Canyoneering Canyons for Kids...Suggestions?

[MPH]

Hello, I am inquiring about some recommendations for canyoneering with some kids. Girls that are 7 and 8...I have done a fair amount of canyoneering in the deserts of Utah but wanted to see if you have insights or recommendations. Trying to keep the outing around 4 hours or so with 1-3 raps...I was thinking of Egypt 1 slot...short raps, straight-forward approach...I will be photographing the girls for a magazine article just in case you didn't want to share a "hidden gem"....Thanks for any suggestions and thoughts.

[Iceaxe]

East Fork of Leprechaun is one of the best routes for kids that I know of. I took my kids through when they were 5 and they loved it.

[kiwi_outdoors]

might they like scrambling and bouldering and stuff more than rope work? IT involves less of "do this and do that"

[jman]

X2 what Shane said. Leprechauns are "easy" and very photogenic. Easy approach, easy exit. Easy logistics.

What about something like Keyhole in Zion?

Short approach, easy exit. 2-3 short raps. The only real difficulty is the length of exposure to the water. Maybe others will disagree with me on Keyhole, but I'm trying to be objective from a kids mind.




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[MPH]

Thanks for all the feedback...much appreciated. Keep the ideas coming:)

[Iceaxe]

Keyhole is great with kids provided they are wearing proper fitting wetsuits.

My kids really enjoyed The Subway at an early age, but I'm guessing a lot of kids would not like the long hike out.

[Slot Machine]

Egypt 1 would be a good choice for kids that age. Egypt 1.5 is even shorter than E1, and would be pretty good as well.

A couple of years ago, we took my buddy's daughter through Spencer, and she had a blast. But like Ice said, make sure the wetsuit fits well. It is a slightly longer day.

If I were going to Escalante to get photos with kids, I'd do Zebra, Red Breaks, Peekaboo and Spooky. Do you need photos of them on rope for the magazine article?

[burnsdye]

This Spring we did Egypt 1 and 1.5 with 2 babies, a 3-year-old and a 5-year-old and it was AWESOME! It got a little tricky when the 3-year old fell asleep in the middle of Egypt 1.5. I tried to carry her carefully, but I kept bumping her head on the walls.
After that, we did Egypt 2 (this time without the babies and 3-year-old but with the 5-year-old). She did the entry rappel (the shorter one around the corner from the big rappel at the start) all by herself, and I couldn't have been prouder. Technically she was being lowered and not rappelling, but she still walked right off the edge.

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[Iceaxe]

I have yet to meet a kid that didn't love The Black Hole, but again proper fitting wetsuits are the key to an enjoyable trip.

I've also done Zero Gravity with young kids and had great results.

[kiwi_outdoors]

we are used to staying upright in a harness partly because our legs are quite heavy, are there any stability concerns when we add weight (baby) to our upper body in a snuggle pack?

[Scott P]

What time of year are you going? It makes a difference when trying to recommend canyons.

[Sandstone Addiction]

Some great suggestions already, but I'll add a couple more.


Yankee Doodle (youngest son, Trevor, was barely 8 when we did this one)

http://www.bogley.com/forum/showthread.php?74362-Yankee-Doodle-With-The-Family-May-17-2015



Blarney (didn't do this one with my youngest son, but he would have liked it)


http://www.bogley.com/forum/showthread.php?74292-Blarney-Canyon-Left-Fork-May-2-2015


Entrajo

http://www.bogley.com/forum/showthread.php?68273-Entrajo-Canyon-With-The-Family-April-4-2013


Leprechaun Right/East Fork (might be a bit longer than your 4 hour time frame, but you could enter below the first slot as detailed in Climb-Utah's beta to shave some time off)


http://www.bogley.com/forum/showthread.php?75556-Leprechaun-Canyon-Right-(East)-Fork-February-20-2016


U-Turn

http://www.bogley.com/forum/showthread.php?62848-U-Turn-Canyon-Arches-National-Park-Spring-Break-2012-April-10th

[MPH]

Thanks for all the information. I am not sure about Egypt 1.5. Will have to research that one...Planning September or October. Yes, ropes need to be involved in the pictures. I do the like the photography possibliities in the Black Hole but it might be too long. I have to jog my memory loose. I think it was 6 hours for me...something like that...

I was thinking of Escalante Area because we could do Peekaboo and Spooky as well as taking a stroll down to Willow Gulch and Broken Bow Arch. But...really open...I would say that I am aiming for the latter half of September or October.

Thanks again!

[dakotabelliston]

My suggestion is to head up leads canyon. Boltergeist & Yankee doodle are short & sweet & don't require much drive time (Pending on where you come from). You may also want to consider a moab trip.

Escalante - Egypt 1 is short & sweet (2-3 hours) if your slow. Egypt 2 is good. Peek-a-boo & spooky. If you haven't I would go hike calf creek falls :)