide open wash so the narrowing walls of the canyon upstream make a good landmark.

Once at the top of the dry fall (RedBreaks05UP) walk up the wash a little over 200 feet to a fork in the Red Breaks drainage (RedBreaks06). Continue north up the right fork with a mostly slickrock floor not the left fork with a mostly dirt and rubble floor.

Walk north up the right fork in wide open wash for almost 1 mile to the lower end of another slot forming (RedBreaks07).  As you continue up canyon the walls keep getting higher until you are traveling up a deep narrow slot. Travel up the slot is mostly easy walking with a few spots to scramble up 3 or 4 feet over obstacles. About 0.25 miles up the slot is a boulder to upclimb over about 12 feet high (RedBreaks08).

Going right up the boulder (RedBreaks08) would be a difficult upclimb. A better option is to start stemming up the walls about 15 feet before reaching the boulder, then stem / galumph up canyon to the top of the boulder.

About 120 feet up canyon after the boulder is a side drainage on the west side and may not be noticed while traveling up the deep narrow slot. Continue about 0.2 miles up the deep narrow slot to where it begins to widen out with two more upclimbs over boulders of about 8 feet each.  About 450 feet after passing a side drainage on the right (east) is where the slot begins to widen out but the side drainage is not seen when going up the slot as it enters from higher up the walls.

When the slot begins to widen out (RedBreaks09) just after a sweeping left turn walk about 600 feet to the apex of a sweeping right turn (RedBreaks10).  At this turn will be a large bowl like area on the LUC / RUC / Left (west) side.  From this turn, the route leaves the canyon by scrambling up the RDC / LUC side route finding your way about 150 feet up to the dirt rim.  If you find the start of the slope too steep you can go up canyon a ways then walk the slope a little higher up contouring over to the bowl then go up it.  Going to the rim will get you to a bypass trail to get above a 50 fee dry fall up canyon of here in the Big West Fork.

Optionally you can take a side trip of about 800 feet up canyon to go look at a fork and a 50 foot dry fall.  On the return route down the other fork you will see these things anyway so the side trip won't take you to anything new.

Once on the dirt rim (RedBreaks13) follow use trails about 800 feet then drop back down into the drainage just above the 50 foot dry fall. The bypass trail goes through a section with a lot of crypto, please stay on the trail and off the crypto.

Route up Big West Fork
From the top of the 50 foot dry fall (RedBreaks14) you are now in the Big West Fork of Red Breaks Canyon.  Walk north up the wide sandy drainage which will continue to get more narrow and more deep as you continue up. As the walls narrow and deepen there will be several small upclimbs of 4 or 5 feet to go up short drops and over boulders.

About 0.3 miles up canyon is an awkward upclimb over a boulder of about 12 feet (RedBreaks15).  This upclimb is awkward and partner assist may be useful. Up canyon of here are several small upclimbs of 4 to 6 feet to go up short drops or over boulders.

About 400 feet up canyon of here is another upclimb over a large boulder about 10 feet (RedBreaks16).  The upclimb is awkward and moderately difficult. Mud can make this a very difficult up climb (Ask me how I know this).

The next 0.5 miles up canyon of here the slot continues to get more narrow and deep and is VERY scenic and worth taking time to use that camera. Continuing up canyon are more short upclimbs over obstacles 4 to 6 feet each. The upper end of this slot becomes skinny where you will need to take your pack off and turn side ways to continue up canyon.

Getting up the final skinny part of this slot (RedBreaks17) will require you to take your pack off and turn sideways as you work your way up a ramp with about 30 degrees tilt. Getting up the ramp can be difficult as it is skinny and there is little freedom of movement. Overly large people may have to work harder than others to get up this short ramp up.

Up canyon of here is easy walking in a V shaped semi open feeling sandy floored area where it appears you could scramble up to the rim in a few places.

About 450 feet up canyon of here is a side drainage drops in (RedBreaks18) from the left (west). Continue up to the north about 0.3 miles to the bottom of a dry fall of about 15 to 20 feet.

