Cable Canyon
The Squeeze's smaller sibling in the Southern Swell, where the keeper potholes are the whole point: three rappels to 83 feet and a middle section that turns on whether your team can escape a pothole. A lone cottonwood at the canyon mouth is the landmark the approach and the exit both hang on.
Do not bring a party that has not escaped a keeper for real. The potholes are easiest bone dry or filled to the brim and hardest at the water levels in between, which is most of the time, so difficulty here swings with the season rather than with the grade. Budget the full seven to nine hours: two hours and 1,400 feet on the approach, four to seven in the canyon, an hour out. The approach crosses the river to that cottonwood at 38.49634, -110.95122, follows the wash a mile to a side canyon on the left, takes cairns to the rim, then cuts cross country to the entrance at 38.51350, -110.99365. The exit retraces that last mile, so pay attention on the way in. Access is off Highway 24 by the Wildhorse Road past Goblin Valley or the Factory Butte Road from the south; both are fine for most vehicles when dry and both turn to grease in or after rain. A lot of the day goes into awkward downclimbing between the rappels, not the rappels themselves.
Logistics
| Manager | BLM |
|---|---|
| Permit | No permit required. |
| Time | 7 hr-9 hr |
| Technical | 3 rappels, longest 83 ft |
| Season | Spring; Summer; Fall |
| Vehicle access | Passenger |
| Coordinates | 38.5034, -110.9673 |