LeBar Creek

LeBar Creek is a very scenic canyon in the Olympic National Forest on the southeast corner of the Olympic Peninsula. Just out of sight of the typical camper or hiker, LeBar provides beautiful scenery, enjoyable swims, a handful of short rappels, and perhaps one of the largest logjams in any canyon in the Pacific Northwest. A trip through Lebar is much more about the scenery and enjoying the beautiful pools, and less about technical rappelling. It is a great canyon for those that like to play around in the water on a hot summer day. It is recommended to bring a dive mask or swim goggles to look into the beautiful pools as you swim through them. The lack of technicality should not scare away more experienced canyoneers, as the scenery is well worth the trip. This canyon sees regular changes in logjam debris each season. Special care should be taken while navigating these potentially unstable logjams.

A short shuttle is required for the full canyon route. Park your lower shuttle car at the Skokomish Lower South Fork Trail (47.418833, -123.329241). Arrive early for parking. The area right around the bridge seems to be super popular with locals who camp down by the creek. Shuttle to the upper parking area (~2mi). The road gets brushy just before the end. If you have a vehicle you care about, there are a couple of pullouts (room for 2-3 vehicles) just before it gets brushy. From the pullouts, it's a 2min walk to a mediocre campsite at the end of the road. From the campsite, climb over the berm at the north end and follow an easy walk through an old brushy logging grade (aka decommissoned road) northwards about 0.6mi. As of 2024, the path through has become noticeably more overgrown. Some clearing/maintenance may be beneficial at some point. The trail will cross two tributary creeks. Scramble down the second tributary creek until you reach LeBar Creek. There's a good suit-up spot on the far side of the creek. To add another 30 minutes of floating & pretty creek walking, stay on trail and cross the second tributary, then drop in to the creek when you reach a large obvious washout.

DCR = Down Canyon Right DCL = Down Canyon Left This canyon features several jumps. Check all jumps for depth/obstacles before jumping! Upper Section The upper section has long stretches of swims and pleasant bedrock pools. It is non-technical but very scenic and easy creek walking/swimming. Middle section R1: 30’ multi-stage from a single bolt DCL into a grotto. More rope is required per the horizontal distance. The canyon enters a short narrows after the grotto but soon opens up again. Both stages have tricky edge transitions and it is difficult to give a fireman's belay for the first stage from the bottom of the second. R2: Rappel off of a small logjam. This logjam can be downclimbed DCR but is unstable not very pleasant to navigate. The Deck Project: After some more creek walking and swims, you'll reach a massive log jam of old (and new) growth logs. The logjam is easy to navigate and generally stable (with some exceptions). Take caution with some exposed scrambling towards the far end of the logjam. R3: The Diving Board After the "Deck Project" portion of the log jam, there is a jumpable pool below. It can be downclimbed half-way on very slippery logs canyon left to access an old root system (aka: The Diving Board). Alternatively, it can be rappelled from a stable log at the top of the log jam. It can also be jumped from the top of the log jam off a large, stable flat log canyon right, but depth should be checked first. A short section of creekwalking brings you to R4. R4: DCR - 25’ from a log into the lower narrows. An intimidating looking narrow chute below is shallow and can easily be walked. Lower section After a longer section of swims and creekwalking, you will arrive at R5. R5: DCL - 25’ from a single bolt. This pool is very deep and can also be jumped, although as of 2023, a log has fallen from DCR and is blocking the ideal jumping spot. From the bottom, scramble up canyon right for more jumping laps! Take special care climbing over the unstable logjam just after R5, or rappel from the logjam itself. R6: Rappel on single bolt DCL or Jump DCL 10’ into the lower left corner of the pool. There is a deep pothole here and a hidden ledge that needs to be checked/identified by a teammate. Send someone down first to check the jump for the group. In moderate flow or higher, there is a reasonably strong trap pool DCL at the bottom of the rappel. Escapable with some brute force (or solid technique) by experienced folks, but could easily trap beginners. Consider sending a strong teammate down first with a throw rope. Slide or downclimb the final section.