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Orderville Gulch Zion National Park Canyoneering           Orderville Gulch is one of my Zion National Park favorites. The canyon has as much charm as its big brother, the Zion Narrows, with probably a little more spice. The canyon is certainly narrower than the famous Narrows.           Orderville Gulch offers dramatic scenery, majestic narrows, wading, short swims and a few scrambling problems to keep you on your toes. The bonus is you can complete the canyon in time to make happy hour at the local pub and dazzle the tourists with your tales of adventure.

General Information:
          Orderville Gulch is a semi-technical canyoneering adventure. Every group should have at least one experienced hiker or rock climber along to help defeat a few minor obstacles. This route will require 7 to 8 hours to complete. A car shuttle is required for this adventure. Trailhead shuttle information is available. You will need a 50-foot rope for hand lines, belays, lowering packs and possible emergency use. A drybag for your gear is also suggested.

          Orderville Gulch requires several miles of wading combined with a couple of possible short swims. The swimming is never further than 10 to 15 feet. The water is cold and a hot day is suggested. Everyone will want to carry a warm, dry fleece to put on if they become chilled or at the canyon end so toss one into your drybag.

          Temple of Sinawava and Clear Creek Mountain are the USGS 7.5 minute topographical map that show Orderville Gulch. Navigation for this adventure is easy, but there is no real trail. All waypoints and maps for this route use the WGS84 datum. You will be walking and wading in a canyon bottom.

          Orderville Gulch is rated 2B III using the Canyon Rating System. You will need a Zion backcountry permit for this canyon. Orderville Gulch has a high flash flood danger, check the weather report at the Visitor Center when you pick up your permit.

Trailhead Information:
          From the East Entrance of Zion National Park, drive east 2.4 miles on highway 9. Turn north (left) at the signed "North Fork" junction. Drive 11.5 miles (The first 5.5 miles of road are paved) and turn west (left) on a dirt road at the crest of a small hill (N37 20' 13", W112 49' 49"). Take the dirt road west for 0.3 miles to a large corral and a small parking lot (N37 20' 05", W112 50' 04"). This is the standard trailhead and is accessible to passenger vehicles in dry weather conditions.

          Four-wheel drive vehicles can continue an additional 1 1/2 miles down the rough dirt road. Just remember you must retrieve your vehicle at the end of the day. Time wise it is faster just to hike than mess with the four wheel drive shuttle.

Route Information:
          From the trailhead follow the Four-wheel drive route to the canyon bottom, past a pond and through the pastures to the end of the road. From the end of the road just continue hiking down the dry canyon bottom. Shortly you will encounter a 125-foot dryfall. There are several routes around the dryfall, but the easiest is to backtrack about 150 feet and locate a hiker made trail on the left (LDC). The hiker made trail descends a steep dirt slope to the canyon bottom.

          Continue hiking down canyon until you encounter a large chokestone with a 15-foot drop on the downstream side. Skilled hikers can downclimb this obstacle, most others will require a rope to use as a hand line. Do not jump down from this or any obstacle. Jumping and the resulting broken leg or twisted ankle account for most the rescues in Orderville Gulch.

          Two casual miles below the chokestone, Bullock Gulch enters on the right (LDC) and brings water to wade in the remainder of the route.

          Just downstream from Bullock Gulch the canyon offers some dramatic narrows. You will encounter a large logjam in the narrows that you must climb down.  Hand and foot holds are plentiful if you look around and take your time. One mile below Bullock Gulch a second large chokestone with a 12-foot drop on the downstream side presents itself. Skilled hikes can downclimb this obstacle, all others will require a rope to use as a hand line.

          The further down canyon you travel the more water the stream gathers from the canyon seeps. Everything just keeps getting more exciting around every corner. The remainder of the route is made up of short swims, small waterfalls, easy scrambles and plenty of fun. Did I forget to mention that the narrows just keep getting better around every bend?

          All too soon you will encounter the dramatic junction of Orderville Gulch and the Zion Narrows. At the junction with the Zion Narrows just keep hiking downstream. You should begin meeting a bunch of tourists at this point who have hiked up canyon. It is 2 1/2 miles from the junction with the Narrows to the Temple of the Sinawava and the shuttle bus.

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