When you reach the 15 to 20 foot dry fall (yRedBrksBWF-Tp) you are at the top of the Big West Fork of Red Breaks Canyon.  When not muddy you may be able to upclimb this fall if you want to go look at the wide open wash above. This dry fall makes a good landmark for where to exit the canyon.

Route between Big West and Upper West Forks walk back down canyon about 200 feet from the dry fall to where you can scramble up the slickrock on the LDC (east) side.

From where you can scramble up the east side (RedBreaks19Jct) scramble up the slickrock slope about 250 feet to get to the bottom side of a vertical rock layer along the rim. Then walk north (in the up canyon direction) to find a weakness and rock fall debris in the rock layer where you can scramble up to the rim.

Scramble up the rock fall debris / weakness (RedBreaks22) in the rim to open rolling desert. Route find your way about 0.23 miles northeast to the top of the Upper West Fork of Red Breaks Canyon. As you travel northeast skirt around the north side of a white capped mesa staying in rolling desert. The terrain is forgiving and easy travel here. As you get closer to the other fork you will easily see where you need to go.

Drop into the Upper West Fork (yRedBrksUWF-Tp) where comfortable in open wash just above a 35 foot drop.  Bypass the 35 foot drop along the slickrock on the LDC (east) side then walk about 150 feet down canyon to where the canyon begins to get narrow.

When the canyon begins to get very narrow (RedBreaks23) it stays narrow for about 150 feet and has a couple of easy downclimbs of 6 to 10 feet and a sloped slickrock slide of about 12 feet where the canyon opens up again.   The open section is about 170 feet down to the next narrow section.

The next narrow section (RedBreaks24) is about 260 feet long with a few small drops of 6 o 8 feet to downclimb over with the last 100 feet being a corridor of about 100 feet long.

At the down canyon end of the corridor is some rock fall debris (RedBreaks25).  Scramble up over the rock debris then downclimb down the other side with a moderately difficult downclimb of about 12 feet that may require partner assist.

The next 0.3 miles down canyon to rap 1 is deep narrow canyon where you will need to take your pack off and turn sideways to walk. As you go down canyon there are several drops of 3 to 5 feet and a couple choke stones to stem up over few feet and one drop of about 10 to 12 feet that is easy to stem / slide down.

Rap 1 (dRedBreaksR1) is anchored LDC from a small bush and drops about 20 feet to a pool. The pool can be from shallow to swimmer deep, depending on water levels. Optionally a pack drag can be used for the drop by downclimbing down into a small hanging pot hole on the RDC side and dragging your pack from there. If you use the bush for the anchor be kind to it as other people will need the same bush later.

Some people have reported being able to up and downclimb this drop but it is difficult and spicy, most people will need to rappel here.

About 150 feet down canyon is a side drainage (RedBreaks26Frk) that comes in from the LDC (northeast) side. Continue walking south down the now wide open drainage.

About 0.34 miles down canyon is a small side drainage (RedBreaks27) drops in from the east.

About 800 feet down canyon is the top end (RedBreaks28) of a tight slot about 150 feet long that you can just walk around on the LDC side. Drop back down to the canyon floor about 150 feet down canyon and walk the sandy floor in semi narrow walls.

As you continue down canyon below this narrow section it slowly gets more wide and open giving way to gently sloped walls.

About 0.35 miles down canyon is drop of about 20 feet (RedBreaks29) that is bypassed on the LDC side as the canyon begins to get a little narrow and drop down through the red rock layer. Continuing down canyon the walls are semi narrow for a few hundred feet before the canyon opens to wide sandy walking again.

About 750 feet down canyon is the confluence of the Upper West Fork and the Big West Fork of Red Breaks Canyon (RedBreaks12Jct).  This is a fork in a very wide sandy area. Up the left fork (Big West Fork) is a dry fall of about 50 feet that is not upclimable. The dry fall is about 200 feet up the left fork and is the dry fall you went to the top of on the approach route. To continue down canyon go about 350 feet to the top of another short slot.

From the top of the short slot (RedBreaks11) you can walk the RDC / LUC (west) side contouring along the sloped walls to bypass the slot or play through.

