The Subway 3B

[rcwild]

One of the best of the classic canyons in Zion, the picturesque Subway has delighted canyoneers, photographers and nature lovers for years.

Rating: 3B III
Time Required: 6-12 hours
Longest Rappel: 30 feet (10M)

Permit Information
Permits are required for this canyon. There are a limited number of permits, and the Park Service has instituted a lottery system, though a precious few walk-in permits are available. Further information is available at https://zionpermits.nps.gov

Preferred Season
Late spring, summer, early autumn. Don't go when rain threatens.

Water Concerns
Wetsuits recommended

Special Challenges
Lots of routefinding, both at the beginning and end of the day. Definitely plot your course on your map, and don't hike past the exit trail! Swimming, downclimbs, rappels. Be prepared to rappel if you are uncomfortable downclimbing exposed drops (25+ feet), or use your rope as a hand line. Hunt around for anchors, there are plenty of natural anchors as well as a few bolts here and there.

Equipment Suggestions
Short rope (60-70 feet), some webbing, good shoes, wet suit.

Topographic Map(s)
The Guardian Angels USGS Quad

Directions to Trailhead
You will need a car or bike shuttle to descend this canyon. From Springdale, take Highway 9 west to the hamlet of Virgin. Turn right onto the Kolob Reservoir Road. Drive 8.1 miles to the Left Fork Trailhead and leave a car or bikes. Continue with your second vehicle another 7.2 miles to the Wildcat Canyon Trailhead.

Trailhead UTM Grid Coordinate

Approach
From the Wildcat Canyon Trailhead, follow the trail 1 mile to the Hop Valley/West Rim Trail junction. Continue straight (West Rim Trail), and shortly reach a second junction for Wildcat Canyon/Northgate Peaks. Take the right trail, to Northgate Peaks. Almost immediately the trail splits, with the right fork heading to Northgate Peaks, and the left to the Subway (aka the Left Fork). Take the left trail, following it into Russell Gulch. The trail gives way to slickrock - follow the cairns and the occasionally placed sign. The trail is well marked. The trail reaches the bottom of Russell Gulch, then climbs up the east side of the gulch (do not continue down the floor of Russell Gulch). Continue hiking on the east side of Russell Gulch, trying not to gain or lose too much elevation, until you reach a slickrock pass. Top out on the pass and continue down the slickrock bowl on the other side. There should still be some cairns. At the end of the bowl, find the trail as it reenters the woods. The trail will lead to a steep gully that will take you to the floor of the canyon.

Canyon Entry UTM Grid Coordinate

Exit
The actual subway section is somewhat short, though very pretty. There are lots of beautiful waterfalls to marvel at. Eventually the canyon just becomes a boulder hop with a trail down the right side of the stream. About an hour and a half after the subway, look for a trail on the right that is marked Left Fork Trailhead (the sign is at the river level). This point is shortly past where Grapevine Wash meets the Left Fork. Pay attention to your map to ensure you don't miss this trail. Turn right and follow this new trail as it climbs steeply out of the canyon and back to the Left Fork Trailhead.

Canyon Exit UTM Grid Coordinate

Variations
Many folks hike up the canyon from the Left Fork Trailhead, and turn around when you hit obstacles that you can't climb. Unfortunately the best parts are above this point, top-to-bottom approach is recommended.


Submitted by mdd on 29 Apr 2004

[rcwild]

Reserved for accident reports from this canyon

[Dwayne27]

Descended 7/19/08
With an early start, the approach hike from Wild Cat trailhead was pleasant and scenic watching the sun rise. The trail was well maintained and easy to follow even after we hit the slick rock bowls.
Once in the canyon, there were two swims, the longest being maybe 20 yards, and then plenty of wading, nothing more than waist deep for me. The water was actually very nice and clear. Just wearing quick dry clothes we were comfortably sitting in the water for as long as we wanted. We rappeled the first obstacle although it could have been downclimbed. There were two other spots with bolted anchors that we just downclimbed with some partner assistance, one we moved a log to and kind of slid down it holding the webbing that was already there. At the bigger drop right before the pools where you encounter people hiking from the bottom, there was a rope attached to the anchor, but looked to be in bad condition and the rope ended about 7 feet above the ground- so instead of risking any twisted ankles, we just rappeled that as well.
I think we hit the actual subway section and all the pools about an hour before the lighting would have been perfect, but still got plenty of awesome pictures.
After all that, the first part of the hike out was fairly nice with lots of nice waterfalls over the red rock. Eventually, the hike out got tiresome though, and the steep climb to the rim, although it wasnt as bad as it looks from the bottom, certainly isnt the highlight of the route.

