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End of Rope 

Region: Loy Canyon       

Distance: 3 miles+       

Difficulty: Hard     

Elevation Gain: 900’

ACA:  4All    

Duration: 3-5 hours

Rope: 2 x 220’

Descent: 4-5 rappels up to 215’

Anchor Materials: 50’ of webbing + 5-6 rapides

Driving Directions: Park at the End of Rope parking, just past Hartwell Canyon on your right, and before the Loy Canyon TH. There is an obvious pull off on the right side with a large dead tree to sit on for tour photos. This lot sees a lot of jeep tour traffic, please be courteous and leave room for others.

Overview: End of rope classifies as a technical adventure route and the only route described in this guide with an exposed multipitch rappel. The adventurous approach, uniqueness of the route, and technical requirements make it worth sharing. The approach and technical portion are not beginner friendly. Potential of flash flooding is low, but the rockslide gully on the approach is not recommended after recent bouts of precipitation. The alcove system and pour off are quite memorable, and the archaeological site at the base of the route is nothing short of spectacular.

  •     Adventurous Approach

  •     Luxurious Alcove

  •     Hanging Re-belay

  •     Archaeological Sites

Approach:  From the End of the Rope parking, follow a worn social trail to a large wash and obvious gully on the right or east side. Hike up the trail on the left side of the gully to the rockslide. Carefully navigate through the large boulders (helmets recommended) to the saddle. Once atop the saddle start working your way to the left and into Hartwell Canyon. Follow this bench north until you see a small cliff dwelling under an overhang, this will be your next stop. From the this shelf, send your most confident climber up and around the nose. The scrambling is easy but somewhat exposed; team members may need assistance here. From above the ruin trend back south or the way you came, following the line between the white and red rock. Once you are back on the Loy canyon side, gear up and locate the access rappel off a small pine tree on the left. The technical descent starts here.

Descent: Two access rappels will land you on the main red rock bench and near the head of the alcove system. The next 2-3 rappels come in quick succession. Groups of 2-4 recommended.

Access Rappels for End of Rope and Hung Out to Dry

 R1: 50’ from a  tree on a slightly exposed edge on the left.

R2: 100’ off a tree. Watch for loose rock here. Use extra caution on the rope retrieval .

After the second rappel walk a short distance to the large crack on the left.

R3: Downclimb into the head of the slot (recommended) or locate an anchor off a tree on the right side for a rappel of 75’ into the alcove.

R4: 90’ from a tree down a sloping crack to the bolted anchor on the LDC side. The route can be escaped safely at any point until the rope is pulled from this anchor, then you are committed to the big drop.

R5: 215’ from the bolted anchor on a small ledge (two people at a time). We have used a retrievable anchor on this rappel and it has worked well.

Exit: From the last rappel follow faint braided trails over a few small drainages and back to the main parking area.

Preservation: Please respect archaeological sites and sensitive terrain along your journey.

Link Ups: Typically, folks have had enough after this short but demanding route.  If you’ve got extra time and energy, Brownbag Special is a worthy link-up.

Route Established By: Lars Romig, Kyle Wright, and Collin Wright