Fab / Forgotten / Eagle Canyon is the easiest canyoneering route to get to. Just off I70 at exit 139 West of Green River. This is primarily a dry route and a good introduction to canyoneering without having to deal with the difficulty of getting into and out of potholes, serious technical climbing or advanced anchor building skills. A great route for beginner canyoneering introduction. It is also a canyon that can be easily hiked year round.

The last time we did this route was 6 May 2006 and it was dry. The route was quite easy and can be accomplished by the novice canyoneer with an experienced canyoneer as a guide within 8-10 hours. You will need to add more time if you plan on taking a lot of pictures, do any side exploring, or have more than two in your group who are inexperienced. 

My route is modified a little from the standard routes at the end. Instead of walking down from the plateau to the bottom of Eagle Canyon, I added a third rappel to drop down into the canyon (see map). This makes the route a little more enjoyable and exciting with less hiking at the end of a long day.

The route is challenging with three rappels, all over 120 feet, with two having overhangs. Advanced map reading and compass skills are required. However, I have included magnetic North headings  for using a map / compass along with lat / long coordinates for use with a GPS, which make finding and hiking the route much easier. This can be a dangerous place if you are unprepared and get lost. So, be sure of your navigational skills.

This route is primarily geared to hiking and rappelling, rather than the technical canyoneering skills. All rappels are fairly straight forward. Advanced anchor building skills are not required. I used trees and/or bushes for all anchors. Some minor technical climbing and athletic skills for boulder and slab work in Forgotten Canyon are necessary. If you have at least one experienced climber in the group, he/she can spot / belay / sling assist the rest of the group.

The hike begins by going East from the view area and working your way W/NW down the ridge to the first rappel in Fab Canyon. Here you will find a few bushes which can be used as anchors. Some old slings were left behind by other rappers. We cleaned up the old unusable slings and used a retrievable anchor leaving nothing behind.

Once in Fab Canyon, you will hike through the wash toward Eagle Canyon. When you exit the steep narrow section of Fab Canyon you are exposed to the sun for a few hours of hiking. This is a long, fairly flat hike, primarily to the North through a sand wash. When you intersect the Eagle Canyon wash you will take a NW heading and work your way up to the dryfall and next rap.

I chose a spot West of the dryfall  and rapped off a small pine tree to the bottom. This is a beautiful view, at the top, looking West where the canyon turns North toward the mouth of Forgotten Canyon (see picture right). The rap is fun, with a thrilling overhang and long decent ( see picture left). Again, I used a retrievable system and left no trace.

When you arrive at the junction of Eagle and Forgotten Canyon you make a right turn and begin hiking East. Soon after you enter Forgotten Canyon you encounter the boulder / slab and narrows. Here you will find relief from the sun and the hiking slows down. The views and photo ops are numerous (see picture right). Enjoy this part of the route and make the most of it.

The narrows of Forgotten Canyon are short lived and soon it begins to open up again to the full sun. Here you will find more vegetation and scrub trees. There are also a few potholes you may be able to pump water out of if necessary, but don't count on it.

As you continue on your course to the Southeast through Forgotten Canyon, you will soon come to a wonderful side trip to the Northeast. Here you have to opportunity to hike about a half mile and visit a wonderful natural arch. Be sure to check you time. If you are short on time, you may want to bypass this and continue toward the end.

Once you get to the 3rd large pothole, the canyon opens very wide and you will soon make a turn to the South. You have the option of turning to the Southwest and working your way down into Eagle Canyon. However, if you want to shorten your trek and have fun on one last rappel, you will need to continue until you come to the canyon rim.

This is the last hurrah. You will have to do a little searching for the rappel anchor. It is a small pine tree just down from the top of the rim. Due to the nature of the terrain and location of the anchor, we left the sling and rappelling ring. We did not want to chance a hung up using a retrievable system. This is a multi-pitch rappel with a nice overhang to the bottom of Eagle Canyon (see picture left).

You are about 2/3 finished with your route. So, press on, there is still plenty of hiking ahead. Be sure to spot the road, on the South side of Eagle Canyon from the top before you rap down. This is the road you will hike to get out of the canyon and back to the view area.

The rest of the trip is just trudging back to the view area. Make sure you are on the correct road. There are lots of 4-wheeler roads to choose from. You will want to be on the South side of Eagle Canyon with the I70 bridge on your left. Making a wrong turn here will cost you a few more hours of hiking.