About 300 feet down canyon is the bowl like area where you exited the canyon and went up to the rim (RedBreaks10).  Reverse the approach route from here going about 1.6 miles down canyon to the top of the 30 foot dry fall (RedBreaks05UP) going over the short climbs and 12 foot boulder along the way.

Use the bypass trail to go around the dry fall and drop back to the wash about 1000 feet down canyon (RedBreaks04).

Reverse the wash walking approach route back to the cars (tHarrisWash).

GPS Waypoint Information

Downloadable GPX files available at BG-Gear Store (easier than manual entry and a great way to support Bluugnome).
Waypoint naming convention and map symbol information can be found on the Glossary page.  Elevations are approximate.
BEFORE manually entering coordinates set your system to WGS84 datum and Lat/Lon hddd.ddddd° coordinate format. 
Inconsistent datum's and coordinate formats will result in location errors.

Click to show / expand the list of waypoints below........
Red Breaks Loop (1) - Drive in to Trailhead
  1. extHoleInRock          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.72769   W -111.53143        Elev: NaN Feet
    Turn off to Hole-In-The-Rock road from Hwy 12.
  2. exHarrisWash          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.60644   W -111.42794        Elev: NaN Feet
    Turn off to Harris Wash Road to the east.
  3. exHarisWsh221          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.60724   W -111.38520        Elev: NaN Feet
    Fork in the road on the drive in. Harris Wash Road continues to the left (northeast). BLM road 221 branches off to the right (southeast).
  4. tHarrisWash          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.63396   W -111.34130        Elev: 4,970 Feet
    Harris Wash Trailhead. Parking for many cars in a tree covered area. The road continues over to Harris wash but vehicles are prohibited beyond this point. Walk north along the road for a little over 400 feet to where the route exits out of a vegetated area and crosses Harris Wash in a wide open sandy area.
Red Breaks Loop (2) - Route up into Big West Fork
  1. tHarrisWash          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.63396   W -111.34130        Elev: 4,970 Feet
    Harris Wash Trailhead. Parking for many cars in a tree covered area. The road continues over to Harris wash but vehicles are prohibited beyond this point. Walk north along the road for a little over 400 feet to where the route exits out of a vegetated area and crosses Harris Wash in a wide open sandy area.
  2. RedBreaks01          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.63481   W -111.34039        Elev: NaN Feet
    Route crosses over Harris Wash in a wide open sandy wash after exiting a vegetated area. Continue north about 900 feet to another wide open sandy wash crossing over a small minor wash in a light vegetated area between the two sandy washes but it is shallow and may go un-noticed. Note: There are many wide gentle grade washes in this area and it kind of feels like one big open wash.
  3. RedBreaks02          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.63705   W -111.33928        Elev: NaN Feet
    Now in the Red Breaks drainage about 900 feet after crossing Harris Wash. A dirt road that looks well used continues across the drainage and travels northeast and goes out toward the Cosmic Orange Juicer. To continue up to Read Breaks do not follow the road. Instead veer left and continue north up the Red Breaks drainage.
  4. RedBreaks03          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.64521   W -111.33794        Elev: NaN Feet
    Down canyon end of where the wash begins to have vertical walls as you walk up the wash.
  5. RedBreaks04          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.64383   W -111.33852        Elev: NaN Feet
    Bypass trail starts up out of the wash on the LUC (west) side which allows you to walk along the west rim about 1000 feet and drop back down into the drainage just above a dryfall. Follow the bypass trail up out of the wash north along the west rim about 1000 feet to where it drops back down to the wash just above the 30 foot dry fall. The start of the bypass trail is sometimes cairned and easily missed as it starts up out of wide open wash. The narrowing walls of the canyon upstream make a good landmark.
  6. RedBreaks05UP          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.64607   W -111.33909        Elev: NaN Feet
    Dry fall in the wash of about 30 feet that can be upclimbed on the LUC (west) side. The upclimb is of moderate difficulty and most should be able to get up it pretty easily. If you can not get up this dry fall you can turn back and use the bypass trail. The upper end of the bypass trail drops back into the wash at the top of the dry fall here.
