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Parallel Play Canyon - 4 members in 10 triplogs have rated this an average 4.8 ( 1 to 5 best )
10 triplogs
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Apr 06 2024
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 Guides 37
 Routes 556
 Photos 10,872
 Triplogs 1,052

43 male
 Joined Jan 21 2013
 AZ
Park Creek FallsPayson, AZ
Park Creek Falls
Payson, AZ
Hiking avatar Apr 06 2024
FOTG • Triplogs 1,052
Hiking9.32 Miles 3,034 AEG
Hiking9.32 Miles   6 Hrs   13 Mns   1.74 mph
3,034 ft AEG      51 Mns Break
 no routes
1st trip
Linked   linked  
Park Trail #66
Parallel Play Canyon
Partners partners
chumley
John9L
I covered some new ground in the Mazzies with John and Chumley Saturday. I was not sure what to expect, but the falls and hike down the canyon exceeded my expectations. I found the trail to be a pretty good too, however, that ascent will get one's attention.

The approach to the falls is not a gimmie due to the steep and relentless uphill nature of Park Trail. However, the hike and scramble down canyon was fun and engaging. There were several cascades along the way and some nice pools. We took a break at the confluence and them made our way to the main attractions. Both falls did not disappoint. The big one is a tad spooky to look over, but it has a nice ascetic despite its unphotogenic nature. The double falls are more user friendly and probably represented one of the nicest attractions of the day. After visiting the falls, we took the use trail back to the main trail and began the somewhat knee rattling descent back to our cars. We ran into a fellow HAZ user along the way, because of course you would run into another HAZ user in the bottom of a random canyon in the Mazzies. Great day out overall and perfect conditions, in spite of some heavy wind at times. It was nice to see John and his driver again.
 Named place
 Named place [ checklist ]
[ checklist ]  Park Creek
wildflower observationwildflower observationwildflower observationwildflower observationwildflower observation
Wildflowers Observation Isolated
A few here and there.

water 1 out of 5water 2 out of 5water 3 out of 5water less than max Park Creek Medium flow Medium flow

water 1 out of 5water 2 out of 5water 3 out of 5water less than max Park Creek @ the Park Trail Medium flow Medium flow
_____________________
  2 archives
Mar 19 2020
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 Routes 154
 Photos 1,505
 Triplogs 266

31 male
 Joined Jun 02 2019
 Phoenix, AZ
Park Creek FallsPayson, AZ
Park Creek Falls
Payson, AZ
Hiking avatar Mar 19 2020
LJW • Triplogs 266
Hiking11.47 Miles 3,440 AEG
Hiking11.47 Miles   7 Hrs   52 Mns   2.14 mph
3,440 ft AEG   2 Hrs   30 Mns Break
 
1st trip
Linked   linked  
Park Trail #66
Parallel Play Canyon
Partners none no partners
Route Scout Route Recorded  on Route Scout | Pop | Map | Popup | MapDEX
I met a friend from Flagstaff at the Deer Creek Trailhead before heading down the 188. Clouds were awesome driving up the 87, and when I got to Deer Creek I hiked up about a half mile to take some pictures of the storm over Mazatzal Peak and the constant, fleeting rainbows while I waited for my friend to arrive.

We took his car to the Park Trail Th, and when we got onto fr409 the car immediately went sideways. Road's in great shape, but it was too muddy from the storms the night before. We parked on the opposite side of the 188 and walked down the road, adding about 3.5 miles.

Park Creek at the trailhead was an absolute river. Got half way across rock-hopping before taking our boots off. Park Trail is in superb shape.

Hiked up the little peak 4759 just north of the trail and watched the clouds roll over Mount Ord and the Tonto Basin. Sierra Anchas, the higher Mazatzal peaks, and the Mogollon Rim got a fresh layer of snow.

Left the trail at the drainage that leads down closest to the falls after getting up around 4800ft. Stayed east of the drainage where the mountainside was clear, but eventually worked our way down along the water.

Took a while to find a good spot to cross Park Creek above the falls. Water level was high and jumping freaked me out with white water crashing down the smooth granite toward the falls. Really the only danger was in getting wet and cold and ruining my camera. I found a spot where I could cross on submerged rocks in water a little less than knee deep. My friend and his dog simply jumped across and back.

Working down below the upper falls took time. Eventually we found a route that climbed up and then down to the lower falls. Good bushwhack, and the scrambling was more exciting on account of being slippery with wet lichen.

