Spanish Bottoms
The definitive Cataract Canyon layover camp — wide sandy flats above the Big Drops, trail access to the Doll House above, and the knowledge that tomorrow is the day.
Spanish Bottoms is the most important camp in Cataract Canyon — a wide, flat sandy terrace on river right, just above the first of the Big Drops at mile 213. Groups camped here are positioned to scout the rapids the following morning: Big Drop 1, Big Drop 2, and the complex that includes Satan's Gut are all within a short walk downstream. The flat is large enough for the biggest commercial groups and small enough that it never loses its sense of remoteness. Above the camp the walls rise into the Maze District of Canyonlands and the Doll House formations — tiered fins of Cedar Mesa Sandstone visible against the sky. The trail from Spanish Bottoms up to the Doll House is one of the finest half-day hikes accessible from any river camp in the Southwest: 1,200 feet of climbing through switchbacks that emerge onto the slickrock plateau above the canyon with views back down to the river corridor. Camp here, scout the drops in the morning, run them at first light. That is the Cataract sequence.