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May 21, 2023 — Our group of five set out for Buckeyes Canyon, an advanced anchor-building obstacle course. Due to the many multi-stage rappels in Buckeyes, the key to safety in this canyon is making sure you can build an anchor for each consecutive drop before pulling the rope. Also expect to build every anchor since most rappels had been ghosted on our visit, so we followed suit for the most part. We used a sandtrap and a couple of retrievable anchors, but we set one small piece of webbing for the final rappel. Many obstacles can be bypassed, downclimbed, or partner-assisted. Please do not use the natural arches as anchors. Buckeyes Canyon's short length takes a surprising amount of time to complete since the problem-solving is significant, though absurdly fun.
Somehow it's legal to exit from I-70 without a signed exit in order to reach the trailhead. If coming from the east, the dirt road is here (38.92506, -110.41676), and from the west it's here (38.92438, -110.41852). Both lead to an overall good road, but I'd recommend some clearance. Thanks to Bob Allan for finding this canyon and Ryan Cornia for providing detailed beta. I'm using the rappel sequence from Road Trip Ryan's site for consistency, though we deviated a bit, chopping some of the multi-stage rappels into shorter ones. Descriptions of the raps with photos seen below.
We started from a pull-out and took an old road toward the eastern San Rafael Swell, ultimately leading into a short section of gorgeous narrows known as Little Spotted Wolf Canyon, which cuts conveniently through the Swell. Little Spotted Wolf Canyon widens a bit and we walked through the wash before locating the ascent route above. We needed to ascend to a shoulder separating Little Spotted Wolf Canyon from Buckeyes Canyon. Using a Class 2/3 bouldery gully, we reached the top of a sandstone ramp forming a cliff. After a few hundred feet of Class 2/3 on this steep sandstone slab ramp, we reached the base of an extended headwall. We followed its base until locating a reasonable Class 3 ascent option to overcome it. This brought us to the shoulder, where we could start the descent into Buckeyes Canyon.
Buckeyes Canyon is comprised of an upper technical section, a short walkable middle section, and then a lower technical section. The first portion of Buckeyes Canyon is a slow process due to the significant number of obstacles. All anchors used natural features, but we managed to help each other down shorter problems with handlines and shoulders rather than set up lengthy multi-stage rappels.
We finished Rap 6, the last rappel in the upper technical portion, and then Buckeyes Canyon widened for a brief time before reaching the second technical section. During this portion of the canyon, don't forget to look back far above to see Eagle Arch, a majestic sandstone feature that I may have overreacted to with excitement. You can also see the complex-looking first technical section behind, a cool perspective.
The lower technical section we found to be much more straightforward, though anchor-building skills are still certainly required here. Once out of Buckeyes Canyon, we located a social/animal trail leading through cryptobiotic soil and down into a wash. We followed the wash back to the approach trail we used to reach the mouth of Little Spotted Wolf Canyon earlier, then took the old road back to the trailhead.
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