We worked our way onto the mountainside north of the lower falls after checking out the upper. We didn't go south of the lower falls, but I reckon the best views are from that north side.

Much faster going back having established a route. We were back on the trail within an hour. Climbed back onto 4759 one more time and soaked in the views. Great visibility, and the clear air seemed to bring out more color. Didn't see anybody except a camper at the trailhead.
 Meteorology
 Meteorology [ checklist ]
[ checklist ]  Rainbow
wildflower observationwildflower observationwildflower observationwildflower observationwildflower observation
Wildflowers Observation Light
More to bloom soon
 
Feb 16 2019
avatar

 Guides 3
 Routes 202
 Photos 3,513
 Triplogs 530

male
 Joined Jan 24 2016
 Arizona
Park Creek FallsPayson, AZ
Park Creek Falls
Payson, AZ
Hiking avatar Feb 16 2019
MountainMatt • Triplogs 530
Hiking6.92 Miles 2,976 AEG
Hiking6.92 Miles   5 Hrs   36 Mns   1.85 mph
2,976 ft AEG   1 Hour   51 Mns Break45 LBS Pack
 no routes
Linked   linked  
Park Trail #66
Parallel Play Canyon
Partners none no partners
Led a group of friends up to the well earned views that reside in the impressive canyon segment of Park Creek.
As we started I knew we would be in for a treat since the creek had well over double the flow from my last visit almost exactly three years ago.
Trail is still in great condition thanks to the cattle, hunters and hearty canyoneers one of which recently ribbon marked the upper portion of the trail.

We lucked out with such a great weather window as the majority of the day was warm, had plenty of sun and even a nice 10 minute spurt of pleasant mellow snowfall.
Aretta was kind enough to hang out with Payton above the twin falls while I led Dave and Josh down to the base of them and then to finale, PC Falls itself gushing in full glory.
[ youtube video ]

Getting the hard work done first on this hike makes for a leisurely stroll back down soaking in the expansive views of the mighty Tonto Basin that never get old.
wildflower observationwildflower observationwildflower observationwildflower observationwildflower observation
Wildflowers Observation Moderate
Poppies are really beginning to come to life along the middle section of the trail in the burn area.

water 1 out of 5water 2 out of 5water 3 out of 5water 4 out of 5 Park Creek Heavy flow Heavy flow
_____________________
 
Jan 17 2016
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 Guides 94
 Routes 840
 Photos 22,055
 Triplogs 1,993

52 male
 Joined Sep 18 2002
 Tempe, AZ
Park Creek FallsPayson, AZ
Park Creek Falls
Payson, AZ
Hiking avatar Jan 17 2016
chumley • Triplogs 1,993
Hiking7.72 Miles 3,404 AEG
Hiking7.72 Miles   8 Hrs   12 Mns   1.72 mph
3,404 ft AEG   3 Hrs   42 Mns Break
 no routes
1st trip
Linked   linked  
Park Trail #66
Parallel Play Canyon
Partners partners
JoelHazelton
After lazily sitting on the couch watching football on Saturday I was happy when Joel suggested a 6-7 mile hike on Sunday. He neglected to mention the 3000 feet of gain. ](*,)

I'm not sure what the term is -- must be related to bucket list -- but different. In any case, I'm glad to get it checked off while hoping to never again have to hike in the snow through catclaw (two things that should never occur together). Add off-trail and after dark and one wonders why more people don't come here! :lol:

Ultimately, it was a fantastic day. Awesome water flow in the entire canyon. Plenty of amazing cascades, along with the incredible waterfalls downstream. I'm impressed by the canyoneer folks who rappel down this thing. It's impressive.

Love to see the water flow at this time of year. Hopefully that el nino thing happens because except for a 5-day stretch two weeks ago, it's been a whole lot of sunny.
 Culture
 Culture [ checklist ]
[ checklist ]  Cag Shot
 Named place
 Named place [ checklist ]
[ checklist ]  Park Creek
_____________________
I'm not sure what my spirit animal is, but I'm confident it has rabies.
 
