Dark Creek

A fun, beautiful canyon with excellent access, a bunch of aesthetically-pleasing waterfalls, and a short section of narrows. Destined to become a classic in the Dark Divide Area. Dark Creek generally takes about half a day to run. With an early start, combine Dark with nearby East Canyon Creek or Prairie Creek for a full day of canyoning. The four mandatory rappels are all of excellent quality giving the rappeller the option to go in the flow. The other six drops provide some of the best downclimbs in WA, with nice chunky handholds and steps from the blocky Basalt walls. A rare opportunity to downclimb in the flow with very minimal consequences with pools at the bottom.

Park at the unsigned trailhead on FR-23. The road here was previously washed out, but was repaired in 2018. There's now a wide area in the road with room for 4-5 vehicles. Note the large berm (aka dam-like construction of logs and chains) put in to keep the road from getting washed out again in winter floods. Ford the creek to the trail on the far side (easily identified by a concrete ramp) and follow it. After about 1.3mi, the trail crosses Dark Creek; this is a good place to check the flow. Continue upwards 0.6mi to a junction around 3500ft (approx. UTM 10N 595991mE 5128029mN) just past Dark's minor western tributary. Follow the trail southwest and keep going to about UTM 10N 596295mE 5127734mN. Leave the trail and thrash northeast down a shallow drainage to Dark Creek. Off-trail section takes ~5min. Don't cut thrash over early or you'll miss some nice canyon. Other notes:

Head downstream through a nice area of bedrock. Follow the bedrock around a corner and downclimb past several cascades. Downclimb a series of short drops. In high flow, a rappel might be recommended on some of these. The next three rappels come rapid-fire and are collectively known as "Dark Creek Falls." If the flow proves too high, it's possible to escape DCL above R6. Walk out through a short narrows and bypass a logjam DCR (easier than it looks).

Walk downstream 5min to reach the trail. Follow it back to your car. Declare victory.