Heaps Canyon Gear Checklist
Heaps Canyon is a very long technical day in Zion. The guide's time range is 12 to 20 hours, the water is cold enough that dry suits or thick wetsuits stay on all day, and the descent ends with a 280 foot free-hanging rappel. People who have done it pack for pothole escapes, for a night out if the pace slips, and for rope that is long enough for the last drops. The park's own write-up of an overdue Heaps party reads as a gear lesson: test the equipment before you commit.
What shapes your gear on Heaps Canyon
- Permit and reservation
- Zion requires a permit for every canyon that needs descending gear or ropes. Heaps is not one of the two lottery canyons, so it falls under advance reservations, offered up to three months ahead in seasonal blocks. Each carries a $6 non-refundable fee and can be booked until 5 pm Mountain Time the day before. A reservation is not the permit. The reservation holder picks the permit up in person at the Zion Canyon Visitor Center Wilderness Desk.
From National Park Service, Zion National Park: Canyoneering Permits
- Group size and time
- Canyoneering USA lists a group limit of 6 and a time requirement of 12 to 20 hours. Its author calls the flash flood risk high, with unrelenting narrows under a large watershed, and says to go only on a totally clear forecast.
- Season and water level
- Summer and fall are the practical seasons. The big variable is how much water sits in the potholes. Snowmelt and thunderstorms fill them, and several dry weeks leave deep keepers that take real effort to escape. The guide has counted as many as 14 that needed significant effort.
- Approach
- Both approaches take about 4 hours. From Lava Point, the guide walks the West Rim Trail south 6.5 miles, then 1.5 miles farther toward campsite 4, and leaves the trail at a ridge. This needs a car spot. From the Grotto, the climb is 3,000 feet. Two rappels, 65 feet and 210 feet, get you down the ridge to a wash that leads to the first slot.
- The ending
- The exit sequence is a 60 foot rappel, then 145 feet to a small ledge called the Bird Perch, then 280 feet free to the talus at Upper Emerald Pool. Poison ivy grows at the base of the last rappel. After that it is about 30 minutes on the Emerald Pools Trail to Zion Lodge.
- Escape routes
- From the Crossroads, the guide describes a long, dry escape south through Isaac Canyon that ends in a rappel close to 300 feet. It is not a quick way out.
What the agency requires on Heaps Canyon
A permit for the trip
Every canyon in Zion that requires descending gear or ropes needs a permit. The reservation is not the permit, and permits cannot be transferred to another person.
From National Park Service, Zion National Park: Canyoneering Permits
A self-reliant group with a back-up plan
The park says permit holders take responsibility for making sure the group knows the risks, is self-reliant and has a back-up plan.
From National Park Service, Zion National Park: Canyoneering Permits
What hikers carry on Heaps Canyon
A dry suit or a thick wetsuit, tested before the trip
The guide says one or the other is required at all times in this canyon. Two members of a June 2024 party wore dry suits that leaked, and both became hypothermic with one shaking badly. In 2016 a three-person party also had leaking dry suits and stopped for the night to dry out.
From Canyoneering USA: Heaps Canyon, Zion National Park, Canyoneering USA: An Interesting Trip Through Heaps June 1-2, 2024 and National Park Service, Zion National Park: Leaking Dry Suit
A pothole kit: potshots and a hooking kit
The guide says to carry both the whole way. In the 2024 trip, a hooking kit and a rope bag used as a toss pack each almost worked on one pothole, and the party lost over an hour there. What finally got them out was sending someone with a smaller pack down to throw it across.
From Canyoneering USA: Heaps Canyon, Zion National Park and Canyoneering USA: An Interesting Trip Through Heaps June 1-2, 2024
A 300 foot rope, and a plan for who carries it
Tom Jones's party had a 300 foot 9 mm rope stashed the day before for the big final drop. The 2024 leader put a rule at the top of his list: the leader should not be the one carrying it. A 2016 party with a 200 foot rope and a 300 foot pull cord planned to have their third member send a long rope up from the bottom, and the park said that plan left the group short of self-sufficient.
From Canyoneering USA: Just Imlay and Heaps in A Day: The Zion National Park JIHAD, Canyoneering USA: An Interesting Trip Through Heaps June 1-2, 2024 and National Park Service, Zion National Park: Leaking Dry Suit
Drybags for the gear
The guide lists them with helmets, rappel gear, webbing and rapid links. Swims and wet potholes fill the day, and the dry layers are what you wear if the pace stops.
From Canyoneering USA: Heaps Canyon, Zion National Park and Canyoneering USA: An Interesting Trip Through Heaps June 1-2, 2024
Radios
The guide calls them extremely helpful on the final rappels. The finish stacks three long drops, the last one 280 feet.