Mar 03 2013
avatar

 Photos 377
 Triplogs 579

female
 Joined Jun 19 2009
 AZ
Parallel Play CanyonPayson, AZ
Parallel Play Canyon
Payson, AZ
Canyoneering avatar Mar 03 2013
oceanwithin • Triplogs 579
Canyoneering6.00 Miles 2,400 AEG
Canyoneering6.00 Miles
2,400 ft AEG
Intermediate Canyoneering - Difficult or dangerous; Tech Climb; rope reqd; descent anchor; exit technical;
C - Strong current; wading/swimming; waterfalls; possible wet/dry suit
 no routesno photosets
1st trip
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
We needed an excuse to hit up Big Daddy's pizza in Tonto Basin so Parallel Play it was. :y: Awesome canyon with the perfect flow today. That waterfall corridor area is so cool! Had a blast... literally, blasted in the face by a flowing waterfall. Another great Mazzies canyon with quite a rock-hop out!
_____________________
 
Mar 03 2013
avatar

 Guides 4
 Routes 20
 Photos 544
 Triplogs 22

male
 Joined May 23 2004
 San Diego, CA
Parallel Play CanyonPayson, AZ
Parallel Play Canyon
Payson, AZ
Canyoneering avatar Mar 03 2013
azmike • Triplogs 22
Canyoneering6.00 Miles 2,400 AEG
Canyoneering6.00 Miles   8 Hrs   30 Mns   0.71 mph
2,400 ft AEG
Intermediate Canyoneering - Difficult or dangerous; Tech Climb; rope reqd; descent anchor; exit technical;
C - Strong current; wading/swimming; waterfalls; possible wet/dry suit
III - Normally requires most of a day
 
1st trip
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
We started at the trailhead around 8 AM and followed a pretty well-defined trail to the drainage where we dropped into the canyon at the first rappel. There was a little bit of snow on the ground at the higher elevations but only patches of snow. Once we dropped in, we could see a huge waterfall up canyon a half mile or so. We would have had to do some serious bush whacking to get to it. We left it for another day and just started hiking down the canyon.

The water was flowing fast in the canyon. We knew that all raps would be over waterfalls. There were four raps in the canyon. The best of the three was the second rap which was either a two-stage or three-stage rap. The waterfall was raging on this one. We had to rappel down 100 ft or so to a ledge. The ledge required us to pitch hard to our right while on the rope. There was an anchor on a BFR at the ledge. You could easily put several people on this ledge. From there we rapped down between two granite walls about 150 ft to a really cool alcove. There's another anchor about 120 ft down. It's there to make the rope pull easier on the second stage. I would at least have the last person down make this a three-stage rap.

After the final rap, we geared down and started hiking down Park Creek. There's a lot of scrambling across large boulders which makes for a little more difficult exit especially with the vegetation.

Once the canyon opens up and about a mile before the trailhead, we started to climb out of the creek bed on LDC. It was much easier and faster to hike above the creek. We just followed the creek to the trailhead. It was a great day to be in the canyon especially with all the water.

water 1 out of 5water 2 out of 5water 3 out of 5water 4 out of 5 Park Creek Heavy flow Heavy flow
Lots of water in Park Creek. UP canyon there were a number of waterfalls.
_____________________
 
Mar 03 2013
avatar

 Guides 1
 Routes 3
 Photos 337
 Triplogs 311

41 male
 Joined May 31 2009
 
Parallel Play CanyonPayson, AZ
Parallel Play Canyon
Payson, AZ
Canyoneering avatar Mar 03 2013
azflyguy • Triplogs 311
Canyoneering6.00 Miles 2,400 AEG
Canyoneering6.00 Miles   7 Hrs      0.86 mph
2,400 ft AEG
Intermediate Canyoneering - Difficult or dangerous; Tech Climb; rope reqd; descent anchor; exit technical;
C - Strong current; wading/swimming; waterfalls; possible wet/dry suit
III - Normally requires most of a day
 no routesno photosets
1st trip
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
_____________________
Canyoneering gear beta tester and supplier. Visit http://www.shadowcatadventures.com for canyoneering, climbing, hiking and backpacking gear.
 
