Canyoneering with All Ways Adventure — First time rappelling - with All Ways Adventure (near Zion National Park)

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I need an intro to the intro for this blogpost. To explain why we keep going back to Zion National Park, I need to talk about canyoneering. I’m not an expert in canyoneering, I’m just a beginner. So this post is not a “how to” blog. I’m not qualified for that. Rather this post is a combination of our story - how we got started canyoneering, and a lot of gratitude towards two young men who have helped shape our story - Brett from All Ways Adventure near Zion National Park and Mason from Forged Guides in Interstate State Park out of Minnesota / Wisconsin. For anyone reading this post that is interested in trying canyoneering, I hope you are able to either find Brett or Mason, or someone equally as passionate, patient, and informative to help you in your goals and journeys.

Our Story

I’m not exactly sure when this story starts, but it’s probably March 2016. We took a road trip that involved a stop at Antelope Canyon, our first experience in a slot canyon.

Antelope Canyon is not free. It requires a rather expensive tour to enter. But it’s so worth the cost! Antelope Canyon is a phenomenal place to experience. This is a stunning narrow canyon with ladders, places that require ducking, and walls so close you can often touch them with both hands at the same time. I was in awe. And then I learned there are other slot canyons…

Hiking in Antelope Canyon (near Page, Arizona) with my parents, our exchange student, and my older son

Fast forward to March 2019. I think we are ready to handle a slot canyon on our own.

(Mandatory disclaimer - slot canyons are extremely dangerous in the event of flash floods, and it doesn’t take much rain in the desert to result in a flash flood. Know the canyon’s watershed, and start watching that area at least a week beforehand to know how much water might already be present. Do not enter the canyon if it recently rained or if rain is in the forecast).

We head to Escalante National Monument on a spring break trip. I’ve rented a truck so I can easily make it to the trailhead for Peekaboo and Spooky Gulch slot canyons along the rather treacherous Hole-in-the-Rock Road. This is a loop hike through two canyons so tight in some spots that you have to pick one direction for your feet, arms, and head, and stick with it until it widens back out again. There were also spots we needed to figure out how to climb up or jump down - problem solving while hiking - does it get any better than this? My boys are young, but they LOVE it! This is still referenced as an all-time favorite hike from both of my boys. Wilderness, physical activity, problem solving - this is my kind of parenting.

Hiking Peekaboo and Spooky Gulch Slot Canyons near Escalante, Utah with my boys

Skip forward to March 2023. We’ve found several slot canyons over the years, although none quite as fun as Peekaboo and Spooky Gulch. We’ve advanced to hikes that have ropes though that you need to use to navigate obstacles, like Goldstrike Hot Springs, near the Hoover Dam. My boys are straddling between elementary school and middle school at this point, and they are bored with just walking. What can I do to make hiking harder?

Using ropes to navigate large boulders along the Goldstrike Hot Springs Trail (near Hoover Dam, Nevada)

Now I’ve had this goal for years… I really want to hike the Subway in Zion National Park. But to hike the Subway requires something called “technical canyoneering.” This means carabineers, ropes, harnesses, and helmets. I have no idea how to do any of this. But I am aware of the concept because of this goal. In order to hike the Subway, you cannot hire a guide, you have to know how to do this yourself, and bring all of your own gear. There is zero way we are going to be capable of this in March 2023, but I ask the boys if they would be interested in hiring a guide to try out canyoneering. I explain that it essentially involves using ropes to get down harder canyons with bigger drops. My boys are 10 & 14, and they both enthusiastically agree. So I book a day with All Ways Adventure, near Zion National Park.

Where to Canyoneer near Zion — Canyoneering with All Ways Adventure (near Zion National Park, Utah)

What is Canyoneering?

I’m not sure if there is a formal definition of Canyoneering, but essentially it means descending into the waterway of a canyon. Fast moving water (often caring rocks in it) cuts sandstone to make canyons. Sometimes this water flows in a gentle downward slop - creating canyons that are easy to hike - and sometimes there are dramatic drops, which require the assist of a rope to make it over safely. Canyoneering involves all of the skills to navigate over those drops. If you can walk in and back out of the canyon or walk in a loop through the multiple canyons in either direction, that’s hiking, not canyoneering. Canyoneering starts high and goes down. You typically can’t climb back out the other direction. You will need ropes and safety gear, and you might need to swim. When you get down to the end of the canyon, there is a road or trail that you will need to follow to get back up to your car outside of the canyon.

