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Grand Canyon > Tanner Wash
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Tanner Wash is a long but usually dry Colorado River tributary that runs for many miles next to US 89 beneath the towering Echo Cliffs, which form the eastern boundary of the wide flat plain that surrounds the north end of the Grand Canyon. The wash enters its own little canyon 6 miles from the river - quite scenic though not generally narrow, it has the typical crumbling, multi-layered, black-stained cliffs typical of this region, and deepens gradually in small steps between long level sections. The best part is about half way along, where the wash tightens and cuts through especially thin rock layers. Then, for some distance, the canyon walls and floor are formed of hundreds of tilted, stepped strata which create very photogenic passages, interspersed with pools and dryfalls. |
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Location: The wash crosses from the east side to the west side of US 89 2.5 miles south of the junction with ALT US 89 at Bitter Springs, a small Navajo village near which the canyon proper begins. One good place to park is on a short side track beside the main road immediately west of the junction - the canyon is visible in the distance and is reached by climbing over a fence, walking across a sandy area then descending a side ravine.
Permit: Except the lowest section which is part of the Grand Canyon National Park, all of the wash lies on land of the Navajo Reservation so officially a Navajo hiking permit is required, and this may be purchased from the ranger station at Cameron.
Photographs: 8 views of Tanner Wash.
Map: TopoZone topological map of Tanner Wash.
Description: The entrance ravine meets Tanner Wash, still quite shallow, near the junction with several other minor tributaries, all of which make the main canyon deepen noticeably just downstream. Kaibab limestone cliffs begin to rise and from here on there are no easy routes out, though the walls take a while to attain any great height and the character of the wash does not change much for about 3 miles - almost 90 minutes walking. There are a few side branches, potholes and some short narrow slot-like channels in the canyon floor but for the most part only long straight passages, a flat, boulder-strewn streambed and piles of fallen rubble at each side.
This changes when the wash enters the Coconino sandstone layer with its many thin strata, since then the canyon narrows quite a lot and becomes very pretty as the light catches the broken edges of countless, slightly differently aligned rocks. It also deepens much more via a series of staircase-like steps, pouroffs and smooth slides which despite being sometimes quite steep are all easily free climbable though in wet weather the drops may be into muddy pools up to 6 feet deep. This section ends with one final sheer dryfall of 50 feet beneath which is a large pool and a dripping spring/seep at one side.
There is no way to climb down here but the obstacle can, with some effort, be bypassed on the south side by firstly walking back to the start of the Coconino then traversing at this level above the canyon for about half a mile, following a faint path across the steep, cactus and boulder-covered hillsides, eventually reaching a height of several hundred feet above the streamway, and finally coming back down a long, steep and rather unstable rock slide. Unless intent on reaching the Colorado, continuing past the big dryfall is not really worth the trouble as apart from a second shorter narrow part just before the river, the remainder of the canyon although deep is very wide, V-shaped and not especially interesting.
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