AtlasEscalante

Bad Neighbor

verified Ungraded Unknown flood risk

Rated XX and widely called one of the three hardest canyons on the Colorado Plateau, with a 400 foot final slot that RopeWiki quotes as positively diabolical.

You rig your escape before you commit. From the head of the drainage you cross east to the next fork, downclimb about 150 feet of R moves, and fix a 200 foot ascension line off sandtraps, then walk back around to Bad Neighbor. Everything after that is one way. The crux is a monster silo roughly 60 feet deep where the crack widens and pushes you outward; most of the team will want a rope handling them down into it and the last person will not have one. That makes partner choice a safety system, not a preference. Sustained stemming 60 feet off the deck for hours is the entry requirement. One 100 foot rappel off a sandtrap drops into the riparian section, and there is a spring pool about a mile downcanyon worth the detour before the 200 foot ascent out. Typical time is 7 to 9.5 hours. First complete descent was in 2018 by Angus Wiessner, Adam Anderson and Patrick Duvall.

Logistics

ManagerBLM Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
PermitNo permit required.
Technical1 rappels, longest 100 ft
Coordinates37.364633, -110.992669

Sources