Having done this a few times now, I think of canyoneering as a real life escape room. You choose to make that first descent into the canyon, and now you are stuck. It’s a natural obstacle course with puzzles requiring both mental creativity and physical strength. You need to figure out all of the remaining descents until you can get back to the road or trail. Having two teenage boys now, I can’t imagine a more fun family vacation than what we just accomplished together in June 2025, trying out our first canyoneering treks solo as a family. We haven’t made it yet to the Subway, but I feel us getting much closer to being able to accomplish that goal safely some day.

June 2025 - Water Canyon (near Zion National Park)

Trying out Canyoneering

Canyoneering is not the kind of thing where you just show up at REI, buy some ropes, carabiners, a harness, and helmets, and head out on your own. This is something you try out with a guide first. If that goes well, then hire someone to teach you techniques, then try some easy canyons on your own, and practice, practice, practice.

Canyoneering is not a large group experience, like signing up to drive a UTV over sand dunes. People have very different skill levels, goals, and degrees of courage. All Ways Adventure is a company where you hire a guide for your specific little group, in this case, my family. For introverts like me, you can bravely sign up online, but they are going to call you and talk to you beforehand. This was my first experience signing up for something like this, and I was so nervous, trying to describe the kind of day we were looking for. But that phone call and explaining your goals for creating the perfect day is extremely important. Although it felt weird to hire a guide for a day, and we had an amazing time, and to some degree it was a life-changing experience.

Whoever I talked with at All Ways Adventure asked me a lot of questions to figure out exactly what I was looking for. I explained that although I was doing this with my kids (10 an 14), we had a lot of hiking experience. We loved slot canyons but wanted to try something harder. We didn’t really know what canyoneering was but wanted to try it. I wanted to make sure my boys had fun, but didn’t want them to walk away from this experience scared or nervous to try it again.

who to pick for canyoneering near Zion — Canyoneering with All Ways Adventure

Now let me say some amazing things about Brett. And I’ll preface that it feels weird to be writing about this in 2025. I owed this review 2.5 years ago, but it was so obvious after our experience that our story wasn’t done yet, that it didn’t yet feel like the time to share how big of an impact this day was. It’s now time to share that story.

As I’m planning my day out with All Ways Adventure, we realize I have a hotel booked in St. George and that we could spend more time hiking and less time driving if I switch that hotel reservation to Kanab. Easy to do, plenty of time to reschedule without owing a fee, and I really appreciate that advice.

Brett picks us up at our hotel in Kanab on March 6, 2023, and we head out to Ladder Canyon. There is no point in me mapping where that canyon is because it is on private land that All Ways Adventure has an agreement with to access. So that’s cool - we get to explore a spot in the country not available to the public. As we are getting our stuff ready, Brett mentions that he had been out to the canyon the day before to check the snow / water levels in the canyon to make sure it was safe to hike. It was the beginning of their season. I don’t think he mentioned it to impress me, although it did, immensely. I paid him to take us out on March 6, not to do a dry run beforehand to check current weather conditions on March 5, but he did it anyway to make sure our day together went smoothly.

Ladder Canyon ended up being the absolute perfect place to take us. There wasn’t a moment that any of us were scared. We were hooked into the ropes and trying out all of the skills. At the same time, none of it felt overwhelming. The boys had so much fun, were so proud of themselves, and the whole time I’m watching Brett, I’m thinking to myself, this doesn’t seem so hard. Maybe we could figure this out ourselves in a couple of years when these kids are a bit older.

We just had a fantastic day. I can’t think of a better intro to canyoneering than what Brett and All Ways Adventure provided us. For anyone thinking about trying this out, or trying something easier or harder, or maybe you want to do something totally different, I think this company would cater exactly to your needs and desires.

Canyoneering with All Ways Adventure

Here are more pictures from our day with Brett and All Ways Adventure.

All geared up - hiking down to the start of the canyon

No claws, so this print looks like a recent mountain lion - yikes…

The canyon brushed with snow was gorgeous

Adventures near Kanab — Entry location into Ladder Canyon

fun things to do with older kids near Zion — My oldest son went first. This was the perfect size for a first drop. Nice and gradual most of the way down. Not a scary start.

