Below Big Drops Camp
Sandy bench camp below the Big Drops — the celebration camp after running the hardest water in Cataract Canyon.
Also known as: Big Drops Camp, Below the Drops
Below Big Drops Camp sits on a sandy bench downstream of the Big Drop rapids — the most consequential whitewater in Cataract Canyon. By the time you reach this camp you have run Big Drop 1, Big Drop 2, and Big Drop 3 (Satan's Gut), and the adrenaline is still circulating. The camp occupies a sandy terrace on river left immediately below the Big Drop 3 tailwaves (Big Drop 3 sits at river mile 202.05 from Lees Ferry, with its downstream end at ~202.0), where the canyon briefly opens after the constriction of the drops. The walls here are Honaker Trail Formation limestone and Cedar Mesa Sandstone, stacked in dark and light bands that catch late afternoon light. The river slows and widens below the drops, creating reliable eddies and a good landing. This is a celebration camp — groups arrive buzzing from the rapids and set up with a particular energy. The canyon downstream flattens toward the reservoir, so this is the last camp with a real whitewater story behind it.