Tenmile Creek (Lower)

This section of Ten Mile Creek, extends from near Highway 180 down to the Kings River. The 2 mile Yucca Point trail leads back up to the road from the river. The Boyden Cavern company leads commercial canyoneering trips in this section. I assume that they set quite a few rappels, but there are only about 2 mandatory rappels for skilled downclimbers. I was surprised by how many fairly large falls had interesting and reasonable downclimbs. I think this lower section is a little bit less interesting that the upper section from Hume to Highway 180, but certainly worth doing and very fun. While there are not a ton of mandatory rappels, there are some optional ones that could be quite a bit more fun than climbing around. A few well placed bolts would help facilitate this, as there are surprisingly few fixed anchors from the Boyden Cave folks. Also, while the lower section proves a bit less technical than the upper part, there are more in the way of fun slides, jumps, and a cool stemming section near the bottom.

From Fresno area drive up Highway 180 through the Grants Grove section of Kings Canyon National Park. Pay the entrance fee. Drive towards Kings Canyon. You will cross Ten Mile Creek at a small private resort called Kings Canyon Lodge. Continue past a few hundred yards and look for turnouts on the left above the creek. There are several to choose from, so inspect to see which descent looks most appealing. I marked 3 entry points. The first one starts right next to the road gets you a fun little slide to jump move that is a bit bumpy, and something you have to have an eye for, and a bit of boulder hopping. The second is more of a scramble down, and comes in above a short gorge that can be jumped into, with mostly a low angle scenic bedrock section below. The 3rd comes in just above where the canyon gets optionally technical. The Yucca Point Trailhead is 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile away depending on which turnout is used.

Just below the lower drop-in is a fun sliding rappel of ~140 feet. A good bit of boulder hopping follows until you get to ~100 foot drop into a scenic gorge that is bolted from a ledge on the right, and you made be able to disconnect 15-20 feet above the water and slide the rest of the way in. The canyon gets steep below here and drops into a series of larger waterfalls. Most of this can be downclimbed around, or bypassed with rappels on the side. Though it would be a bit "contrived", a descent through the watercourse would be more fun, though some fresh bolts would probably be needed. There's a single bolt in there, but for some reason two rusty rapids jammed are jammed into it making it quite useless. The final of these large falls is a sliding one that is easily bypassed down a ramp on the left. Staying to the right of the creek below here will go past a small path that exits up to the Yucca Point Trail on the right, if you feel like exiting. Continuing down brings you to one of the more exciting sections of Lower Tenmile, a narrow gorge that leads to some stemming. There's a set of double bolts at the top of the stemming section, which could be used to descend the ~8 foot drop at the end of it, though sticking a rope in the crack is a real possibility. Unfortunately the bottom of the 8 foot drop is overall shallow and filled with boulders. A sketchy shallow jump is possible by sending someone down first on rope to carefully scout the landing. Below here is a waterfall that can be bypassed, although rappelling into the middle and sliding down the bottom half is quite fun. A final slide waits below.