Brett spent time explaining how the gear worked and how to tie the knots so my younger son felt comfortable before he took the first drop down.

Learning how to Canyoneer — My boys were old enough to want to understand how the gear and ropes worked together so they could trust they weren’t going to fall. Brett worked with both of them the whole day, answering a lot questions.

In addition to getting to canyoneer, this canyon was a beautiful place to just be in

best canyoneering Zion — Another drop. Brett showed us how to use different techniques to brace ourselves against the wall. These skills came in handy when we were hiking in Little Wild Horse Canyon two years later and wanted to keep our feet dry.

All Ways Adventures with elementary age kids — Another drop

One kid is climbing down, and the other is climbing up, to figure out how to get onto the rock wedged in the wall

The canyon widened out for a short moment before going back into a slot

Descending back down. Whenever we just needed to maneuver but not use ropes, we called it “baby slides”. Brett knew how to interact with my boys, and had fun with them the whole day.

Both boys had a fantastic day in this canyon!

what is canyoneering? — A couple more pictures of the canyon - it was so pretty

rappelling in slot canyons in southern Utah — Ladder Canyon

What age can you try canyoneering? — Not a hint of fear - He had a blast!

Learning How To Rappel

Skip another couple of years to 2025. I hadn’t / haven’t forgotten about the Subway. I just needed my boys to get a little bit older so they could handle the ropes without a guide, and not be fully dependent on my husband and I catching a mistake. We needed all four of us to be able to look out for each other.

My little is not so little anymore. He’s taller than me now. And my husband and I decide this is the year to go back to Zion and try this canyoneering thing out.

And I totally mess up how to apply for the Subway permits... I’m initially crushed, but retrospectively, there is zero way we would have made a hike that long (9.5 miles) with technical descents while we were still figuring this whole canyoneering thing out and be able to complete it in daylight hours. For perspective, it took us 4.5 hours to rappel down Keyhole Canyon in Zion (a 1.75 mile hike with just four drops).

So it’s April 2025, and I settle on getting permits for Keyhole Canyon and Pine Creek Canyon for our trip in June. Now I just need someone in Minnesota to teach us how to rappel…

We don’t have canyons in Minnesota, but we do have cliffs and bluffs. Mason runs a business, Forged Guides, which operates primarily out of Interstate State Parks in Minnesota and Wisconsin, not so far from where we live. It’s the same type of business as All Ways Adventures, where you hire a guide for a small group based on that group’s goals/desires for the day. So I ask Mason if he can teach my family rappelling skills so we could successfully try out some canyoneering in Zion’s backcountry.

Our goals - what gear do we buy, what knots do we need to know how to tie, how do we set up our equipment, how do we check everything for safety, how do we make sure all four of us make it back from these hikes so I can maintain a “good mother” status in that my boys are still alive?

Figuring out the basics at the bottom with Mason at Forged Guides - how the gear works, how to attach ourselves, how to check everything worked before stepping off the cliff. You can see, Mason was also a hit with our boys.

Practicing at the bottom - Mason was getting us ready to go out our own. He was thorough. We were slow but competent when we headed out on our own the next month.

Mason from Forged Guides worked with us for a full 8-hour day. We learned about the equipment, how to use it, how to check we were properly attached on the rope, how to tie knots and which knots to use, and how to belay each other. Then we practiced rappelling over 60 and 80ft cliffs. This was scarier than our first canyoneering experience in a tight slot canyon. However, these cliffs were exactly what we needed to practice on. They were just a little bit higher than anything we encountered when we were on our own in Utah. And we ended up rappelling both in a slot canyon as well as in a more open canyon with similar cliffs when we were on our vacation. Mason had asked me beforehand where we were planning on canyoneering so he could read through the guides and help us get ready for what we would encounter. He did a great job. We felt prepared.

rappelling in Minnesota — Rappelling in Interstate State Park with Forged Guides

Then I had a freak-out moment a few days before we left, all confidence gone. What on earth was I doing planning on taking my family canyoneering on our own??? We reached back out to Mason, who spent another 4 hours with us, reviewing everything again, checking out the gear we’d bought, and verifying that we did indeed know what we needed to know. We practiced a few more rappels. I think reaching out and doing this a second time was the smartest thing we could have done. My boys knew exactly what to do, how to check everything, and instead of me going through things with them on our trip, it was the other way around. They were checking my gear and making sure I was hooked in correctly. That was the level of confidence I needed from them to know this trip was going to go just fine.

