Page Type: | Route |
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Lat/Lon: | 37.68953°N / 110.92278°W |
Route Type: | Hiking, Canyoneering |
Season: | Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter |
Time Required: | A long day |
Rock Difficulty: | Class 3 |
Difficulty: | Moderate |
Instead of driving to the official Halls Creek Overlook trailhead on the spur road, continue south past the trailhead for about 2.5 miles. I don't know if passenger cars can drive this road as I have never driven this section. If it's like the part from the Burr Trail to the Halls Creek trailhead, then carefully driven cars can make it (I know Subaru cars will make it though). By this point you will come across a small fork in the road. Driving beyond here will require high clearance. Take the right fork and drive .3 miles down the old airstrip. At the end of the airstrip, continue down the old track as it turns right. It will end after another half mile (all this can be easily walked if your vehicle can't make it to the end of the old road). At the end of the road is the cliffs that tower over Halls Creek. This is where the shortcut route begins.
This route from here to Halls Creek is all cross country. From the starting point described above, start descending as the slopes gradually get steeper. Enter a dry gully (wet during storms) and continue downstream this steep gully. You may see a small post in the ground marking the National Park boundary and telling people not to hunt beyond this point. If you do, you know you are on the right track. Here, at the old post you will notice the slopes turn into a series of cliffs. This is where the scramble starts. While staying on the right side of the steep set of cliffs and following a few cairins, work your way down each cliff band. There will be about 6 bands to descend and I recognized two or three class 3 moves. The exposure down each band is minimal and a fall will not be too harmful.
There may be a few ways down each cliff band but there will be one way down each one that doesn't exceed class 3. Once you get onto the red bentonite clays, look for an alluvial fan that forms a small ridge of red clay rocks and finish descending on that until you get to Halls Creek. Once you get to the creek, follow it downstream (left turn) until you get to the narrows. From here use the main page for more information and return the way you came.