Canyoneer Buzzard Canyon (Jackpot Canyon) Lake Mead National Recreation Area, NV

Oct 06, 2023 — I'd thought I was done checking out the various slot canyons of Lake Mead National Recreation Area's Black Canyon, but my new friend Luke convinced me there's plenty of little crannies to rappel through that are worth the effort. It's always a nice time to get out into this wildly unique landscape only a few minutes from Las Vegas, but I think my addiction to peakbagging has clouded my excitement for slower-paced canyon days and this was an excellent way to get back into it locally. After months of Luke diligently reaching out, I finally relented to his overwhelming psych and charisma and agreed to join him and a group of canyoneers to check out Buzzard Canyon (aka Jackpot Canyon) on the Nevada side of the canyon. I could only fend him off for so long, I guess. He even provided a packraft and life vest, both required for this outing since the canyon dumps out into the Colorado River. PFDs are always required within Lake Mead.

We drove out to Canyon Point, an overall good road suitable for a Crossover SUV. The last quarter mile or so is rockier and decent tires are a nice idea. From the Canyon Point Overlook, we headed south along a 4WD road to its end on foot, where we got our bearings and located the head of Buzzard Canyon directly to the east. It's not an interesting-looking drainage by any means. I blinked at Luke, dubious. It was a laughable-looking gully from here, but I know it's never good to judge anything in the desert from a distance. A few hundred feet of descending on Class 2 typical volcanic boulders brought us down from the rim and into the wash at the head of Buzzard Canyon. Our group had a variety of speeds, so we took our time getting to know each other. I made fun of Luke for his dislike of hiking uphill, and he returned insults by mocking at my poor knowledge of knots and modern canyoneering techniques. It was a good start to the day.

The wash funneled into a short section of pretty narrows and around a dramatic hairpin turn, an excellent indicator that we would get to see some cool stuff. There wasn't much by way of difficulty up here aside from a few short scramble obstacles. We reached the top of the first (and longest by far) rappel. This two-tiered drop begins with a 20' short rappel off a chockstone, followed by a roughly 180' mostly free-hanging drop to the floor below.

We packed our gear and continued down the canyon, where there were some massive boulders adding a bit of an obstacle course before we reached the start of the second set of narrows. Here we encountered a handful of short drops that some might like a partner assist for, but ropes are likely not necessary. We then reached our next rappel, a 20' drop which we completed using a meat anchor since a capable climber could down-climb it. Another two-tiered rappel followed soon after, around 120' total with an extended walkable mid-section. A 20' nuissance rappel brought us to a short walk and to the top of the last rappel sequence leading into the river below. This sequence was our favorite part of the day. A 40' rappel led into the lovely sculpted rock with a nice view toward the water below. The next section could be down-climbed at Class 4, dropping around 30'. The final 30' rappel is too slick to be safely downclimbed, leading to a beach below. Depending on the water level of the Colorado River, you may have to inflate the rafts before doing the last rappel.

As a group we'd decided to ascend back to the cars via Bighorn Canyon to the north. You could instead set up a shuttle at Cranes Nest Wash and paddle downstream a couple of miles to reach that alternative, less-physical exit. Beau decided to put on his flippers and swim, while the rest of us blew up our packrafts and started slowly paddling upstream toward the mouth of Bighorn Canyon, which we could see a half mile away. It was a lovely little paddle through the narrows of the Black Canyon.

We reached the beach at the mouth of Bighorn Canyon, purified some water, then started up the canyon, a lush drainage with flowing water and complete with colorful algae. Luke had warned us the brush was very bad, but on my numerous previous visits I remember it being pretty tame. I loved the greenery contrated to the dark volcanic canyon walls, so I dismissed his warning thinking he just wasn't a fan of bushwhacking. Bighorn Canyon truly was in a rough state. I was pretty amazed at how fast it had grown in since on past hikes I was able to ascend directly within the watercourse, but now this seemed a horrible idea. Most of our party chose to slog through the nonsense, but a couple of us instead took to the cliffs on the south side. This introduced some Class 2/3 scrambling, but avoided a massive amount of bushwhacking. It's difficult to judge when to drop back down since the cliffs get gnarly, and ultimately it might be easier to just crawl through the watercourse. After I got cliffed out for the third time I started to wish I'd just stayed low, of course until Richie stumbled on a massive rattler, an angry coil difficult to see within the brush. I managed to get back down and was drenched in sweat from navigating the sun-exposed cliffs, but everyone else was covered in thorns, spores, and frustration. It's just a mess, but not all that long of an endeavor. I certainly preferred this ascent method to setting up a shuttle, but I'm a sucker for vertical gain and forming loops when possible. I'm not sure everyone felt similarly.

Within Bighorn Canyon, there's a major fork where it's important to keep right, following the water. A couple of Class 2/3 boulder obstacles over canyon chockstones and we were free from the brush. Once the water dissipated, the drainage continued into the gorgeous Bighorn Canyon narrows. More fun obstacles and excellent hairpin turns make this canyon among my favorite in the Black Canyon, even despite the earlier brush. We reached the classic Class 4 obstacle that may be difficult for some. There's really no way around it, so you should go into this hike knowing you can climb this crux. Most of us chose to stem up the chute, a tricky low Class 5 set of moves. Alternatively, others preferred the more exposed, but less difficult Class 4 option by sticking to the face on the right.

After some more mellow, twisting narrows, Bighorn Canyon opens up into some gorgeous badlands. Once we reached the mouth of a minor red slot canyon, rather than enter it we kept right and ascended a rocky gully. The gully petered out and became a slope that continued to the ridge separating Weeping Springs Canyon to the north from Bighorn Canyon. From this ridge, we dropped a few feet and located a social trail that would take us back west. This surprisingly good trail led all the way to the base of the slope below Canyon Point, where our cars were waiting. A massive boulder on the right serves as a landmark indicating when to start up, and a lightly cairned route leads up to the rim using a social trail on a minor rib/slope to the north of the parking area. You could just ascend up the slope directly to the cars, but that requires looser terrain with lots of broken glass higher up. This was an excellent day out with a good group of capable canyoneers. More desert fun ahead!