  7. RedBreaks06          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.64658   W -111.33945        Elev: NaN Feet
    Fork in the Red Breaks drainage. Continue north up the right fork with a mostly slickrock floor not the left fork with a mostly dirt and rubble floor. Walk north up the right fork in wide open wash for almost 1 mile to the lower end of another slot forming.
  8. RedBreaks07          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.65850   W -111.34199        Elev: NaN Feet
    Down canyon end of a slot forming. As you continue up canyon the walls keep getting higher until you are traveling up a deep narrow slot. Travel up the slot is mostly easy walking with a few spots to scramable up 3 or 4 feet over obstacles. About 0.25 miles up the slot is a boulder to upclimb over about 12 feet high.
  9. RedBreaks08          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.66192   W -111.34238        Elev: NaN Feet
    Boulder about 12 feet high that you need to upclimb over. Going right up the boulder would be a difficult upclimb. A better option is to start stemming up the walls about 15 feet before reaching the boulder, then stem / galumph up canyon to the top of the boulder. About 120 feet up canyon after the boulder is a side drainage on the west side and may not be noticed while traveling up the deep narrow slot. Continue about 0.2 miles up the deep narrow slot to where it begins to widen out with two more upclimbs over boulders of about 8 feet each.
  10. RedBreaks09          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.66437   W -111.34096        Elev: NaN Feet
    While traveling up canyon the slot begins to loose the deep narrow feel and slowly begin to widen out here as you go around a left hand turn on the way upstream. This is about 450 up canyon of a side draiange comming in from the east. The side draiange is not seen / noticed while traveling up the deepnarrow slot as it enters from higher up the walls.
  11. RedBreaks10          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.66563   W -111.34238        Elev: NaN Feet
    Apex of a sweeping right turn as you travel up canyon. This is about 600 feet up canyon of where the slot started to widen out and lose its deep narrow feel. From this turn, the route leaves the canyon by scrambling up the RDC / LUC side route finding your way about 150 feet up to the dirt rim. If you find the start of the slope too steep you can go up canyon a ways then walk the slope a little higher up contouring over to the bowl then go up it. Going to the rim will get you to a bypass trail to get above a 50 fee dry fall up canyon of here in the Big West Fork. Optionally you can take a side trip of about 800 feet up canyon to go look at a fork and a 50 foot dry fall. On the return route down the other fork you will see these things anyway so the side trip won't take you to anything new.
  12. RedBreaks13          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.66590   W -111.34274        Elev: 5,310 Feet
    Top of the slickrock slope where you get to the bypass. Follow use trails about 800 feet then drop back down into the drainage just above the 50 foot dry fall. The bypass trail goes through a section with a lot of crypto, please stay on the trail and off the crypto.
  13. RedBreaks14          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.66743   W -111.34264        Elev: NaN Feet
    Above the dry fall. Walk north up the wide sandy drainage which will continue to get more narrow and more deep as you continue up. As the walls narrow and deepen there will be several small upclimbs of 4 or 5 feet to go up short drops and over boulders. About 0.3 miles up canyon is an awkward upclimb over a boulder of about 12 feet.
Red Breaks Loop (3) - Route up Big West Fork
  1. RedBreaks14          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.66743   W -111.34264        Elev: NaN Feet
    Above the dry fall. Walk north up the wide sandy drainage which will continue to get more narrow and more deep as you continue up. As the walls narrow and deepen there will be several small upclimbs of 4 or 5 feet to go up short drops and over boulders. About 0.3 miles up canyon is an awkward upclimb over a boulder of about 12 feet.
  2. RedBreaks15          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.67117   W -111.34393        Elev: NaN Feet
    Boulder of about 12 feet to upclimb. This upclimb is awkward and partner assist may be useful. Up canyon of here are several small upclimbs of 4 to 6 feet to go up short drops or over boulders. About 400 feet up canyon of here is another upclimb over a large boulder about 10 feet.
  3. RedBreaks16          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.67231   W -111.34413        Elev: NaN Feet