Apr 07 2012
avatar

 Guides 3
 Routes 4
 Photos 8,687
 Triplogs 931

46 male
 Joined Mar 28 2005
 Gilbert, AZ
Parallel Play CanyonPayson, AZ
Parallel Play Canyon
Payson, AZ
Canyoneering avatar Apr 07 2012
Vaporman • Triplogs 931
Canyoneering6.00 Miles 2,400 AEG
Canyoneering6.00 Miles   6 Hrs   30 Mns   0.92 mph
2,400 ft AEG
Intermediate Canyoneering - Difficult or dangerous; Tech Climb; rope reqd; descent anchor; exit technical;
A - Dry or little water; shallow or avoidable water; no wet/dry suit
III - Normally requires most of a day
 no routes
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
The AZ Rendezvous was going on this weekend and I looking for a good 2/3 day canyon near Salome Jug so that we'd finish before dinner time and could head over for a night run thru the Jug and this sweet canyon fit the bill perfectly. It wasn't flowing but it's still a great canyon and be brought a 300ft rope for the 2-stage 250ft falls. I guessed it to be close to 225ft and it was SO sweet to do it as one BIG rappel as opposed to breaking it up. There's a few other cool rappels but this canyon is about that BIG waterfall into a narrow hallway and mucho rock hopping and boulder down climbing to exit that super rocky canyon. :sweat: The canyon finally pops out of the mountain where I've always exited up onto the flat desert on the leftside of the canyon and lightly bushwhacked my way back to the TH. So sweet to share this canyon with two new canyon buddies! :D

I dropped the R this time since it's not quite as difficult of a rappel if done as one BIG drop...
_____________________
Yea, canyoneering is an extreme sport... EXTREMELY dramatic!!! =p
 
Jan 22 2011
avatar

 Guides 3
 Routes 4
 Photos 8,687
 Triplogs 931

46 male
 Joined Mar 28 2005
 Gilbert, AZ
Parallel Play CanyonPayson, AZ
Parallel Play Canyon
Payson, AZ
Canyoneering avatar Jan 22 2011
Vaporman • Triplogs 931
Canyoneering6.00 Miles 2,400 AEG
Canyoneering6.00 Miles   8 Hrs      0.75 mph
2,400 ft AEG
Intermediate Canyoneering - Difficult or dangerous; Tech Climb; rope reqd; descent anchor; exit technical;
B - Up to light current; wading/swimming; possible wet/dry suit
Risky - Extraordinary risk factors exist; solid skills/judgement reqd; no beginners
III - Normally requires most of a day
 no routes
Linked   linked  
Park Trail #66
Park Creek Falls
Partners partners
alpineclimber
suzaz
AKA Park Creek Falls in the hiking community.

Well a climbing trip fell thru when a partner got sick, so Michael & I fell back on this canyon as a backup. After doing Parker Canyon, we'd been talking about the flow of snow runoff down this equally amazing canyon across the lake. Susan's plans fell thru also, so she was a last minute addition than morning. Gotta love the fluidness of canyoneering! :D

With 200ft ropes & full wetsuits, we slogged up the Park trail passing a hunter with a recent kill of a beautiful bobcat. ;) The views of Tonto Basin were amazing, but we were so glad to be done climbing up the mountainside and dropping into the lightly flowing canyon. :y: Geared up, rock hopped a bit downstream, and made the first 40ft drop. A little further downstream is the amazingly HUGE ~250ft waterfall. :o The creek oddly went underground here and came out a crack in the wall about 100ft from the bottom. This is a mulit-stage rappel and the first drop is about 150ft down that slick angled chute and then head to a midway ledge on the right (looking up canyon). Once all down on the ledge, we pulled the ropes while soaking in this super sweet waterfall & rigged the anchors for another ~100ft drop into the hallway below. From this amazing waterfall, we again pulled the ropes, and made another 20ft drop into a chilly swimmer. Wow, that was flipping amazing! :D A little further downstream, we hit a second huge multi-stage drop past a series of falls & cascades. :y: It starts off with a 40ft drop past a huge chockstone to the top of the main falls, but we rappelled 100ft into a dry grotto on the rightside. That put us down to a ledge with a few options, but the quickest way is to down climb the slick flowing chute and wade another chilly pool. That was the end of the rappels, but we left the gear on until we knew we were done with the cold pools. ;) Loads of rock hopping, some more down climbing, and a few pools to try and avoid as we continued down canyon until we felt confident enough to drop the gear and put on some dry clothes. :) The canyon slowly opened up and eventually we popped out of the mountains and into the flat Tonto Basin where we got out of the rocky canyon and bushwhacked back to the TH. :sweat:

Such a great short & sweet canyon that I'm glad to have come back and caught when it was flowing on this relatively dry winter (so far). :D
foliage observationfoliage observationfoliage observationfoliage observationfoliage observation
Autumn Foliage Observation Moderate
_____________________
Yea, canyoneering is an extreme sport... EXTREMELY dramatic!!! =p
 
