Egypt 3 is a fantastic canyon with two distinct halves. The top half contains chutes, slides and a large pothole. The walls are stunning and the obstacles are fun. The bottom half is dark, narrow and sinister. The walls are rough and passage is slow and hard earned. The width of my hand is 9 inches from my thumb to the end of my small finger. Egypt 3—slot canyon rated as 2A III or 3A/B III-is the third and finest one out of 5 canyons of irregular shallowness and closeness, that cut into the Southeast side of the Egypt Bench—a highland with sand cliffs and other boulder patterns. Antelope Canyon. Antelope Slot Canyon in northern Arizona is actually two slot canyons: upper.

×The Egypt 3 slot is the third and best of at least five canyons of varying depth and narrowness that cut into the southeast side of the Egypt Bench, a plateau with sand dunes and other rock formations thought by early explorers to resemble the land of the pharaohs. The drainage has three distinct parts - after a dramatic 120 foot dryfall it starts with a succession of descending, inter-linked potholes through smooth red rocks, has a long and extremely narrow, intricately-textured middle section then ends with a short technical stretch with several sheer drops into pools that require rappelling and maybe swimming. Overall it is one of the finest slot canyons in the Escalante region.

Topographic Map of Egypt 3

Slot Canyon Map

Location

Mile 17 of the Hole-in-the-Rock road marks the turn-off for the canyon - from here a signed 10 mile track heads east and a little north, ending at the main trailhead for hikes into the middle Escalante River region; as well as the river, popular canyons nearby reachable on day trips include Fence, Neon, Choprock and lower Twentyfive Mile Wash. The first half of this side road is heavily graded but otherwise untroublesome, then it crosses Twentyfive Mile Wash - a potential problem after recent wet weather, and later passes over 2 smaller washes and the tops of two canyons by which time the surface has deteriorated. Some parts are over several meters of slickrock, and regular cars have to be driven quite carefully. Egypt 3 starts as a shallow streamway on the south side about half a mile before the road forks, at which a sign states 'Egypt 1' to the right and 'Allen Dump' to the left, and is recognisable by the large number of tyre marks and footprints at roadside.

Photographs

10 views of Egypt 3.

Route Description

It is a just short walk from the small parking area at the side of the approach road down a shallow gully to the sudden vertical drop off at the head of the canyon, where Egypt 3 plunges 120 feet as it enters the Navajo sandstone layer. Beneath the dryfall are a few deep pools and a short stretch of narrows; the main canyon starts a little further on, after an open area reached by walking along the rim to the left and descending a steep slope to the canyon floor. Downstream of this access point, the streambed is soon quite enclosed and begins to descend steadily - short level passages are mixed with numerous inter-connected potholes some of which require climbing and/or sliding down drops of several meters. Parts are quite dark with blackish, overhanging cliffs at either side but mostly the rocks are smooth and red, and the walls although generally angled away from vertical are consistently high and offer no escape routes.

Egypt 3 Slot Canyon Map Directions

Arizona Slot Canyons Map

Egypt 3 Slot Canyon Map South Rim

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