Illusions Canyon- AZ

[MrAdam]

Ever since I saw the pics of Illusions Canyon about year ago, it has been on the very top of my to do list. The stars finally alligned 2 weeks ago and I was not disappointed! This canyon is absolutely GORGEOUS! Moss covered walls, tight twisty narrows, spicy downclimbs, amazing arches and lots of cold water greeted us around every corner!

There are 5 or 6 potential keeper potholes in the canyon, and the last pothole is a MONSTER! Some friends went down a couple years back when the water level was 15' below the lip of the pothole and they still were unable to touch bottom... oh and there was a dead bear in the pothole at the time also! Canyoneering! Kinda like fun......

We had been getting consitent rain from the monsoons down here in AZ, so we caught the canyon while it was flowing! There was no pothole escapes required and the lip of the big keeper was 2' under water. It was a unbelievably fun day with an awesome group. Cant wait to do this one again!






Climbing thru an arch





Arch that we rappeled thru!



She was flowing!!!















Looking back up the keeper rap



Rapping into the keeper pothole



The big keeper pothole completely full!



Looking up into the bottom of Insomnia Canyon



Hiking out the West Fork of Oak Creek



The Subway section of West Fork of Oak Creek

[Eric Holden]

Beautiful! Absolutely Beautiful! and I would rather come across a dead bear in a canyon then a live one.

[mzamp]

Thanks for the TR and getting it posted so quickly...and great photos!!!

[seth.l.craig]

So I guess now it is my turn to have the canyon at the top of my to-do list. Great photos!

[Slot Machine]

Nice TR!! I imagined that canyon being dark and sinister... but no, it's mossy-green and awesome. Thanks for sharing!

[mzamp]

I heard that's it's bolted now. Is that true - or do you still have to possibly build anchors using material from above?

[Iceaxe]

So I guess now it is my turn to have the canyon at the top of my to-do list. Great photos!

X2

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[yetigonecrazy]

This

makes me want to go canyoneering right now

[MrAdam]

I heard that's it's bolted now. Is that true - or do you still have to possibly build anchors using material from above?

Yup, the canyon has been almost completely bolted, especially in the narrows.

[accadacca]

Beauty!

[nelsonccc]

Is this one in Todd's book? I'll have to check when I get home. Looks a lot like Imlay. I'll have to make a trip.

[heliski2]

Absolutely stunning pictures. I especially love the one with the light and water coming through the hole in the grotto roof. Great trip report. Where can I get the beta on this canyon?

[mzamp]

This one is Not in the book. Not a lot of beta out there. MrAdam posted this in response to my thread for beta. Sounds like the canyon is now well bolted. So just go prepared for escaping if the water is low. I am going through on Oct 8th. I will post current conditions and pics within a few days of that trip. Should be a blast!!!

[Byron]

So it seems to be a tributary of the West Fork, so...what is the access? A dirt road perhaps or do you hike in from the highway? By all means, tell us how to get to it as it looks like a lot of fun.

[Bluff-Canyoneer]

There two ways to approach:
1. Leave a car at the mouth of the West Fork of Oak creek. Drive up to Flagstaff and many miles down Woody Mountain Road (dirt) and drop in. This requires a very long drive back to the drop in point to retrieve the car at the top.
2. Hike up the AB Young trail in Oak Creek Canyon (2000 ft. elevation gain) and then about two miles to the drop in. Exit the West Fork and walk the road 1.5 miles back to the car.

It's a long day either way.



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[MrAdam]

There two ways to approach:
1. Leave a car at the mouth of the West Fork of Oak creek. Drive up to Flagstaff and many miles down Woody Mountain Road (dirt) and drop in. This requires a very long drive back to the drop in point to retrieve the car at the top.
2. Hike up the AB Young trail in Oak Creek Canyon (2000 ft. elevation gain) and then about two miles to the drop in. Exit the West Fork and walk the road 1.5 miles back to the car.

It's a long day either way.



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There are also forest roads which connect the 89A to Woddy Mountain Rd (FR 231), although the road numbers/directions escape me at the moment, which will save the long drive up to Flagstaff. The shuttle ends up taking about 2 hours round trip if using the forest roads.

The hike up the AB Young trail isnt too bad. The rest of the crew I went with camped up top near the canyon drop in overnight and took my canyon gear up with them. The next morning I drove up from the valley and hiked up the AB Young with a light pack in a little over and hour. YMMV

[Bluff-Canyoneer]

Sure enough, I forgot about the Forest Service 535 road. It will save many, many miles of driving.

[ghawk]

Beautiful canyon!! Need to get there!

[Everett]

oh and there was a dead bear in the pothole at the time also! Canyoneering! Kinda like fun......

Dead bear in the last pothole of Illusions.

[lucach]

People! Illusions is a secret Arizona canyon. Only Arizona folks are allowed to descend it!
Please remove immediately all references, pictures and beta of this canyon RIGHT NOW!

Nahhh... just kidding... I think anyone that likes canyoneering deserves to experience this cool canyon.
But don't be fooled, many AZ folk (Todd Martin included) want to keep Illusions (and Insomnia) secret so that only them and whoever they deem worthy can descend it. So you won't find any beta on Illusions or Insomnia in Todd Martin books, but you'll be able to find pieces of beta here and there online, even GPS tracks.

I did Sundance, Illusions and Insomnia last July over a 3 day weekend.
The canyons have multiple bolts, yes, but I would not call them "ruined" for that [as other AZ folks do].
But you do not HAVE TO use the bolts. If you have good ghosting, sand traps and floating anchor building skills you can do the whole canyon without using a single bolt. It will take 4 times longer, but that's the fun of it, right?
There were mutiple spots with no bolts where retrievable and floating anchors were still mandatory. Bring webbing and be ready to rebuild anchors if those have been washed off with the summer flash floods (happens every summer).

Service road 535 looks good on paper, in reality (we drove it) it's so mangled you need to go so slow it's actually faster to drive all the way back to flagstaff and take the traditional route around.