Death Valley National Park literally has endless opportunities for hiking.  There are not many maintained trails within the park, but you really don't need them.  While park visitors and native wildlife maintain some of the trails, most of the hiking is cross-country.  The hiking within Death Valley revolves mostly around open desert, beautiful canyons, mountain peaks, mining ruins, and interesting geological formations.  And there are plenty of opportunities to explore places that nobody has ever seen before (or at least never reported on publicly).  Here at Death Valley Adventures, we frequently receive e-mail letters asking for hiking recommendations within the park, being that this is the largest Death Valley hiking site on the internet.  Over the years, I have realized that many times I am repeating answers to the same questions, such as revealing what I would recommend for hiking, backpacking, and adventure experiences.  Thus, I went ahead and put together this page which will benefit all visitors who are interested in hiking in Death Valley.  Keep in mind that the hikes and backpacking routes mentioned below are only a small sampling of what is available within the park.  But if you want to know my recommendations, they will be shared below.  This page will not focus on detailed information about the hikes and extensive photographs.  That type of information can be found on the specific trip pages which are linked to on the site's main page.  But I will share one photograph of each place and then try to give some details that are not available on the trip report pages that hikers will find beneficial.  I hope you will find this information helpful as you plan out your hiking and backpacking trips.  It has been said that I should be working in the Furnace Creek Visitor Center.  This hiking and backpacking section is the next best thing.  I hope you all enjoy your hikes and trips to Death Valley.

Before I share my hiking recommendations for Death Valley National Park, a word of caution is definitely in order.  One e-mail which I received from a park visitor commented that Death Valley "can be the most dangerous place on earth for any hikers."  And his words certainly hold a lot of truth.  While it can be considered fairly safe to do basic family hikes to tourist destinations during cooler months, other places hold a lot of risk for the inexperienced.  Just to recap a few of the risks-- dealing with extreme heat, getting lost in the desert, getting injured trying to climb dry falls (as shown on the right) or crossing exposed bypasses, along with many other things.  Prepare well for your hikes and be safety conscious at all times.  Always carry lots of water and avoid hiking in extreme heat.  Be sure to let somebody know where you will be hiking and check in with them when you are finished so that they will know you are safe.  Before doing specific hikes, talk with park rangers at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center for advice and updates on current conditions.  Watch where you walk and put your hands, to avoid a confrontation with a rattlesnake or scorpion.  Carry flashlights and warm clothing in case you end up getting stranded or hiking out in the dark.  And don't expect to be able to cover long distances as fast as you can on normal trails.

Some of our reports contain a Safety Alert with this logo just after the introduction paragraph.  These hikes have dry falls or bypasses which should not be attempted by hikers.  For these reports, we try to explain what major obstacles appear on the route and where hikers should stop in order to stay safe during the hike.  But still, these alerts do not cover all obstacles found on the hike.

The hikes listed under the Tourist and Family-Friendly Hikes section are among the easier ones in the park.  They are generally safe for children as long as you keep close watch on them and don't allow them to start climbing or wander off on their own.  Most of these hikes are located in close proximity to Furnace Creek and Stovepipe Wells, and only one of the recommended hikes requires a HC (high clearance) 4WD vehicle.  This is a short list of 5 of the best hikes which fall into this category.  A few of these hikes are not among my personal favorites, but that is only because there are lots of tourists doing them.  They are still very beautiful places for first-time visitors and others who would like to take their families someplace safe and enjoyable.

Mosaic Canyon is a great place for first-time visitors to Death Valley to take their families.  It serves as a perfect introduction to some of the beautiful slot canyon narrows that can be found within the park.  Children will enjoy feeling the smooth polished walls and doing small climbs.  When you reach a challenging dry fall partway into the canyon, test your skills at figuring out how to bypass it by looking for a well-used path on the right.  Expect to see loads of tourists throughout the lower part of the canyon, which means patience is required in order to get great photographs.  It is very difficult to get lost in here since there is only one main canyon and the crowds are easy to follow.  Watch children closely as they get close to the small dry falls and keep them from climbing up the small cliffs overlooking the wash.  Day hikers who want to extend this into a longer trip can go all the way to the base of the large dry fall at the end of the 2nd narrows which is where most people stop and turn around for the day.  Adventure hikers can find a way to bypass this major dry fall and see more narrows higher up in the canyon or they can loop back down by way of an old mining trail nearby.

