Falls Canyon
Hike Review
The hike was along the bottom of a canyon and the ground was all gravel, which made the hike feel much harder than the miles indicated.
The views were astounding—the tall, majestic canyon walls just cannot be denied. Even if the hike was twice as difficult, this would be a recommended trail from me.
The trail can be hot in the middle of the day, but the shadows of the canyon walls can offer some respite. It’s better to go when the sun is not directly overhead.
We saw no one within the canyon, which was surprising given how well-known and beautiful this canyon is.
There is a bathroom at the trailhead.
What I Learned
It had been a while since I hiked on gravel and while it wasn’t too bad, it made the hot hike a bit more insufferable. The views were worth it, but the short hike felt much, much longer.
I hiked this in my bedrock sandals. While a few pieces of gravel got stuck between my feet and the sandals, it worked well overall. I love these sandals so much!
I ended up taking a series of photos of Cassie against the backdrop of the canyon walls and in the moment I thought they’d be pretty cool. When I processed the photos, I loved them so much! I wished I had taken more!
What Happened?
4.8 miles, 2 hrs 57 mins, 1517 ft of ascent
I had seen too many photos of canyons over the winter and a visit to Death Valley National Park was the perfect opportunity to live out my dreams. Out of the many canyons at Death Valley, I chose Falls Canyon due to its proximity to Titus Canyon (which was closed due to flood damage)—I thought if we had enough time, we could check out both.
We parked at the trailhead and since it was lunchtime, we ate a yummy meal at the back of the truck. We then headed off on the single-track trail to Falls Canyon for about half a mile before we arrived at the Falls Canyon runoff.
At first, walking on the gravel felt alien, with the rocks shifting under our weight as we stepped on them. The tiring thing about walking on gravel is that most of the time, the rocks shift down a bit (kind of like sand), but sometimes, it doesn’t, which means that it’s a balancing act—one needs to be mindful with every step. Still, after a while, our human superpower (adaptation) kicked in and it was not so bad.
All that could have been mentally taxing though for us but the jaw-dropping views of the canyon more than kept our minds off of the exertion. Being in a canyon like Falls Canyon, where the walls of the canyon can be hundreds of feet tall, feels to me like walking in a city full of skyscrapers—all around you, tall structures are reaching for the sky and you feel so, so tiny.
We walked and walked, but because we had wanted to get to a few other things in the day, we decided to head back before we completed the entire trail. The hike back was easier (it always is) and we found ourselves back with Ramona sooner than we expected. Still, we knew that we needed to hurry if we wanted to reach Bad Water Basin before dark, so we made a beeline for it.