    Boulder of about 10 feet to upclimb. The upclimb is awkward and moderately difficult. Mud can make this a very difficult up climb (Ask me how I know this). The next 0.5 miles up canyon of here the slot continues to get more narrow and deep and is VERY scenic and worth taking time to use that camera. Continuing up canyon are more short upclimbs over obstacles 4 to 6 feet each. The upper end of this slot becomes skinny where you will need to take your pack off and turn side ways to continue up canyon.
  4. RedBreaks17          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.67811   W -111.34794        Elev: NaN Feet
    Upper end of a deep narrow scenic slot. Getting up the final skinny part of this slot will require you to take your pack off and turn sideways as you work your way up a ramp with about 30 degrees tilt. Getting up the ramp can be difficult as it is skinny and there is little freedome of movement. Overly large people may have to work harder than others to get up this short ramp up. Up canyon of here is easy walking in a V shaped semi open feeling sandy floored area where it appears you could scramble up to the rim in a few places.
  5. RedBreaks18          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.67925   W -111.34851        Elev: NaN Feet
    Side drainage drops in from the west. Continue up to the north about 0.3 miles to the bottom of a dry fall of about 15 to 20 feet.
  6. yRedBrksBWF-Tp          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.68279   W -111.35062        Elev: 5,630 Feet
    Top of the slot section of the Big West Fork of Red Breaks Canyon. Dry fall of about 15 to 20 feet. When not muddy you may be able to upclimb this fall if you want to go look at the wide open wash above. This dry fall makes a good landmark for where to exit the canyon. To exit the canyon and go over to the top of the Upper West Fork walk back down canyon about 200 feet to where you can scramble up the slickrock on the LDC (east) side.
  7. RedBreaks19Jct          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.68216   W -111.35039        Elev: NaN Feet
    Scramble up sloped slickrock on the LDC / RUC (east) side to exit the canyon. Scramble up the slickrock slope about 250 feet to get to the bottom side of a vertical rock layer along the rim. Then walk north (in the up canyon direction) to find a weakness and rock fall debris in the rock layer where you can scramble up to the rim.
Red Breaks Loop (4) - Route between Big West and Upper West Forks
  1. RedBreaks19Jct          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.68216   W -111.35039        Elev: NaN Feet
    Scramble up sloped slickrock on the LDC / RUC (east) side to exit the canyon. Scramble up the slickrock slope about 250 feet to get to the bottom side of a vertical rock layer along the rim. Then walk north (in the up canyon direction) to find a weakness and rock fall debris in the rock layer where you can scramble up to the rim.
  2. RedBreaks22          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.68319   W -111.34986        Elev: 5,706 Feet
    Scramble up the rock fall debris / weakness in the rim to open rolling desert. Route find your way about 0.23 miles northeast to the top of the Upper West Fork of Red Breaks Canyon. As you travel northeast skirt around the north side of a white capped mesa staying in rolling desert. The terrain is forgiving and easy travel here. As you get closer to the other fork you will easily see where you need to go.
  3. yRedBrksUWF-Tp          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.68518   W -111.34664        Elev: 5,590 Feet
    Top of the slot section of the Upper West Fork of Red Breaks Canyon. Bypass the 35 foot drop along the slickrock on the LDC (east) side then walk about 150 feet down canyon to where the canyon begins to get narrow. Up canyon of here is open wash.
Red Breaks Loop (5) - Route down Upper West Fork
  1. yRedBrksUWF-Tp          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.68518   W -111.34664        Elev: 5,590 Feet
    Top of the slot section of the Upper West Fork of Red Breaks Canyon. Bypass the 35 foot drop along the slickrock on the LDC (east) side then walk about 150 feet down canyon to where the canyon begins to get narrow. Up canyon of here is open wash.
  2. RedBreaks23          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.68480   W -111.34688        Elev: NaN Feet
    Top end of a very narrow section about 150 feet and has a couple of easy downclimbs of 6 to 10 feet and a sloped slickrock slide of about 12 feet where the canyon opens up again. The open section is about 170 feet down to the next narrow section.
  3. RedBreaks24          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.68400   W -111.34723        Elev: NaN Feet
