Bailey Canyon
Sierra Madre / San Gabriel Mtns · near Sierra Madre · Los Angeles / SoCal
Canyoneering
At a glance
- Grade
- basic
- Best season
- When reopened: dry weather only; drains quickly but never enter with rain
What is here
- Setting
- foothill
- Amenities
- A dozen short practice rappels · Great beginner / rigging-practice canyon · Steep chaparral gorge · Mostly-dry, concentrated descent
- Best for
- A beginner rigging-practice canyon (when reopened)
- Features
- Classic San Gabriel 'first canyon' · Concentrated dozen rappels · Good for practicing skills · Steep, mostly-dry gorge
Worth knowing
- Hazards
- CLOSED — Eaton Fire area (through at least Dec 31, 2027) — verify status · Deadly flash-flood/debris-flow history — a father & son died here in a 1994 debris flow · Post-fire rockfall & debris-flow danger · Slippery First Falls; some anchors need backup
- Beginner friendly
- Yes
Canyoneering detail
- Character
- rappels · waterfalls
- Water
- pools
- Commitment
- 2
- Descent notes
- CURRENTLY CLOSED (Eaton Fire). A great 'first canyon' above Sierra Madre — a concentrated set of a dozen short rappels for practicing rigging in a steep, mostly-dry chaparral gorge, with no serious challenges under normal conditions
- Stats note
- ~12 short rappels (25–90 ft), concentrated; mostly dry; half-day
- Wetsuit
- No
- Intl tip
- One of the best beginner 'first canyons' in the San Gabriels, above Sierra Madre — about a dozen short rappels (25–90 ft) concentrated in a small distance, ideal for practicing rigging with an experienced partner. Mostly dry (a rappelling classroom more than an aquatic descent). But it's a lethal flash-flood trap — a father and son died in a 1994 debris flow — so never enter with rain. Currently closed within the Eaton Fire area (through at least Dec 31, 2027) with heightened post-fire hazard; verify status before planning.
- Directions note
- Park at Bailey Canyon Wilderness Park
The guide
Bailey Canyon, a steep, rugged fissure above Sierra Madre, is widely considered one of the best 'first canyons' in the San Gabr…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Bailey Canyon — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 34.184, -118.059