Canyoneering Peters Canyon Near Tortilla Flat, Arizona

With the winter I hadn't been scrambling around any canyons lately. Last night around 9 o'clock I just decided I am going down a canyon the following morning. I wanted to find a fun bouldering and scrambling canyon where I wasn't going to have to swim since the water is still freezing.

I picked Peters Canyon which is off highway 88 or Apache Trail Rd in the Superstition Mountains of Arizona. Peters Canyon is easy to get to as you park at Tortilla Flat a little restaurant and ice cream parlor next to Canyon Lake.

Right at Tortilla Flat is Tortilla Flat Creek which was flooding the road when I got there. Always an interesting way to start a canyon trip when the creek you are entering is flooded. The lack of narrows makes the canyon a low risk for flash floods. You scramble along the back for about a quarter mile and you reach the conflux with Peters Canyon.

Peters Canyon consists of a boulder maze of scrambling, bouldering, wading through no more than shin deep water, and hiking through some sand. The canyon was full of water and had a good stream going which created a fun challenge of figuring out how to get past. Many spots had the stream split into three or four separate streams with their own small waterfall. The neat thing about this canyon as is does provide a fun experience without having to get completely wet when you want to go out on an Arizona winter canyoning adventure.

Two and half hours into Peters Canyon is a 10ft waterfall which takes a little climbing to the left on some boulders to get on top of. This is pretty much the end of anything fun in the canyon. The canyon widens and flatens out past the waterfall. On top of the waterfall is a great place to take a break and have a snack. This canyon is an out and back.

The thing I really liked about this canyon as there were so many different options on how to get through the canyon that the way back was a completely new experience of the canyon for me. I found myself plenty of times in different parts of the stream where I spent more time wading on the way back. This made coming back down the same canyon more fun than I have had on any out and back canyon.

I highley recommend this canyon to anyone who wants to get out during nice winter days in Arizona. Once the heat comes though I would find a canyon where you get more wet and can cool off.

Canyoneering Christopher Creek Canyon Video

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Christopher Creek Canyon Canyoneering

The latest canyon we went canyoneering is Christopher Creek Canyon outside Payson, AZ. This is a great canyon full of waterfalls and you are definitely in and out of the water.

The canyon is easy to get to with parking on the side of the road and an easy to follow trail that leads to an entrance to the canyon. Because of the ease of access you might find the beginning populated with people. Trust me though only the canyoneers are going farther into the canyon so you will lose people quickly.

The main concern about this canyon is the water is cold year around. For us it might have been 80 degrees outside the water temp was in the fifties. It was cold to say the least. I highly recommend a wetsuit to do this canyon or at least a wetsuit top. We didn't have either so it swim as hard as you can and then jump and run in place to warm back up once out. The good thing is you are in and out of the water so you do have the ability to warm up.

The canyon is full of tiny waterfalls to go down and around. A few a slid down which is always fun. Be prepared to go through tons of pools which are typically over your head. I rarely just waded through the water, mostly it was swimming.

There are 3-5 rappels you need to complete depending on your climbing skill level. There are obvious natural anchors and some have fairly new webbing already in place though I won't automatically count on that.

Three of the rappels are direct in waterfalls that are extremely slippery. Every person slipped at least once so make sure you go slow and keep your hand locked on the rope during the rappel.

Over all extremely fun canyon with tons of waterfalls and pools to swim.