Englestead Hollow is another tributary of Orderville Canyon, but it is a longer, deeper, and more strenuous adventure than neighboring Birch Hollow. Beyond the fear-inducing 300-ft big wall rappel at the head of the canyon, Englestead Hollow has over a dozen rappels, most with awkward or low starts off of natural anchors. Bring a good amount of supplies for building and replacing anchors; this canyon should be taken more seriously than the easier nearby canyons.
| Rating: Strenuous canyoneering route |
| Access: Englestead Hollow Roadside Trailhead (8.2 miles up the North Fork Road from Route 9) |
| Time Required: 4-6 hours for Englestead Hollow, plus 3-5 hours exit up Orderville Canyon or 4-6 hours exit down Orderville Canyon and Zion Narrows to the Temple of Sinawava |
| Length: 3 miles in Englestead Hollow, then 5.7 miles up to the Orderville Canyon Trailhead or 6.8 miles down to the Temple of Sinawava. |
| Elevation Change: 1600-ft descent for Englestead Hollow, then 1600-ft gradual ascent up to the Orderville Canyon Trailhead or 800-ft gradual descent down Orderville Canyon and Zion Narrows to the Temple of Sinawava. |
| Technical Challenges: Over a dozen rappels, most off of natural anchors with awkward starts, numerous downclimbing obstacles, and the 300-ft big wall rappel at the start of the canyon. |
| Equipment Needed: Enough rope for the big 260' rappel, two 140' ropes for the shorter raps, climbing harness and rap device, climbing helmet, a lot of webbing and rapid links to build/replace random natural anchors. |
| Seasons: Summer through fall, depending on water levels in the Zion Narrows. (NPS will not issue an Orderville Canyon permit if the Virgin River is running higher than 120cfs.) Snow and mud may also prevent access along the North Fork Road. |
| Permit Required? YES, the lower part of Englestead Hollow is within NPS boundaries, so a permit is always required. |
| Flash Flood Warning: Do not do this canyon if there is a threat of rain. |
WARNING: This route is not suitable for hikers who have no technical canyoneering experience.
While the upper portion of Englestead Hollow is located on BLM land outside of Zion National Park, the lower portion of of the canyon is within the NPS boundary, so you do indeed need a Zion National Park canyoneering permit for this canyon. Also if you plan on continuing down Orderville Canyon to the Zion Narrows and the Temple of Sinawava, you also need a permit for Orderville Canyon. Complete info on the NPS canyoneering permits page. A shuttle service from one of the Springdale outfitters to the trailhead is extremely convenient, especially if you are planning to hike out the Narrows. If you have two cars and plan to exit up Orderville Canyon, spotting one car at the Orderville Canyon Trailhead will save you a good amount of road walking.
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Englestead Hollow Map: Canyoneering route through Englestead Hollow. |
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Orderville Canyon Map #1: Orderville TH to Border Boulder. |
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Orderville Canyon Map #2: Border Boulder to Temple of Sinawava. |
IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: The guide below assumes that you have the basic skills required to descend a canyon safely. Conditions in canyons change quite often, so use your own eyes to evaluate every obstacle if something is different than expected. Do not blindly follow this or any other description; use your own judgement and be safe.
Two factors make this canyon more serious than some others. 1) The big wall entrance is a long 260-ft rappel; you need to know how to control your friction and add more friction as you make your way down. Knowing how to use a prusik backup or autoblock would also be useful. 2) Many of the rappels have awkward starts that are low to the ground. You can't just walk backwards to get on rappel; you will often sit and downclimb carefully to get under the anchor.
Roughly 1.7 miles east of the Zion National Park border along Route 9, turn north onto the North Fork Road and follow it for 8.2 miles. (The first 5.4 miles up to the Zion Ponderosa Resort gate will be paved, but it will then turn to a more rugged dirt road.) When you reach the 8.2-mile mark, park on the right (east) side of the road along a prominent pull-off area where ranching fences can be seen. Please obey any posted signs and do not block any gates, roads, etc. to guarantee access in the future. (Note: If you reach the roadside sign for Birch Hollow, you have driven a bit too far up the road.)
