Forbidding Canyon provides access to Bridge Canyon and Rainbow Bridge. Charles L. Bernheimer and John Wetherill named this canyon in 1921 after their failure to use it as part of an elusive western route to Rainbow Bridge. This is a twisting, turning canyon and more than one boater has pondered the route past several deadends when en route to Bridge Canyon and Rainbow Bridge.
No camping is allowed in Rainbow Bridge National Monument. Aztec Creek drains much of the western side of Navajo Mountain into upper Forbidding Canyon and makes this stretch particularly susceptible to flashfloods. Below the Bridge Canyon juncture, traffic will be high and possibilities low. All in all, one should plan on camping elsewhere.
