AtlasEscalante

Sleepy Hollow

verified ACA 4B X Unknown flood risk Escalante, UT

Rated 4B X, and in Climb-Utah's judgment one of the hardest canyons on the Colorado Plateau: seven miles of sustained high stemming and chimneying with two rappels, the longest 70 feet.

Big Tony and Frosted Flakes are the same canyon under other names, so the beta turns up in three places. The X rating is not decoration and this is not where anyone should learn to stem. There is one documented way to soften it: scramble out on the left down canyon side, rim walk about 300 feet, and re-enter, which may take a partner capture and drops the canyon to R. Figure eight to eleven hours. Poison ivy grows along the wetter parts of the route, avoidable if you know the three leaf shape, red in fall and green in summer. Climb-Utah rates the trailhead as reachable by passenger car in normal conditions, which sits oddly against the rough sandy approach roads described for the neighboring King Mesa canyons, so confirm before you commit a low car. The mouth of this canyon in Coyote Gulch is the landmark parties use on the way to PINTAC and DDI.

Logistics

ManagerBLM Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
PermitNo permit required.
Distance7 mi
Technical2 rappels, longest 70 ft
Coordinates37.4505, -111.0793

Sources