Seven Teacups (Dry Meadow Creek)
Kern River / Sequoia NF · near Kernville · Sierra Nevada / Yosemite
Canyoneering
At a glance
- Grade
- advanced
- Best season
- Summer–early fall at LOW flow only; never at high water
What is here
- Setting
- granite
- Amenities
- Chain of granite teacup pools · Rappels, slides & jumps · Otherworldly Kern-country gorge · A serious, iconic Sierra classic
- Best for
- An iconic technical granite descent (experts only)
- Features
- Iconic Sierra granite canyon · Staircase of teacup pools · Rappels, slides & leaps · Like nowhere else in California
Worth knowing
- Hazards
- Fatal accidents — 3 visitors died here in Aug 2024 in the 'toilet bowl' hydraulic · High water is lethal — go only at low flow · Mandatory Kern River crossing — Class V whitewater just downstream · Flash-flood risk; committing, difficult escape once past teacup 2
- Beginner friendly
- No
Canyoneering detail
- Character
- rappels · waterfalls · swims · jumps
- Water
- flowing
- Commitment
- 4
- Descent notes
- A surreal staircase of polished granite 'teacups' (rated 3C III) — a chain of bowl-shaped pools linked by waterfalls above the Kern, descended by rappels, slides, and jumps, then a mandatory Kern River crossing. Spectacular, iconic, and deadly if misjudged
- Stats note
- ~7 teacups, rated 3C III; mandatory swims/jumps + Kern River crossing; car shuttle; full day
- Wetsuit
- Yes
- Intl tip
- The most otherworldly canyon in California — a surreal staircase of seven polished granite 'teacup' pools above the Kern, linked by waterfalls, descended by rappels, slides, and jumps (rated 3C III). A superb Class C route, but for skilled parties only, and unforgiving: three visitors died here in August 2024 in the 'toilet bowl' hydraulic. Water is the killer — run only at low flow in summer/early fall, never with rain in the watershed — and it ends with a mandatory Kern River crossing (Class V whitewater just downstream). Needs solid skills, a wetsuit, and a car shuttle.
- Directions note
- Common access from the Johnsondale Bridge area on Mtn Rd 99 — approach beta essential before dropping in
The guide
Hidden in the granite country above the Kern River, the Seven Teacups of Dry Meadow Creek is the most otherworldly canyon in Ca…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Seven Teacups (Dry Meadow Creek) — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 35.99, -118.49