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Click to close Image by: Tyler Williams Route Finding in Marble Canyon takes on airs of a gritty canyon adventure, complete with plenty of lofty views. Click to close Image by: Tyler Williams Gaining a view of the Colorado River from the rim of Marble Canyon asserts an appreciation of splendor and not necessarily the skills of an intrepid explorer. Click to close Image by: Tyler Williams Hiking in the shadows of Cathedral Wash. Click to close Image by: Tyler Williams Atop Marble Canyon from the Badger Creek, fisherman's route. Click to close Image by: Tyler Williams The American West - Highway 89A in House Rock Valley. Click to close Image by: Tyler Williams

Anyone who has driven Highway 89 south from Page, Ariz., knows the spot. The highway emerges through a sandstone road cut and suddenly a stunning view of Western Americana unfurls below. The long blue ramp of the Kaibab Plateau rises in the distance, and a vibrant glow emanates from the Vermillion Cliffs to your right. An endless flat expanse sits beneath the landmarks, and lures your eye to the middle of the scene. Then, just when you've begun to comprehend this beautiful huge terrain, a disturbing dark gash appears in the flats, and rattles your psyche with the mysteries it surely holds in its depths.

The dark gash, of course, is Marble Canyon of the Colorado River. It is most often thought of as a river-runner's warm-up, the prelude to Grand Canyon, which officially begins 60 or so miles downstream. Even if you aren't running the river through the bottom of Marble Canyon, there is a handful of routes that offer a taste of the terrain, and bring you to water's edge.

Cathedral Wash

This is a simple, short, and beautiful route to the Colorado River that is a great place to visit for someone who doesn't have the time or energy to explore any of the other spectacular locales in the area. Kaibab Limestone ledges provide sidewalk-flat walking adjacent to a sandy wash until the stream gradient increases a half-mile into the hike. The largest drop is a 25-footer, but don't be discouraged, a fourth-class scramble on the right leads back into the narrow limestone alleyway of the drainage. The silence of this intimate canyon is broken when you round a corner to hear the rumble of the Colorado River signaling the end to your foot-bound explorations.

Getting There From the Marble Canyon Lodge on the west side of the river, take the road toward Lees Ferry for about 1.5 miles to where Cathedral Wash goes under the road. There is a wide spot for parking near an informational sign about the receding Vermillion Cliffs.

Badger Creek

This is a canyoneering route with falls and scenic narrows. When the creekbed enters the Kaibab Limestone, the action starts immediately with a 50-foot fall. A side canyon on the right offers a scramble route around this one, but the climbing options diminish at the next fall just downstream, and it's time to get out the ropes. Following this first rappel (35 feet), a second drop can be bypassed by descending the ledges on the left to a peaceful shady grotto below. A pleasant half-mile walk beneath the ever-growing walls of the canyon will have you at the confluence of the south fork of Badger Creek, where you might think the widening canyon has lost its gradient, but don't put your ropes away yet. A 15-foot overhung fall in the Coconino Sandstone requires one final rappel. A dearth of natural anchors near the lip of the drop means at least 60 feet of rope is needed to make a retrievable rappel off the small arch in the wall on creek right at this one. Below this final fall it is an enjoyable 1.3-mile walk to the Colorado, and Badger Creek Rapid, the first major rapid of a Grand Canyon river trip. To get out of Marble Canyon from here, you'll have to use a route almost a mile downstream, where a small side canyon enters, and just beyond it, a fisherman's trail. There is one 8-foot ledge along the route that requires an easy fifth-class climb, although there is often a rope there to assist. From the rim, it is a relatively easy two-mile walk to the northwest back to the highway.

Getting There From Marble Canyon Lodge, take Highway 89A west-bound (the road is actually going south at this point) for about four miles. Badger Creek goes under the highway just past milepost 542. The route starts here.

Soap Creek

This is the most often visited of the Marble Canyon side canyons, with a trail leading down the south fork of the canyon to the river. Cairns lead to routes around a couple of steep sections, including a couple fourth class scrambles. There is also some loose rock to negotiate along the route, but in less than three miles you will reach the Colorado as it enters Soap Creek Rapid. In the early days of river running here, Soap Creek was one of the most feared rapids along the entire river. It has changed since those days, and although it holds big waves, it poses a relatively little threat to boaters today.

Getting There From Marble Canyon Lodge, take Highway 89A about 10 miles toward Jacob Lake. At 0.2 miles past milepost 548, turn east onto a dirt road toward Soap Creek, and follow it a little over a half-mile to the trailhead. The route is signed.

Tyler Williams is the author of Canyoneering Arizona, Grand Canyon River Hikes, Whitewater Classics and Paddling Arizona, published through Funghot Press, Williams' publishing company (funhogpress.com).