The original idea was to drive through Titus Canyon but on the advice of the Ranger we spoke with at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center we decide not to risk the tires on our rental car and instead put few miles on our hiking boots in the adjacent Fall Canyon. We got a fairly early start from Furnace Creek on Saturday morning and the drive time was right at an hour to the trailhead, the last 3 miles on gravel road which was fairly well maintained. Even though the dirt access road was cared for it was still rough in stretches. Nothing bad about the road when we made the drive, but the going was slow or the washboard would jar your teeth out; 15 mph was the max speed. After making that short drive, we were glad that we opted out of the 26-mile drive through Titus Canyon. There were only four cars at the trailhead when we arrived. We saddled up and were on the trail about 8:55. While the trail was not marked it was well worn and easy to follow. This was obviously a popular trail but we had it to ourselves at the moment. The initial part of the trail is open and runs over the rolling terrain of the alluvial fan and is a simple connector between the Titus Canyon trailhead and mouth of Fall Canyon. There were a few sprigs of wildflowers along this stretch plus nice views back out over the valley. The trail continues along the alluvial fan as it turns toward the mouth of the canyon. The trail is uphill all the way but it seems so gradual that it is really not that noticeable. As I recall there was only one little obstacle all along the trail (well, except the big fall at the end but we’ll get to that later) and that was near the mouth of the canyon where the trail works down a short steep sections into the gravel wash. There are uneven steps here in the dirt wall, but after that it is smooth sailing, albeit the gravel is deep in spots. This was another great hike into a canyon, but very different from the loop we made up Golden Canyon and back down Gower Gulch. First of all, we started at a much higher elevation with the trailhead sitting at about 940 feet above sea level. There was less variation in color here in Fall Canyon compared to what we saw above Golden Canyon and through the Badlands and Gower Gulch, but there were still amazing displays of red, orange and yellow in the rocks in the canyon walls. The walls of Fall Canyon were also much more massive than anything we saw in Golden Canyon and Gower Gulch as they towered above us for most of the hike. Very different but really a very complimentary hike as the two trails offer a myriad of rewards for us day hikers. While the hike up Fall Canyon is uphill all the way to the end, it is not a steep climb, in fact it seemed very gradual. But the elevation gain is fairly significant at about 1300 feet. The fall where we turned around is at about 2270 feet above sea level. The distance from the trailhead to this 18-foot tall fall at where we turned around is 3.4 miles according to one hiking book on the area trails (I marked it at 3.6 miles, but the GPS does sometimes get confused in these canyons). Supposedly there is a detour around this fall but it requires some climbing knowledge. For us this was a good place to reverse course and head back down the canyon. On the return trip it seemed like we flew down out of the canyon it seemed more apparent to the eye that we were going downhill where it did not seem that significant on the uphill march. The timing of the hike sort of tells the tale as we took about 2:15 to reach the fall and only 1:45 roughly to get back to the trailhead. While we had the trail nearly to ourselves going into the canyon (we saw eight other hikers) there was quite the crowd of folks that we passed on the return trip. There were interesting sights all along the length of the canyon, starting with the conglomerate rock layers at the mouth of the canyon. Just a big mix of stones in the wall of the canyon…sort of a river rock concrete. There were also several interesting examples of folds and buckles in the rock strata with the layers going in all directions including a nearly vertical in places. There were also some very nice narrows and slots. Nothing really comparable to the slots in southern Utah or Northern Arizona but there were points that were reminiscent of Willis Creek and Little Wild Horse Canyon, just not nearly as tight. In addition to the geologic marvels there were nice displays of wildflowers all along the trail and we spotted a few small critters (lizards, including a juvenile chuckwalla, and some songbirds). This was a wonderful hike. Easy trail with plenty of interesting things to see and not too packed with other hikers. This is a trail that I would hike again.

