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I am looking for areas that are mid to moderate in difficulty to take a buddy so I can teach him more about rope work, rappel, general techniques etc... I am looking for fairly close in to Phoenix/Scottsdale area (within 2- 2 1/2 hour drive). Prefer either loop trips or down and back (no through trips this time), prefer 1 night camp.

I am thinking of Christopher Creek as a starting place, however, in reading about it, looks busy. Any suggestions? My buddy has only done simple indoor rope work and I need to get him used to outside rock drop offs, slippery terrain and how to create anchors etc.

Appreciate any help.

The northern end of the McDowell Mountains has some places where you could do some practice, go to the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy's website for some more infor

McDowell\Queen Creek used to be the spot for that up that way.

There is a huge boulder a short distance up the Echo Canyon trail at Camelback with anchors on the top. I have seen groups using it as a practice spot for rappelling. Same goes with a spot in Papago Park off the west side of Galvin Parkway. If you want it to be wet, then I would go to Christopher Creek for ease of access or The Jug (Salome Creek) for a bit more adventure. There are some waterfalls that are really fun to rappel in Crystal Canyon (not its real name) on the San Carlos Apache Res, but I don't remember how to get there.

Thank you all for the help and advice, much appreciated.

Looking for some rappel sites to practice at. Somewhere between 100' and 200'. Something I can scramble to the top of without any technical climbing. 1-2 hours from Phoenix. Thanks for any ideas.

Dave1 wrote:Looking for some rappel sites to practice at. Somewhere between 100' and 200'. Something I can scramble to the top of without any technical climbing. 1-2 hours from Phoenix.

Atlantis. This is a climbing area that's just east of Superior. From Phoenix, drive through Superior and then continue on towards Globe on US 60. Shortly after leaving Superior, you will drive through a tunnel. At the end of the tunnel, pull off to the right and park in the large pullout. Walk over to the edge of the canyon (which will be below you) and look for some rappel anchors. Climbers will sometimes set up a rope for getting down to the bottom of the canyon, so be on the lookout for a rope too. You can hike / scramble back to the top by hiking west down-canyon until you see a trail of use leading back to the top.

As I recall, it takes most of a climbing rope, single line, to get to the bottom, so either bring two ropes, one rope and a pull cord, or just one rope that you set up single line which you'll then retrieve when you hike back to the top. I think there are also some rappel anchors midway down, so you could also do it as a two stage rappel with just a single standard length climbing rope. You'll be rappelling down a route named Neptune, 5.10a. Watch out for climbers when you're rappelling and make sure that they know that you'll be tossing a rope, etc.

@Dave1
Another idea... Hike to Tom's Thumb and do the class 4 route on the West Corner (which is the name of the route). I'd suggest bringing a few slings and stoppers to protect the route just in case.
According to the page at summitpost.org, you rap down the west face. They say that a single 60 meter rope makes it with a few feet to spare.

When I did it back in the day, we used two ropes, but ropes were shorter back then.

Dave - I recently posted on 2 climbs at McDowell Mountains Sven Slab, "One for the Road" and "The Chute". Both have double bolt/chain anchors at the top and there's a moderate 3rd class scramble route just to the east of One for the Road (left side as you're facing the rock) that will get you to the top anchor. From there you can also traverse west on a brushy ledge system to get you to the top anchor on The Chute. Both rappels would be in the 150' range, moderately steep, no overhangs, straightforward rope pulls.

Gardeners Wall is another option.
[ McDowell Mountains / Gardeners Wall ]

I know there are a lot of chains and bolts on the WSW face of 13 mile Butte off of Hwy 260. You might give that a try.

Papago Park, Coon's Bluff near the Salt River, Flowing Springs just outside of Payson, I guess there's one at South Mountain, but I'm not sure where that one is.

@Dave1
[ The Gatekeeper ] has a bolt driven into it at the very top.

Papago has a 120’ partially free-hanging one near the amphitheater, bolted at the top.