    Top end of where the canyon begins to get narrow again. This narrow section is about 260 feet long with a few small drops of 6 o 8 feet to downclimb over with the last 100 feet being a corridor of about 100 feet long.
  4. RedBreaks25          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.68336   W -111.34686        Elev: NaN Feet
    Rock fall debris pile at the down canyon end of a 100 foot long corridor. Scramble up over the rock debris then downclimb down the other side with a moderately difficult downclimb of about 12 feet that may require partner assist. The next 0.3 miles down canyon to rap 1 is deep narrow canyon where you will need to take your pack off and turn sideways to walk. As you go down canyon there are several drops of 3 to 5 feet and a couple choke stones to stem up over few feet and one drop of about 10 to 12 feet that is easy to stem / slide down.
  5. dRedBreaksR1          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.67988   W -111.34518        Elev: NaN Feet
    Rap 1 - Red Breaks Loop just after a long narrow section opens up. Anchored LDC from a small bush and drops about 20 feet to a pool. The pool can be from shallow to swimmer deep, depending on water levels. Optionally a pack drag can be used for the drop by downclimbing down into a small hanging pot hoel on the RDC side and dragging your pack from there. If you use the bush for the anchor be kind to it as other people will need the same bush later. Some people have reported being able to up and downclimb this drop but it is difficult and spicy, most people will need to rappel here.
  6. RedBreaks26Frk          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.67958   W -111.34474        Elev: 5,420 Feet
    Side drainage comes in from the LDC (northeast) side. Continue walking south down the now wide open drainage.
  7. RedBreaks27          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.67588   W -111.34230        Elev: NaN Feet
    Small side drainage drops in from the east.
  8. RedBreaks28          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.67377   W -111.34238        Elev: NaN Feet
    Top end of a tight slot about 150 feet long that you can just walk around on the LDC side. Drop back down to the canyon floor about 150 feet down canyon and walk the sandy floor in semi narrow walls. As you continue down canyon below this narrow section it slowly gets more wide and open giving way to gently sloped walls.
  9. RedBreaks29          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.66917   W -111.34134        Elev: NaN Feet
    Drop of about 20 feet that is bypassed on the LDC side as the canyon begins to get a little narrow and drop down through the red rock layer. Continuing down canyon the walls are semi narrow for a few hundred feet before the canyon opens to wide sandy walking again.
  10. RedBreaks12Jct          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.66727   W -111.34180        Elev: 5,250 Feet
    Fork in a very wide sandy area. Up the left fork (Big West Fork) is a dry fall of about 50 feet that is not upclimable. The dry fall is about 200 feet up the left fork and is the dry fall you went to the top of on the approach route. To continue down canyon go about 350 feet to the top of another short slot.
Red Breaks Loop (6) - Exit
  1. RedBreaks12Jct          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.66727   W -111.34180        Elev: 5,250 Feet
    Fork in a very wide sandy area. Up the left fork (Big West Fork) is a dry fall of about 50 feet that is not upclimable. The dry fall is about 200 feet up the left fork and is the dry fall you went to the top of on the approach route. To continue down canyon go about 350 feet to the top of another short slot.
  2. RedBreaks11          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.66641   W -111.34133        Elev: NaN Feet
    Upper end of a slot just down from the confluence. You can walk the RDC / LUC (west) side contouring along the sloped walls to bypass the slot or play through.
  3. RedBreaks10          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.66563   W -111.34238        Elev: NaN Feet
    Apex of a sweeping right turn as you travel up canyon. This is about 600 feet up canyon of where the slot started to widen out and lose its deep narrow feel. From this turn, the route leaves the canyon by scrambling up the RDC / LUC side route finding your way about 150 feet up to the dirt rim. If you find the start of the slope too steep you can go up canyon a ways then walk the slope a little higher up contouring over to the bowl then go up it. Going to the rim will get you to a bypass trail to get above a 50 fee dry fall up canyon of here in the Big West Fork. Optionally you can take a side trip of about 800 feet up canyon to go look at a fork and a 50 foot dry fall. On the return route down the other fork you will see these things anyway so the side trip won't take you to anything new.