From the roadside parking area, find the old dirt road that heads west between two fenced ranches. Hike the road as it slowly descends through the brushy forested landscape. At roughly .8 miles at the road junction; turn left (southwest) and continue down the track. The old logging road gradually descends into the dry wash of Englestead Hollow and after roughly 45 minutes of hiking, you will be standing at the top of the intimidating 300-ft big-wall rappel into Englestead Canyon.
There are many options for doing the first sequence of rappels, but the first rappel can most easily be done off of the tree at the edge of the left side of the canyon, roughly 50 feet from the watercourse at the big drop. Rappel 1 is roughly 260 feet down the nearly vertical fluted wall. Once at the bottom, walk out of the cozy little alcove to get on Rappel 2, a 50-ft rappel off of two bolts in the right side of the canyon. Notes:
Now that the big entrance is done, it's time for more canyoneering fun with one rappel after another. My group used two 140-ft ropes for the rest of the canyon and naturally broke up into two groups with the front group setting up the next rap and the back group cleaning up the previous rap. Rappel 3 is 50 feet or so off of webbing around a boulder with an awkward start. Rappel 4 is roughly 60 feet off of another awkward boulder into a dark section of canyon.
Rappel 5 is a 120-ft two stage rappel off of two bolts in the right wall. Rappel down roughly 25 feet into a small pool, scramble out the other side, and then continue down the long fluted chute to the ground far below. (This was the only rap in the canyon where we tied two ropes together.)
After the long fluted rappel, you can pack up the ropes for a while. The next section of Englestead Hollow opens up and is amazingly easy hiking with no rappels or major obstacles. This is a great area to take a break and have lunch; you are likely to catch some direct sunlight here and ponder why this part of the canyon seems so easy. Enjoy it while it lasts.
As we near the end of Englestead Hollow and the confluence with Orderville Canyon, the walls close in a bit more and a lot of logjams and rockfall obstacles appear in the canyon. Evaluate each obstacle carefully and decide if you want to downclimb or if and how you want to rig an ad hoc rappel.
Our last time through, we did roughly nine rappels in this section, each in the 10 to 40-ft range off of various log debris or webbing wrapped around a boulder. One notable obstacle is a large boulder with a chute on the right side where you can slide awkwardly onto a little 10-ft rappel to get down.
Roughly halfway through the obstacle course, keep your eyes open for Englestead Arch, a cool arch formation at the bottom of one of the log rappels that you could miss if you're not looking for it. The penultimate rappel is at a left-hand turn with a large crack going into the sandstone by your feet where you could almost get a body part wedged into if you're not careful. (This spot has seen a battle between deadmen anchors and chopped bolts…) Immediately after this rappel, is the final rappel down a short chute. (This rappel can be bypassed with a careful downclimb on the left side.) Just around the corner is the junction with Orderville Canyon. You made it!
Depending on your plans, you can either turn right (east) to hike up Orderville Canyon or turn left (west) to hike down Orderville Canyon to the Zion Narrows and the Temple of Sinawava. While hiking up Orderville Canyon may seem like the faster choice if you can spot a car at the Orderville Trailhead, it is still a 6-mile uphill hike that will leave you tired and perhaps underwhelmed. And upclimbing the boulder obstacle in Orderville Canyon can be difficult or impossible for some, especially in wet or muddy conditions.
The hike down Orderville Canyon out the Zion Narrows is longer and has more obstacles, but it is one of the most beautiful and fun sections of canyon in Zion, so I will always choose this option. For more details, please see the write-up for Orderville Canyon.
Englestead Canyon is a great romp, but I also have a good deal of respect for the seriousness of it, from that first big rappel to all of the awkward ad hoc rappels to the teamwork and time management required to make this a fun day. And if you can pay a friend to haul out your 300-ft rope so you don't have to lug it through the entire canyon, that would make things even better.
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