A twelve mile drive, from highway US 89, over moderately rough roads, through some sandy washes, and across public easement through private property, provides access to the Rider Canyon Trailhead. Rider Canyon is one of the relatively few canyons where there is also relatively easy access to the Colorado River. Rider Canyon culminates by intersecting the Colorado River at House Rock Rapid. But, Rider Canyon is only the name of the steep-walled portion of the drainage. The upper portion of the drainage begins 24 miles northwest between the Kaibab Plateau and the Vermillion Cliffs. Its source is not far from Coyote Buttes and The Wave. The upper portion of the drainage is named House Rock Wash which also gives its name to the large geographic area north of Marble Canyon called the House Rock Valley. House Rock Wash is a dry wash with variations of sand and gravel in the stream bed.