Second visit with Mason and Forged Guides - verifying we knew the right knots

One last bit of advice for anyone that is learning how to canyoneer - in the middle of everything you need to learn, don’t forget to ask about how to manage ropes. It’s harder than you think to keep them untangled. Long, wet ropes can get heavy, and the process of wrapping up the ropes in-between drops can be a slow process.

rappelling techniques - ask how to manage long ropes — It looks so easy, until you try to fold up the rope…. And you' might need to do this in-between drops if there is hiking or swimming required.

Rappelling and Rock Climbing with Forged Guides

Here are more pictures from our time with Mason and Forged Guides.

Forged Guides Interstate Park — This is the scariest moment - deciding to walk over the cliff

learn canyoneering skills in Minnesota — And then you can feel the ropes catch just a few small steps over the cliffs. The rest of the way down is quite fun.

looking for an adventurous day in Minnesota — Learning how to belay from the bottom

rappelling with Forged Guides — Comfortable enough after just a few steps to share a smile

secret activities near Twin Cities — It takes a bit of effort to make it down such a big cliff

fun things to do with older kids near Minneapolis — Almost there and still smiling

Learning canyoneering basics — Belaying from the bottom

an awesome day with Forged Guides — Yep - worth the fear at the top! We each did this cliff several times - practice, practice, practice

rappelling at Interstate State Park MN — Mom’s turn - smiling but terrified for when we go out our our own

is rappelling hard? — We practiced this drop several times. Each time it was less scary as our skils and confidence grew

where to rappel in Minnesota — The boys practiced belaying as well

vacation ideas in Minnesota — Our older son giving it a go down the cliff

After several times going down the first cliff, we switched locations to see what a second cliff felt like.

Mason looking over the edge before setting up our gear

The second drop was into the St. Croix River - there was a trail just a bit higher than the river that we used to get back up to the top without needing to get wet

How scary is Rappelling? — This cliff was higher, steeper, but not as scary since we’d been practicitng throughout the day.

Rappelling near St. Croix River — Descending beside the beautiful St. Croix River at Interstate State Park (on the Minnesota side, Wisconsin is the opposite river bank)

Rappelling at Interstate State Park (Minnesota)

Forged Guides Minnesota and Wisconsin — Having a good time with Mason from Forged Guides - he is an awesome guide and teacher!

MN Interstate State Park True Adventure — I love that the ferry is in the background of this picture!

It wasn’t just the skills we learned from Mason and Forged Guides. He was also such a great role model for my boys. Here we are - going to try something rightfully terrifying, and Mason is breaking down all of the skills into bite-sized pieces. That’s a valuable lesson - being scared and figuring out how to tackle the thing into little pieces. Incredible - so much more than just beyond learning how to rappel.

We had a little bit of time left at the end, and my younger son wanted to do the Rock Climbing Boy Scout Merit Badge. Mason is a merit badge counselor, so we switched over to rock climbing to knock out a second goal that we didn’t even know might be an option when we booked the day with Forged Guides.

Rock Climbing at Interstate State Park — He made it all of the way - everyone except me made it all the way up

Places to rock climb in Minnesota — I think rock climbing is a lot harder than rappelling. Rappelling - gravity does the work. Rock climbing - very different story. But I was brave and tried it.

Outdoor rock climbing near St. Paul — I made it up midway to the tree, and stopped. But I was happy that I tried.

How to rock climb near Minneapolis — My little, crusing up the cliff

My husband had a lot of fun rock climbing too. He mde it to the top as well a few times.

Canyoneering Solo as a Family

Yep - we did it! Future blogs will follow with our hike details. But long story short, we lived, and had an amazing vacation! We successfully made it through Keyhole Canyon. Due to how long it took us and how hot it was, we skipped Pine Creek Canyon and went cliff jumping at Sand Hollow State Park instead. But we had so much fun that we decided to try Water Canyon (near Zion but a place where permits were not required) one of the last days of our vacation. And that was a fun day too. We are definitely going back again! The Subway is in my sights for our next trip to Zion!

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