[oldno7]

The Subway "flashed" last week, I should say the left fork because everything is as usual above Lee valley. Lee is were the flood originated and from Lee's intersection with left fork there is considerable damage. The streambed is changed a lot but still easily hiked. It is a short distance from the intersection of Lee to the exit trail.

[Parker]

April 28th - 30th

Mark and I got a late start and arrived at Zion on the 28th around 6pm. We decided to do Pine Creek for our warm up and got back to the truck just before 9. The following morning we had planned to do the full Left fork, but due to snow on the road we decided to do Russell Gulch and Subway Combo. On the trail there the 2 streams you cross over were quite full and really peaked our interest. We were planning on it being a Class C canyon this time of year but will come to find more than we expected.

We suited up and did the first rap into the gulch. The sky was amazingly clear and the forecast was windy with a 20% chance of rain. Below rap 2 the water was almost at its peak (~4cfs) for what I’ve seen in the Gulch with small hydrolics under the Log jam. Rap 3 (the double fall) Had a nice hydrolic in the keeper midway down so we adjusted the anchor to stay out of the fall and with a big jump, avoid the pothole. The bottom of the fall was spread out enough to not be a problem. Raps 4 and 5 were beautiful falls broken enough to be able to descend directly. Rap 6 is usually bypassed but we couldn’t pass up such a nice fall to rap.

We finally joined the Left fork and Man was it full. After a short discussion on exits and possible hiccups we made the descision to go for it. At the first Rap on the big boulder a huge eddie at the bottom pulled you back and around and finally through the waterfall in front. Very cool! The water was deep enough in most of the canyon to just float along though it was a bit chilly. The small fall with the underwater arch (or hole) was rippin and had a huge sucker at the bottom. I left my pack with mark and jumped in. Once I got to stable ground I threw a rope and pulled the packs over and then Mark followed. There were a couple more big hydrolics we had to pass, one with a lot of rope work. We got to rap 2 and there was so much water the rip was at least 15 feet long with a nice size strainer we weren’t sure we could get above the water in time to get over it. So we decided to go up and over and rap in after the danger. The small chutes and channels to follow were very fun but hard to swim with packs. Once we got to rap 3 we discovered tons of logs washed into the slot. So many that we were able to slowly walk down one and across the others avoiding the rappel and a bit of hard swimming. At the final rap we normally rappel off the log but opted to do the bolts due to 25’ long hydrolic below. Even once at the bottom we couldn’t get more than 5 feet into it. But there was other fun to be had. There was so much water flowing over the little jaccuzis it made for an awesome butt slide for a good 200 feet. Normally in the Subway there are a few small 30’ slides if you chose. Today there was so much force from the water pushing you that we did at least 3 or 4 slides 100-200 yards long. It was awesome. The few big cascades were increadible and we regretted not having a camera. It was a great hike out and we were so tired that night I think we went to bed with the sunset. Subway as a C is a completely different animal, but if you are comfortable with C canyons I highly recommend it. I think I can speak for Mark when I say we have a new respect for class C canyons.

The following day we slept in a bit and decided to do Behunin to finish the trip. The hike up we ran into a little snow and once in the canyon had to pass 3 small glaciers. They made for some interesting problem solving and a very muddy squeezes. There wasn’t a lot of water flow but just enough to have a really cool waterfall on the last rappel.

The perfect ending to a great trip. All 4 in about 48 and back in time to keep the wife from grounding me.

[nonot]

Subway was in fine shape Sunday. My first time through. Simply amazing canyon.

[mountain man]

FYI. got a phone call this morning. A family member could not receive a permit for a canyon in the Left Fork drainage because of a wildfire.