Golden Canyon is widely recommended in park brochures and guidebooks and is well worth visiting.  It is just a 5 minute drive away from Furnace Creek and the whole family can spend as much time exploring as they wish.  Children will enjoy exploring the side passages and searching out locations where Star Wars movie scenes were filmed.  You will likely find even more tourists here than in Mosaic Canyon.  In fact, I once encountered an entire bus load of tourists hiking out of the canyon.  Golden Canyon is especially nice to visit when the rays of the sun are shining on the canyon walls, making them glow a bright color.  There are many options for hiking within the canyon, including out to the base of Red Cathedral and doing a full loop through nearby Gower Gulch.  If you decide to do the full loop, keep a close eye on children as there are many side canyons and drainages where they could get lost, as well as some basic dry falls which must be down climbed in order to continue.  But there isn't anything extremely hard and that's why I recommend it as one of my suggested family hikes.  One of the special aspects of walking through here is the views of Manly Beacon.

The Mesquite Sand Dunes have always been the most popular dunes in the park.  Children really love them.  You can see evidence of that if you check out my full report on the Mesquite Dunes.  These sand dunes are easily accessible, being just a short drive from Stovepipe Wells.  As with the other hikes, expect to see a lot of tourists and photographers here.  While the photographers tend to stick to the western and eastern ends of the dunes, tourists and children enjoy trying to hike out to the highest sand peak which is visible in the distance from the parking lot.  The highest peak doesn't look that far away, but you will find that it takes longer than you expect to reach it.  This is because of the ups and downs as you hike over sand ridges that are heavily marked up with footprints.  One word of caution to keep an eye out for snakes in the warm weather.  I have seen snakes out here and so have many others, and you wouldn't want your children to try to pick one up or get bitten.  Also, when it is hot outside bring plenty of water if walking out on the dunes.  But avoid trying to walk out on them during the Summer months when the sand will amplify the heat that is in the air.

Sidewinder Canyon is a true Death Valley classic.  Stop by the Visitor Center and get the hand-out and then follow the directions to reach Sidewinder Canyon and begin your exploring.  This place is not as heavily frequented by tourists, so you may only see 1 or 2 other groups out there while you are hiking, or you may see none at all.  Sidewinder Canyon is a place that children will enjoy immensely.  While the first half of the canyon is just a basic wash with walls slowly growing in height on each side, the second half of the canyon is very neat.  There are a series of three official slots that you can enter which are more like long caves.  These slots close in very tight and rise high in the air, blocking out much of the sunlight from the outside.  It actually gets quite dark inside the slots and you may want to bring a flashlight with you.  Beyond the slots, the main canyon narrows down considerably and your family will enjoy hiking through the tight passages all the way to the logical end.  Another note about this area is that Bighorn sheep tend to frequent the general area around here.  And during the Spring, you can find beautiful displays of wildflowers.

Marble Canyon is the most difficult of my recommended family hikes to access.  It requires a high clearance vehicle at all times, with 4WD being helpful and necessary most other times due to washouts and small boulders.  Inquire at the Visitor Center for the latest information on road conditions for accessing Marble Canyon.  This is an excellent hike to take the children on if you can get here.  The walking is mostly level with very few obstacles as you walk through towering narrows of marble.  There is one minor obstacle which is a dry fall with a boulder wedged into the top, which you will need to bypass on the right side, taking the obvious trail up that is visible.  The 2nd narrows are the most spectacular, but try to continue hiking past this to either the 3rd narrows or the Marble Main Side Canyon, which is off to the right a little ways past the 2nd narrows.  Marble Canyon and the Marble Main Side Canyon is actually one of the first places that I intend to take my 5-month old son hiking in Death Valley in his front carrier.  Marble Canyon is definitely a great place to take lots of photographs, as you will find yourself mesmerized while walking through the different sections of narrows.

The hikes listed under the Recommended Day Hikes are a mixture of well known and little known destinations.  And if you were to look at best of Death Valley hikes listed on other web sites, a majority of these would probably not be listed.  But keep in mind that these are my recommendations, the places which I feel hold the best and most interesting day hikes in the park.  There are other hikes that I love immensely as well, but this list was limited to the ten which I thought would appeal to the widest variety of people.  If you select any one of these hikes and carry it out successfully, you will have a great and memorable day in Death Valley.  Most of these hikes involve hiking cross-country and understanding desert hiking.  You may find a GPS helpful for navigation if you aren't very good at reading maps.

Fall Canyon is a true Death Valley classic, one of the best hikes in the park.  The scenery is on a grand scale with towering canyon walls on each side of you as you walk up a wide wash at the beginning.  Soon the wash narrows down and the walls close in on you, until you reach the base of the 1st dry fall.  Up until this point, this hike is pretty much family friendly.  But if you want to bypass the 1st dry fall and get into the narrows, you will need to scramble up the obvious route.  There is a high likelihood that you will run into quite a few other groups of hikers while you are inside this canyon.  And that is fine, since the canyon has plenty of space and you will still be able to take amazing pictures throughout.  For those who want to turn this into an adventure hike, they can go past the 1st dry fall and 1st narrows, and continue up canyon to try to reach the 2nd dry fall and 3rd dry fall.  One thing to keep in mind about this canyon is that the hiking is slow going most of the way.  The wash has deep gravel, which means that you sink down everytime you take a step and make slow progress.  But that just gives you more time to enjoy it.  This has always been one of my favorite hikes.