Nov 20 2010
avatar

 Guides 3
 Routes 4
 Photos 8,687
 Triplogs 931

46 male
 Joined Mar 28 2005
 Gilbert, AZ
Parallel Play CanyonPayson, AZ
Parallel Play Canyon
Payson, AZ
Canyoneering avatar Nov 20 2010
Vaporman • Triplogs 931
Canyoneering6.00 Miles 2,400 AEG
Canyoneering6.00 Miles   7 Hrs   35 Mns   0.79 mph
2,400 ft AEG
Intermediate Canyoneering - Difficult or dangerous; Tech Climb; rope reqd; descent anchor; exit technical;
A - Dry or little water; shallow or avoidable water; no wet/dry suit
Risky - Extraordinary risk factors exist; solid skills/judgement reqd; no beginners
III - Normally requires most of a day
 no routes
Linked   linked  
Park Trail #66
Park Creek Falls
Partners none no partners
Wow, yet another amAZing canyon tucked away in the Mazatzals. :y: AKA as Park Creek Falls in the hiking world. I wanted to do a dry run down this canyon on a warm fall day to get a feel for the canyon before heading back next spring to catch it flowing from snow runoff. : rambo :

The road is looks to be recently graded so my car made it in no problem. Like Preston says, the trail receives little maintenance and is overgrown with thorny bushes as you climb 2000ft in 2 miles but nothing that my half shredded canyoneering pants & shin guards can't handle. ;) Once a little past Pyramid Peak, I bushwhacked down to the dry creek and soon reached that first day fall. The upper creekbed had a few clear pools but nothing I couldn't thankfully avoid since I didn't bring the wetsuit in order to make hauling two 200ft ropes up the mountain a tad easier. :sweat: Geared up and dropped down that first 40ft rappel to the rocky creekbed. I left the rope in place to run down and check the anchors for the big rappel #2 & after finding some interesting yet solid anchors I rock hopped back up and pulled the rope. The main falls is actually more like sloping 225-250ft drop. :o About 150ft down, there's a ledge on the left LDC with another anchor to rappel from but you need to angle that way on rappel in order to reach it. Midway down I threw the rope the rest of the way to get a feel for the length and there looked to be another 25-50ft of drop past the ropes end before reaching the hallway at the bottom. So I pulled the rope and setup from the ledge anchors and dropped another ~100ft into that super sweet hallway. There's another 20ft drop out of the hallway and another set of anchors in there also but I decided to snap some quick photos and continue on using the same anchors from above. There's a cold knee-high pool to wade and from across the way after a little bit of struggling I was able to get a good angle and make the rope pull. In hindsight, It might be best to just make the rope pull from the hallway and get an additional rappel, especially if the water is flowing descent. I gave this canyon an extra R due to this huge mulit-stage rappel and it's exhilerating enough when it's dry and can only imagine how sweet it is when it's flowing. :D A pool around the corner I avoided and then you're faced with a 3rd falls with a few different options though they might be more limited when its flowing. I found an anchor on the left side that was shreeded and easily came loose when I test pulled it :o plus it dropped down almost into a tree. So I went back to try another way and choose the middle option. I ended up build an anchor and dropping down 20ft thru a tight chute to get past that huge chockstone and found myself on top of the next set of anchors. Hmm, looks like an interesting one... I rappelled under a chockstone hanging there so that the rope pull would be easier and continued down that angled chute a good 100ft before reaching a ledge flat. Hmm, no anchors down here but it looks down climbable so I pulled the rope, scrambled down, and waded across another knee-high pool. It looked like that was the end of the technical section, as it was, but I kept the gear on in case I ran into something further down canyon. No more rappels, but I did do some light down climbing and loads & loads of rock hopping while enjoying more fall colors. :sweat: Eventually I reached a flat bench on the side of the creek that I could scramble up and made pretty good time weaving thru the brush back to the TH while enjoying the sweet view of the Tonto Basin.

Now that I know the canyon better I could prob shave an hour from todays time but I suspect that flowing water would add another hour or two on top of that. ;)
foliage observationfoliage observationfoliage observationfoliage observationfoliage observation
Autumn Foliage Observation Moderate
_____________________
Yea, canyoneering is an extreme sport... EXTREMELY dramatic!!! =p
 
average hiking speed 1.27 mph

WARNING! Hiking and outdoor related sports can be dangerous. Be responsible and prepare for the trip. Study the area you are entering and plan accordingly. Dress for the current and unexpected weather changes. Take plenty of water. Never go alone. Make an itinerary with your plan(s), route(s), destination(s) and expected return time. Give your itinerary to trusted family and/or friends.

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