Mumbai
Eleven miles and an X rating, ending on a rappel that lands in whatever Lake Powell is doing that year: dry ground, or half a mile of swimming.
The final rappel is the planning problem, and the numbers are documented. At a lake elevation of 3,592 feet the bottom of the rappel is a short stroll above where Mumbai enters Fiftymile. At 3,611 feet one party swam roughly 1,500 feet, about 30 minutes, to reach dry land. At 3,622 feet Ram reported over half a mile of swimming before they could climb out of the lake. Look up the current Lake Powell elevation before you go and pack for the swim you will actually get, not the one in whichever trip report you read. Upper and lower sections, 3 to 5 rappels with the longest 90 to 110 feet, roughly 2.5 hours of approach, 5 hours of descent and 3.5 hours of exit, so about 11 hours car to car moving well; one October party logged 10 hours 40 minutes. In that descent the only unavoidable water above the last rappel was thigh deep. High clearance to the trailhead, no shuttle. Route beta merged 2026-08-20 from the duplicate row mumbai-canyon, which cited a second RopeWiki page (Mumbai_Canyon) and bluugnome for the same drainage about 20 metres away. The overland route from Hole in the Rock Road works and skips the boat, though the original parties came up Fiftymile Creek from Lake Powell. A midpoint entry on the south side lets you split the descent: stash gear at the midpoint, run upper Mumbai light, then collect it before dropping through lower Mumbai to Fiftymile. Upper Mumbai holds the sustained stemming plus a lot of sand and rotten rock on the walls, so test what you weight. A 40 foot handline helps the first person down the bombay at the end of that section. The water is all in the lower half and the swims are short enough that a wetsuit is not worth the weight, but cold pools make a winter trip miserable and heat drains you while stemming, so cool and dry is the window. Carry 120 feet of rope. Filter water in Fiftymile Creek before the hike out. The two RopeWiki pages disagree on the numbers: this record lists 3 to 5 rappels over 11 miles, the merged one listed 2 rappels over 13.1 miles with a 90 foot longest. Both are recorded rather than reconciled, because no source settles which is right. The 2026-08-21 CSV import re-created the mumbai-canyon duplicate this record already absorbed; deleted again 2026-08-22, nothing new carried (its figures are the already-recorded conflict).
Logistics
| Manager | NPS Glen Canyon National Recreation Area |
|---|---|
| Permit | No canyoneering permit is published for this route. Glen Canyon NRA does not appear to require one here, but that is the absence of a published rule rather than a confirmed exemption, and the NRA entrance fee applies for access. Confirm with the Escalante Interagency Visitor Center before relying on it. |
| Distance | 11mi |
| Technical | 3-5 rappels, longest 90-110ft |
| Vehicle access | High Clearance |
| Coordinates | 37.33166, -110.95923 |
Sources
- permit: https://ropewiki.com/Mumbai
- manager: https://ropewiki.com/Mumbai
- desc: https://ropewiki.com/Mumbai
- notes: https://ropewiki.com/Mumbai
- notes merged: http://bluugnome.com/cyn_route/escalante/escalante_mumbai/escalante_mumbai.aspx
- merged from: https://ropewiki.com/Mumbai_Canyon