Yankee Doodle Hollow

Easy technical canyon with a possibility of some pools. It is perfect for beginners and kids to learn different aspects of Canyoneering. Some stemming required to downclimb the short drops in the canyon, people with short legs might want to be belayed. It has one required rappel with an optional short drop in before the required rappel. It can be busy with large groups.

Yankee Doodle Hollow is located in the Pine Valley Wilderness North of St. George, Ut. Taking the Leeds/Silver Reef exit from I-15 travel northwest along the main paved road towards Pine Valley Mountain. After a couple of miles the paved road turns into a dirt road and crosses a bridge. The drop in is approximately 7.8 miles from that bridge. From the bridge you will enter Pine Valley wilderness which is under the jurisdiction of the BLM. Follow the road until it forks. Take the left fork and follow it West. The road can be narrow at points and depending on the time of year can be busy with traffic. After going over several hills you will see a heavily used turn off on the right side of the road this is where you can park. After parking there is a small drainage area that can be followed in order to cut down on erosion and follow the guidelines within Leave No Trace. The drainage trail enters down into a wash which is the drop in to the canyon. From here there are several anchor points that can lead you into the canyon the closest to the trail is a short 20ft rap into the canyon.

There are two different ways to start Yankee Doodle: The first rappel is at the top of the wash. There should be enough space to set up a practice anchor on flat ground to practice and walk any beginners through things before dropping down R1. A short walk after R1, you will reach the bolted anchor for the second rappel. This drop is slightly tricky because one needs to position oneself around a boulder at the top of the rap. This approach skips rappels 1 and 2 on the standard approach but does have its own slightly free-hanging rappel. Now in the main canyon, 50ft of rope is more than enough for the rest of the canyon. There are 8-10 drops that can be stemmed, with three that typically have anchors setup for anyone who is uncomfortable. A quick meat anchor can be used in a pinch as well. The longest stem is less than 18 ft. Depending on the time of year pools of standing water may be present at the bottom of some drops. Some pools may be as deep as six feet if water is there.

About a mile or so after the start of the canyon is the first an main exit from the canyon. The canyon will open up and on the left/north side will be a slick rock slop that will have marks of being well used. There are two worn paths on the surface of the slick rock. One on the left is the easiest with a rocks sticking out that can be used as hand holds. The one on the right is straight up the middle of the slick rock and relies on the friction of the footwear worn by the group. Traverse the slick rock up and to the right towards a ravine. Once at the top of the slick there is a very well defined path to follow up for about a quarter of a mile. Once in the ravine stay in the wash in order to cut down on erosion and leave no trace. The ravine exits out right by the road. Turn left on the road and head west about a quarter mile and the place where vehicles were parked.