  4. RedBreaks09          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.66437   W -111.34096        Elev: NaN Feet
    While traveling up canyon the slot begins to loose the deep narrow feel and slowly begin to widen out here as you go around a left hand turn on the way upstream. This is about 450 up canyon of a side draiange comming in from the east. The side draiange is not seen / noticed while traveling up the deepnarrow slot as it enters from higher up the walls.
  5. RedBreaks08          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.66192   W -111.34238        Elev: NaN Feet
    Boulder about 12 feet high that you need to upclimb over. Going right up the boulder would be a difficult upclimb. A better option is to start stemming up the walls about 15 feet before reaching the boulder, then stem / galumph up canyon to the top of the boulder. About 120 feet up canyon after the boulder is a side drainage on the west side and may not be noticed while traveling up the deep narrow slot. Continue about 0.2 miles up the deep narrow slot to where it begins to widen out with two more upclimbs over boulders of about 8 feet each.
  6. RedBreaks07          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.65850   W -111.34199        Elev: NaN Feet
    Down canyon end of a slot forming. As you continue up canyon the walls keep getting higher until you are traveling up a deep narrow slot. Travel up the slot is mostly easy walking with a few spots to scramable up 3 or 4 feet over obstacles. About 0.25 miles up the slot is a boulder to upclimb over about 12 feet high.
  7. RedBreaks06          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.64658   W -111.33945        Elev: NaN Feet
    Fork in the Red Breaks drainage. Continue north up the right fork with a mostly slickrock floor not the left fork with a mostly dirt and rubble floor. Walk north up the right fork in wide open wash for almost 1 mile to the lower end of another slot forming.
  8. RedBreaks05UP          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.64607   W -111.33909        Elev: NaN Feet
    Dry fall in the wash of about 30 feet that can be upclimbed on the LUC (west) side. The upclimb is of moderate difficulty and most should be able to get up it pretty easily. If you can not get up this dry fall you can turn back and use the bypass trail. The upper end of the bypass trail drops back into the wash at the top of the dry fall here.
  9. RedBreaks03          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.64521   W -111.33794        Elev: NaN Feet
    Down canyon end of where the wash begins to have vertical walls as you walk up the wash.
  10. RedBreaks04          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.64383   W -111.33852        Elev: NaN Feet
    Bypass trail starts up out of the wash on the LUC (west) side which allows you to walk along the west rim about 1000 feet and drop back down into the drainage just above a dryfall. Follow the bypass trail up out of the wash north along the west rim about 1000 feet to where it drops back down to the wash just above the 30 foot dry fall. The start of the bypass trail is sometimes cairned and easily missed as it starts up out of wide open wash. The narrowing walls of the canyon upstream make a good landmark.
  11. RedBreaks02          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.63705   W -111.33928        Elev: NaN Feet
    Now in the Red Breaks drainage about 900 feet after crossing Harris Wash. A dirt road that looks well used continues across the drainage and travels northeast and goes out toward the Cosmic Orange Juicer. To continue up to Read Breaks do not follow the road. Instead veer left and continue north up the Red Breaks drainage.
  12. RedBreaks01          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.63481   W -111.34039        Elev: NaN Feet
    Route crosses over Harris Wash in a wide open sandy wash after exiting a vegetated area. Continue north about 900 feet to another wide open sandy wash crossing over a small minor wash in a light vegetated area between the two sandy washes but it is shallow and may go un-noticed. Note: There are many wide gentle grade washes in this area and it kind of feels like one big open wash.
  13. tHarrisWash          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.63396   W -111.34130        Elev: 4,970 Feet
    Harris Wash Trailhead. Parking for many cars in a tree covered area. The road continues over to Harris wash but vehicles are prohibited beyond this point. Walk north along the road for a little over 400 feet to where the route exits out of a vegetated area and crosses Harris Wash in a wide open sandy area.

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