Entrajo Canyon – Moab Canyoneering
fromAdventurous canyon hiking with lots of variety (and sometimes water)!
This canyon tour is one of the more adventurous half day tours in Moab. It combines easy rock climbing, hiking and rappelling to visit one of Moab’s best slot canyons. As we work our way to the top of the canyon, we’re rewarded with big views of the La Sal Mountains. Once in the canyon, we wind our way through water-carved narrows and marvel at the work that Mother Nature has done over millions of years. We’ll encounter several fun obstacles throughout our hike, navigating them with creativity, teamwork and ropes! This canyoneering route does not require any previous experience – just a sense of adventure!
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Reviews 3 Reviews5/5
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Vacation Style Holiday Type
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Activity Level Easy/Moderate
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- Duration: 4-6 hours
- Difficulty: Moderate
- Minimum Age: We suggest a minimum age of 6 for Entrajo Canyon trips. Exceptions are sometimes made, so please give us a call or shoot us an email to discuss your options.
- Total Hiking Distance: 2 miles
- Rappels: 2 (15ft/5m, 80ft/24m)
- Distance from Moab: 25 minutes one-way
- Season: April – September
- Morning and afternoon trips available
- All tours are private – just your group and your guide!
- 2024 Prices:
- 1 Person – $320
- Group of 2 – $160/person
- Group of 3 – $150/person
- Group of 4 or more – $135/person
- Please call for availability if your group has 14 or more people in it
Oftentimes in canyoneering we find ourselves descending into unlikely places where most folks normally wouldn’t desire to go. Canyoneers get muddy, shuffle through tight canyon passages, rappel down awkward dropoffs and of course wade and swim through pools of water. Why?! Maybe it’s curiosity that compels? Perhaps the chance of stumbling upon a place more beautiful? If any of this sounds enticing to you, Entrajo Canyon is the place to be!
In its short length, Entrajo runs the gamut of most everything that has come to define canyoneering: simple hiking through beautiful wide canyons, long mesa-top views toward distant mountain ranges, struggling through tight narrow canyon walls and interlocking potholes of water – and, of course, climbing gear. A jaunt through Entrajo Canyon involves the use of ropes, carabiners, harnesses, helmets, spring-loaded camming devices, and other nifty tools of the trade used to allow curious canyoneers access to the desert’s deep, dark – and beautiful – recesses.
This canyon tour is moderately challenging, yet supremely scenic and rewarding. One short rappel within a series of scoured out potholes is necessary to safely hike through the canyon. The finale of the technical section sometimes includes a swim through chilly water – refreshing during the summer months, though this quality prohibits us from comfortably visiting this canyon in all but the hottest months of the year. Pleasant hiking following the swim places us on a bench high above the trailhead. A second rappel here gently brings us to within a stone’s throw of the start – a fine finish to a wonderful morning of exploring one of Moab’s most unique canyons.
Complementing the scenery are geologic curios that litter the canyon – a stately natural arch perched on the canyon rim, strangely eroded hoodoos, glacial erratics, cross-bedded rock layers and Jurassic-aged burrow casts. The geologic story of this canyon is quite different than that of the other canyons in the Moab area and a good bit of time is spent learning about this geologically fascinating area.
- All canyoneering gear and safety equipment
- Instruction from experienced and fun guides
- Transportation to and from the canyon
- Private Tour – just your group plus your guide(s)!
- Snacks – please bring enough to be out and active for 4-6 hours
- Water – please bring between 1 and 2 liters per person
We rate our canyoneering trips based on physical difficulty. Entrajo Canyon is a loop hike and requires some uphill, off-trail scrambling. There are places where we’ll use our hands and feet for progress and your guide will coach you through a few easy climbing moves. This canyon also offers the opportunity to use different techniques such as downclimbing, using a handline and “chimneying” (your feet on one wall, your back on the other). The hiking here is doable for anyone that is reasonably fit, but it is more adventurous than your run of the mill hiking trail.
Conditions are always changing, and that’s part of the fun with canyoneering! The pools in Entrajo Canyon are typically left full of water after a big flash flood. As days pass with no rain, these pools start to dry up. We’ve even seen a flash flood deposit sand, leaving no room for the pools to hold any water. Long story short, you’ll just have to wait and see! Generally, we have an idea of the canyon conditions because we are visiting this canyon on a regular basis. That being said, nothing is guaranteed!
We always go into Entrajo Canyon prepared to get wet. We can almost guarantee that you’ll at least get your feet wet, so closed-toe shoes that can get wet are a must. Trail running shoes, Tevas/Keens with a toe-cap, or old sneakers seem to work best. “Waterproof” boots are not recommended, as they’ll turn from “waterproof” to “waterlogged” at the first ankle-deep pool. In addition, wear clothing that can get wet. In the cooler months, bring a warm layer. You can check the weather here before you arrive.
Absolutely! Our private tours allow us to spend plenty of time at the top of each rappel going over rappel technique, answering questions, etc. On every rappel, you will be backed up with a second rope that the guide can use to slow you down or take over control if necessary. You’ll “learn the ropes” and be able to control your own speed, but you’ll never be 100% on your own.
Please visit our FAQ page for answers to general questions about canyoneering.
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Entrajo Canyon was beautiful. Thankful for Desert Highlights and our wonderful guide, Kiera, for getting us there. Highly recommend this tour company for their excellence in safety, communication, and local expertise. Couldn't have asked for a better experience! Hope to make it back to Moab some day!
Our family of four first-time canyoneers had a PERFECT day in Entrajo Canyon with our guide Jake. We are ages 48/47/13/11 and everyone had an amazing day. I cannot say enough about Jake and I presume that company owners Melissa and Herb do an equally good job hiring and training all members their staff. We spoke with Melissa for 30 minutes the day before our trip and she put our collective nerves at ease by getting us familiar with our gear and what to expect. Jake stressed safety, respect for the environment and he was eager to help us explore around each corner. This was FUN, FUN, FUN, and a great confidence builder for all four of us. The kids' smiles at the end of the 90' rappel were priceless and every one of us agreed we would happily do it again. If you are hesitating... stop! Call them, sign up and GO. You will not regret it. Thank you to Melissa and Jake for a fantastic experience for our entire family.
Just returned from our 2nd amazing adventure with Desert Highlights in Moab, Utah! In 2011 we went on the Medievil Chamber rappel trip with Herb as our guide! Unbelievably, we rappeled off of a 100 foot arch down into a canyon... and into a chamber as well! Increcible! We enjoyed it and Herb so much that we returned for a May trip and requested Herb as our guide again. This time we did Entrajo Canyon which involved a number of Class 3 scrambles as well as "chimneying" down some narrow passageways, we rappeled into canyon potholes filled with freezing water, and we even swam across one that was about 35 endless feet long! Never in our wildest imaginations would we even consider that we would be able to rappel 100 feet and live to tell about it! Desert Highlights is an amazing adventure company, and all four of us highly recommend them if you're up for the adventure of a lifetime! We are already planning our return trip and our next adventure with them!