Hiking/Backpacking

Death Valley, Death Valley National Park, National Park, hiking, canyon, Fall Canyon

California, United States

time : Mar 26, 2016 8:41 AM

duration : 3h 47m 27s

distance : 7.2 mi

total_ascent : 2113 ft

highest_point : 2254 ft

avg_speed : 1.9 mi/h

user_id : OhioHick

user_firstname : Allen

user_lastname : Arrington

The original idea was to drive through Titus Canyon but on the advice of the Ranger we spoke with at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center we decide not to risk the tires on our rental car and instead put few miles on our hiking boots in the adjacent Fall Canyon. We got a fairly early start from Furnace Creek on Saturday morning and the drive time was right at an hour to the trailhead, the last 3 miles on gravel road which was fairly well maintained. Even though the dirt access road was cared for it was still rough in stretches. Nothing bad about the road when we made the drive, but the going was slow or the washboard would jar your teeth out; 15 mph was the max speed. After making that short drive, we were glad that we opted out of the 26-mile drive through Titus Canyon. There were only four cars at the trailhead when we arrived. We saddled up and were on the trail about 8:55. While the trail was not marked it was well worn and easy to follow. This was obviously a popular trail but we had it to ourselves at the moment. The initial part of the trail is open and runs over the rolling terrain of the alluvial fan and is a simple connector between the Titus Canyon trailhead and mouth of Fall Canyon. There were a few sprigs of wildflowers along this stretch plus nice views back out over the valley. The trail continues along the alluvial fan as it turns toward the mouth of the canyon. The trail is uphill all the way but it seems so gradual that it is really not that noticeable. As I recall there was only one little obstacle all along the trail (well, except the big fall at the end but we’ll get to that later) and that was near the mouth of the canyon where the trail works down a short steep sections into the gravel wash. There are uneven steps here in the dirt wall, but after that it is smooth sailing, albeit the gravel is deep in spots. This was another great hike into a canyon, but very different from the loop we made up Golden Canyon and back down Gower Gulch. First of all, we started at a much higher elevation with the trailhead sitting at about 940 feet above sea level. There was less variation in color here in Fall Canyon compared to what we saw above Golden Canyon and through the Badlands and Gower Gulch, but there were still amazing displays of red, orange and yellow in the rocks in the canyon walls. The walls of Fall Canyon were also much more massive than anything we saw in Golden Canyon and Gower Gulch as they towered above us for most of the hike. Very different but really a very complimentary hike as the two trails offer a myriad of rewards for us day hikers. While the hike up Fall Canyon is uphill all the way to the end, it is not a steep climb, in fact it seemed very gradual. But the elevation gain is fairly significant at about 1300 feet. The fall where we turned around is at about 2270 feet above sea level. The distance from the trailhead to this 18-foot tall fall at where we turned around is 3.4 miles according to one hiking book on the area trails (I marked it at 3.6 miles, but the GPS does sometimes get confused in these canyons). Supposedly there is a detour around this fall but it requires some climbing knowledge. For us this was a good place to reverse course and head back down the canyon. On the return trip it seemed like we flew down out of the canyon it seemed more apparent to the eye that we were going downhill where it did not seem that significant on the uphill march. The timing of the hike sort of tells the tale as we took about 2:15 to reach the fall and only 1:45 roughly to get back to the trailhead. While we had the trail nearly to ourselves going into the canyon (we saw eight other hikers) there was quite the crowd of folks that we passed on the return trip. There were interesting sights all along the length of the canyon, starting with the conglomerate rock layers at the mouth of the canyon. Just a big mix of stones in the wall of the canyon…sort of a river rock concrete. There were also several interesting examples of folds and buckles in the rock strata with the layers going in all directions including a nearly vertical in places. There were also some very nice narrows and slots. Nothing really comparable to the slots in southern Utah or Northern Arizona but there were points that were reminiscent of Willis Creek and Little Wild Horse Canyon, just not nearly as tight. In addition to the geologic marvels there were nice displays of wildflowers all along the trail and we spotted a few small critters (lizards, including a juvenile chuckwalla, and some songbirds). This was a wonderful hike. Easy trail with plenty of interesting things to see and not too packed with other hikers. This is a trail that I would hike again.