No previous experience is needed. Beginners are welcome! Experienced and certified guides take care of all safety and technical responsibilities, ensuring a great trip for everyone. Please note however that this is not a lesson, and is not intended to teach guests how to do it on their own next time. 

All trips are private, so it will just be your crew plus a guide canyoneering in Chamisa / Entrajo Canyon! Our Guest: Guide rations are 6:1.

Chamisa Canyon, named after the Rabbitbrush that grows in the area, offers a short but exciting adventure. This narrow canyon is often filled with water, you can expect rappels, wading, swimming, and stunning scenery throughout the trip. If you choose this trip, come ready to get wet and have an awesome time!

We rate our canyoneering trips based on physical difficulty. Entrajo Canyon is a loop hike and requires some uphill, off-trail scrambling. There are places where we’ll use our hands and feet for progress and your guide will coach you through a few easy climbing moves. This canyon also offers the opportunity to use different techniques such as downclimbing, using a handline and “chimneying” (your feet on one wall, your back on the other). The hiking here is doable for anyone that is reasonably fit, but it is more adventurous than your run of the mill hiking trail.

The term “canyoneering” basically refers to exploring canyons, though it is most commonly used to describe canyon hikes in which ropes and basic climbing skills are occasionally required to completely get through the canyon. These canyons are called “technical canyons” due to the special skills and equipment required. Moab Canyoneering features big rappels and wide open canyons, while going further afield to Hanksville, we encounter true slot canyons. Typically, canyoneers will hike down, or “descend” a canyon since it’s often easier to rappel down the canyon’s steep drops than to climb up them. Once we’ve negotiated the canyon’s technical challenges, an easier side canyon – sometimes with its own unique set of obstacles – is then hiked up in order to get back to the start. Rappelling is necessary in every canyon that Desert Highlights visits.

The beauty of all this is that canyoneering skills allow people to venture into places out of reach from regularly equipped hikers. As a result, canyoneers frequently find themselves in the lesser visited – and oftentimes more beautiful – parts of a canyon.

During a Moab canyoneering trip, we travel over terrain throughout the duration of the trip. We are hiking, scrambling (easy climbing) and using techniques like down-climbing and rappelling to navigate through an area that is otherwise inaccessible. Moab rock climbing tours are more focused on simply climbing. We visit one area (called a “crag”) where your guide will set up a rope high on the cliff (called a “top-rope) that will be used to protect you from a fall (called “belay”) while you’re climbing up to the anchor. Once you’ve arrived at the top, you will be lowered back down to the ground and repeat on another route at the same cliff.

It’s moderate but very manageable for most active people. The hike is shorter (around 2 miles), but you’ll use your hands for scrambling, navigate uneven terrain, and move through tighter spaces. It’s less about distance and more about variety and movement.

Very likely—at least your feet, and sometimes more. Depending on recent conditions, you may wade through pools or even swim short sections. On hot days, it’s refreshing and often a highlight of the trip.

There are two rappels, but they feel very different. The first is shorter and often part of a fun, water-filled pothole section. The second (around 80 feet) is a more classic rappel that brings you back down near the end of the route. Both are approachable and beginner-friendly with guidance.

This is where Entrajo really shines. The canyon narrows into twisting, water-carved passages where you’ll shimmy, climb, and sometimes squeeze your way through. It feels like exploring a hidden world—and no two trips are exactly the same due to changing conditions.

Entrajo is more hands-on and playful than routes like the Medieval Chamber. It’s less about big, dramatic rappels and more about moving through the canyon itself—scrambling, navigating obstacles, and interacting with the terrain.

Yes, especially for families with adventurous kids. It’s engaging and keeps everyone involved the whole time. Kids who enjoy climbing, exploring, and getting a little wet tend to love this canyon.

It’s possible, but generally less crowded than hiking trails. Once you’re in the canyon itself, it tends to feel quiet and tucked away.