The Squeeze from the top via Miners Trail

The Best Canyon in the Swell! Well, the meatiest technical canyon in the Swell, at the very LEAST. The Squeeze is a lot of fun when full of water, featuring many rappels, many swims, a couple nice arches, two potholes to get across and lots of exciting sports action.

There are several different ways to approach The Squeeze - this version starts from Hidden Splendor and follows an old mining trail up around to the top. Kind of a scenic tour, this route is not necessarily any shorter than other ways to get there, but does get you more fun canyon action and CAN be largely in the shade for the uphill parts.

This canyon is not named on the USGS maps. The name The Squeeze comes from Steve Allen's 1992 "Canyoneering: The San Rafael Swell" book. He named it The Squeeze as it is one of the narrowest canyons in the Swell. Mr. Kelsey called this canyon "Segers Hole Canyon" in his 1999 San Rafael Swell (3rd edition) book.

From Hidden Splendor, head down the Grand Gorge of the Muddy River. Once in the Gorge, look for Eyedropper Canyon coming in from the right. Soon after, the gorge turns left, and an angled shelf can be seen on the right-hand canyon wall. A cairn at the bottom marks the route up. Push through the bushes and climb up, and pick up an old miner's trail going up the shelf. The constructed trail is about 50% washed out. Climb up several hundred feet until you are past the cliff band above you, then cut back left following a shelf back downcanyon, until you can easily turn the corner and climb up to the next level. Follow the third segment up and right. This will take you past the top of Eyedropper canyon. Continue up to the top and around the end, then down into the Squeeze drainage. Bypass the first technical narrows in The Squeeze by walking right along the rim and back down in. Enjoy sashaying through the narrows of the Squeeze till you get to the first rappel.

Go downcanyon. There are rappels, swims, downclimbs. In many places, a meat anchor will be useful to send one person down to check it out - there are many short downclimbs that work easily with a spot from below.

There are two potholes to get across. There are many bolted anchors, some of which do not need to be used.

The Squeeze tends to collect canyon trash. Please do your part and remove as much as possible.

From the bottom of the last rappel, leave your wetsuits on to push through the brush (roses) to get back out to the Gorge. Turn left and walk the Gorge back to Hidden Splendor.

The Squeeze is on BLM land in Emery County. There is no red tape.