Emergency bivy gear, even for a one-day plan
The 2024 leader says he always packs for a night out, with a bit extra because he leads. His group of five was stopped above the exit rappels after dark, and the dry layers got them through. The guide notes that decent flat sand shelves exist at the Crossroads and near the end.
From Canyoneering USA: An Interesting Trip Through Heaps June 1-2, 2024 and Canyoneering USA: Heaps Canyon, Zion National Park
Food you will actually eat in the cold
In the 2024 run, a strong member who had been solving most of the problems hit a wall in the third narrows, sat down and insisted on eating. Keep food where you can reach it between rappels.
From Canyoneering USA: An Interesting Trip Through Heaps June 1-2, 2024
Water for the day plus a filter
Filterable pothole water exists inside the canyon, but the guide's party usually just carries enough for the day. The spring on the West Rim climb is only a trickle.
Ropes for the approach rappels
The ridge down into Phantom Valley takes a 65 foot rappel and a 210 foot rappel from a tree before you ever reach the canyon. These are separate from the long drops that come at the end.
6 people can go on one permit. Split this list between them so nobody carries two stoves.
Plan a trip hereWhat hikers regret or leave behind on Heaps Canyon
Extra weight for a two-day plan
The guide argues for a one-day descent with less gear, because the extra five or six pounds of a bivy kit adds up over a day this physical. Plan the pack for the day and keep only the emergency layers.
A slow start
The 2024 party left the trailhead at 4:30 am and still ended up spending the night. The leader's second lesson was to treat the entire day as urgent. An hour spent getting suits on at the start of the narrows stood out in his own timeline.
From Canyoneering USA: An Interesting Trip Through Heaps June 1-2, 2024
Pothole and problem-solving experience
Despite dozens of canyons together, the 2024 leader wrote that his group needed more speed with potholes before returning. The canyons the group had done before had only a few keepers.
From Canyoneering USA: An Interesting Trip Through Heaps June 1-2, 2024
Untested or borrowed equipment plans
The park's lesson from the 2016 overdue party was to test equipment before committing to a canyon this serious, and not to count on someone outside the party for equipment.
From National Park Service, Zion National Park: Leaking Dry Suit
Gear questions for Heaps Canyon
How long does Heaps Canyon take?
Canyoneering USA gives 12 to 20 hours for the canyon itself. Tom Jones once paired it with Imlay Canyon in a 23 hour day, and a 2024 party of five left at 4:30 am and reached the exit rappels after 8 pm. Plan for a long day and carry emergency layers.
From Canyoneering USA: Heaps Canyon, Zion National Park, Canyoneering USA: Just Imlay and Heaps in A Day: The Zion National Park JIHAD and Canyoneering USA: An Interesting Trip Through Heaps June 1-2, 2024
Do you need a dry suit for Heaps Canyon?
The guide says dry suits or thick wetsuits are required at all times. Two trips in the sources had leaking dry suits that cost the parties hours. One of them ended in hypothermia, so check seams before the trip and pack warm layers in a dry bag.
From Canyoneering USA: Heaps Canyon, Zion National Park, Canyoneering USA: An Interesting Trip Through Heaps June 1-2, 2024 and National Park Service, Zion National Park: Leaking Dry Suit
How do you get a permit for Heaps Canyon?
Zion requires a permit for any canyon that needs ropes. Advance reservations open up to three months ahead in seasonal blocks and cost $6, and can be made until 5 pm Mountain Time the day before. You then collect the permit in person at the visitor center.
From National Park Service, Zion National Park: Canyoneering Permits
What ropes do you need for Heaps Canyon?
The guide's longest rappel is 280 feet, and Tom Jones's party had a 300 foot rope ready for the finish. The ridge approach adds rappels of 65 and 210 feet, and the exit sequence adds 60 and 145 feet before the 280 foot drop. Plan the rope list around the exit drops.
From Canyoneering USA: Heaps Canyon, Zion National Park and Canyoneering USA: Just Imlay and Heaps in A Day: The Zion National Park JIHAD
Sources
- Canyoneering Permits · National Park Service, Zion National Park · Agency
- Leaking Dry Suit · National Park Service, Zion National Park · Agency
- Heaps Canyon, Zion National Park · Canyoneering USA, Tom Jones · Blog
- An Interesting Trip Through Heaps June 1-2, 2024 · Canyoneering USA, Keith Langenwalter · Trip report
- Just Imlay and Heaps in A Day: The Zion National Park JIHAD · Canyoneering USA, Tom Jones · Trip report