Tuesday was our “adventure day”. Before our vacation we signed up for the Ephedra’s Grotto Half Day Canyoneering trip with Moab Cliffs and Canyons. This is the description from their website:

Ephedra’s Grotto begins with a short hike across ancient petrified sand dunes, leading us into a dry rock wash. Quickly the wash turns into a dry waterfall that seems to almost disappear into the tightest, deepest rain gutter imaginable. “We go down there?!” is the usual question after peering over the edge, and indeed we do. This exquisite rappel is the first obstacle in reaching the entrance to the amazing grotto.

Now, totally enveloped in a small stone room, whose floor rarely sees the light of day, we exit to find our next challenge: a jaw-dropping rappel into the alluring green canyon below next to an enormous natural stone bridge — the 6th largest natural land bridge in the world! A cool spring-fed stream accompanies us for the rest of this outstanding hike, exiting into the Colorado river corridor.
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We arrived at the office in the morning and met our guides Chris and Riley. Our group had various levels of experience and nervousness about the trip and Chris and Riley were great in explaining what we were doing and allaying any concerns. We drove to the Sand Flats Recreation Area to start our hike. We each got a backpack with a helmet, harness, belay device, and water and off we went. It didn’t take long to reach our first rappel and we put on our helmets and harnesses and received our instructions. Two rappels were set up at both sides of the grotto then it was time to go over the edge. I went first so I could get pictures of the others rappelling down. This rappel was very pretty - the grotto was lovely shades of orange and pink and perfect for taking pictures.

Just around the corner was our next rappel. We were at a cliff by Morning Glory Bridge; a 243 foot natural bridge that is one of the longest in the world. While Chris and Riley set up the rappels we had a chance to walk out on the bridge for pictures. This rappel was longer than the previous one and the second half was a free rappel once the wall became concave. What a setting for a rappel - it was very cool to rappel under the impressive Morning Glory Bridge. We also had an audience on this one as the bridge is a popular destination with hikers in Negro Bill Canyon. After breaking down the rappels and packing up, we hiked out of the canyon to the van and had a short ride back to town. The canyon was beautiful and it was a nice change of pace to see some water and greenery.

Overall, we all thought the Ephedra’s Grotto trip was well worth the time and money and we had a great time. Sweta and Anshu did rock climbing at Wall Street afterwards with Moab Cliffs and Canyons and enjoyed that as well. We would recommend this company without hesitation; a canyoneering or rock climbing trip is a great addition to a Moab vacation.