Epic Travel → North America → Mountain States → Utah → Zion National Park → ⊗ Right Fork of North Creek (Hammerhead Approach)

  ⊗ Technical Route ⊗
♦ Intrepid Top Pick!

Warning: Do Not Attempt Without Proper Training – click here for details

Location: Kolob Terrace Road, Zion National Park, Utah

Distance/Elevation Descent: Honestly I have no idea about either of these. I could make something up, but that wouldn’t be terribly helpful.

Time Required: 1 very long day or 1.5 days with an overnight (recommended, so you can enjoy the world’s best backcountry campsite) – 13-16 hours on the trail.

Rappels: 15 or more, lengths up to 50 meters (165 feet)

Red Tape/Notes: Permit required – visit the Zion Permits website; shuttle required – leave a car at either the Grapevine or Right Fork Trailheads, and catch a shuttle to the West Rim Trailhead (shuttles are offered by various outfitters like Zion Adventure Company). For more info on this route (and others in Zion and around Utah), visit the Canyoneering USA website; Road Trip Ryan also has nice beta, and includes GPS waypoints which are very helpful. We went over Labor Day weekend and did not use a wetsuit and were totally fine (definitely worth the weight reduction not bringing one this time of year), but we didn’t do the direct approach (for which you likely would need a wetsuit).

What’s Nearby?: Grafton Ghost Town, The Subway (Bottom Up) Hike, The Subway (Top Down) Canyon

The Right Fork of North Creek (the lesser traveled and more exciting version of its brother, the Left Fork – more commonly known as “The Subway“), is a fabulous adventure, full of fun obstacles and stunning scenery, most notably the Grand Alcove, which may be one of Zion’s most amazing places. Although significantly more technical than the “standard” approach to the Right Fork, via Wildcat Canyon, the Hammerhead approach is reportedly easier to find, with only one small section of bushwhacking required from Potato Hollow, and it’s really difficult to miss Hammerhead Canyon if you bushwhack in even approximately the correct area/direction. Once you drop into the canyon, you’re in for a series of occasionally awkward but generally enjoyable raps, downclimbs, and nice canyon scenery. Once you’re in the Right Fork, you’ll quickly reach the intersection with the Right Fork Direct route, and you’ll either proceed through the potholes or you’ll take the upper trail to avoid them (we opted to skip them). The scenery from the ridge is very pretty, and the slick rock canyon at the top is really stunning, along with the awesome natural staircase of slabs that leads down the ridge. This is where we encountered the most challenging part of our trip: figuring out how to get off the bloody ridge. According to Tom Jones (the Canyoneering USA guru), we did not need to rappel, so we were determined not to (although we found lots of evidence of people having done so). It took us forever to find the correct route, but once you do, it’s a totally reasonable steep hike/scramble to the bottom (you need to exit the staircase and head left as it starts to descend steeply; below this area there’s a gully with pine trees in it, and that’s your exit). Once back in the canyon again, it only took us an hour and a half to reach the Grand Alcove (including braving the notorious Black Pool with its creepy freezing cold water) – total travel time for the day was around 9.5 hours, which included loads of wasted time trying to find the ridge exit, and a rather leisurely approach through Hammerhead. There’s a smaller alcove up canyon from the Grand Alcove, which is pretty cool and would probably be considered a great spot if it weren’t for the Grand Alcove just down the way. Don’t bother stopping at the lesser alcove; it’s only another 5 minutes to the main event, with loads of clear, clean running water and soft sand, not to mention the beautiful multi-colored soaring sandstone walls. It’s really a dream of an overnight spot. You don’t need a sleeping pad, the sand is so soft, but there’s also plenty of rock around for cooking and laying out clothes to dry. We camped at the eastern edge of the alcove, where there was easy access to water and an awesome little pool perfect for soaking/bathing (if only it had been filled with hot water…) and had an excellent night. The next morning we decided to exit down the watercourse, which was exceedingly fun although it certainly adds a little time compared with the normal route (which involves a couple of rappels off the far end of the ledge) – there are no rappels in the watercourse exit, just some slides/downclimbs and general walking/splashing around in water, culminating in an excellent slide into a pool that requires a short swim. Definitely recommended. Shortly after leaving the vicinity of the Grand Alcove, you reach Barrier Falls, which is your last rappel, but the scenery down canyon is really beautiful, with lots of lovely waterfalls, including the oft-photographed Double Falls. After Double Falls, you have a pretty long exit in the streambed, but the scenery is still quite pretty, particularly when you pop out onto broad meadows bordered by mountains. It does seem rather interminable, but eventually you’ll reach the confluence with the Right Fork and depending on whether you parked at Grapevine or Right Fork, you’ll exit accordingly. The exit up Grapevine spares you some unnecessary hiking, but we exited the watercourse too soon and didn’t find the official Grapevine Trail, so we ended up bushwhacking and climbing our way up to the rim (a rather exhausting way to finish out the trip); we still got back to the car around mid-day (total travel time on day 2, ~6 hours, which includes the additional time to exit via the watercourse instead of the rappels).

Epic Travel → North America → Mountain States → Utah → Zion National Park → ⊗ Right Fork of North Creek (Hammerhead Approach)