Fall Canyon's nearby neighbor Palmer Canyon is not nearly as well known.  And that's good news if you're planning on hiking out there.  Palmer Canyon boasts a long section of beautiful narrows right from the beginning of the canyon.  In contrast, Fall Canyon's narrows don't really start until you are about 3 miles into the canyon.  I have been asked which canyon I like better-- Fall or Palmer.  And the honest answer is that I just don't know.  Each canyon is spectacular and unique in its own way.  What I like about Palmer is the solitude.  It is a near certainty that you will not run into any other hikers.  Despite the amazing two sets of narrows that exist in Palmer Canyon, it remains relatively unknown to most park visitors.  Most people will probably find it easier to hike up to Palmer Canyon directly from Scotty's Castle Road, although it can be accessed via a slightly shorter route from the Titus Canyon parking area.  A couple things to keep in mind about Palmer are that there is a slightly difficult boulder climb in the middle of the 2nd narrows and there is a massive dry fall at the end of the 2nd narrows which is the logical end of the hike for most people.

Situated very close to Furnace Creek and Texas Spring Campground, Funeral Slot Canyon is one very impressive place.  Funeral Slot is a seemingly never ending slot of tall mud narrows (technically known as conglomerate rock narrows).  The route can be a little bit confusing to find the entrance to the canyon, so you will need good map reading skills or a GPS with marked coordinates.  Once you find your way into the canyon, the scenery grows more impressive by the minute.  The walls grow in height, the sunlight creates bright glowing on the walls, and the narrows twist and turn, always keeping you excited to see what is around the next corner.  There are a few obstacles within the canyon that require small climbs in order to see the entire canyon.  But even if you don't want to do any basic climbs, you still can see at least half of the canyon.  The interesting thing about this canyon is that it was mostly unknown for many years.  It is only in recent times that information about its existence was shared with me and I was able to pass that on to visitors to my site.  Funeral Slot Canyon is pretty much a must-do if you happen to be staying in the Furnace Creek area.

Of all the sand dunes in Death Valley, the Panamint Dunes are by far my favorite.  The dirt road to get out to the starting point to hike to these dunes can be a bit rough with some drainage crossings, but I have always made it in a regular 2WD truck.  An alternative would be to hike from the highway and make this into a very long day hike.  One neat thing about hiking out to the Panamint Dunes is that for 3+ miles you get to watch the dunes grow in size as you draw ever closer to them.  As you approach the edge of the dune system, you begin walking on sand, checking out all of the nearby plants and animal tracks.  One thing you will not see out here is people tracks.  The Panamint Dunes probably only see a handful of hikers each week.  That means that most of the time, you can have pure pictures of the dunes with no trampled down ridges or tourists in the background.  About the only thing out here that might happen to you is getting buzzed by a military jet zooming through the area.  The late afternoon seems to be the best time for taking photographs of the Panamint Dunes.  If you hike to the top of the dunes, you can have nice views down Panamint Valley.

Telescope Peak is a late Spring and Summer hike for most people.  The trail is maintained and begins at Mahogany Flat campground, high up in the Panamint Mountains.  All along the trail, you will never stop having great views of both Death Valley and Panamint Valley.  And once you are at the top of Telescope, your views will stretch all the way to the Sierras and beyond.  On my hike (which took place in the month of July), we were fortunate enough to have large blooms of wildflowers along the trail and we saw groups of mule deer grazing in Arcane Meadows.  One caution would be that this hike involves hiking into high elevations over 11,000 feet.  So that may be a concern to some people.  At the very least, it will likely slow you down as you get farther into the hike and reach the switchbacks section toward the end.  Along with being an excellent destination for day hikers, Telescope Peak also seems to attract its share of extreme adventurers.  Some will attempt to summit Telescope Peak all the way from Badwater in 1 or 2 days.  Others will come in the Winter when the mountain is covered in snow and attempt to summit with ice axes and crampons.

Red Amphitheater is a nice fairly easy day hike that visits a very scenic area of red cliffs and fallen boulders.  The hike out to Red Amp can be started at two different locations-- either at Hole In the Wall or along Highway 190.  The tricky part about this hike is finding Red Amphitheater.  On park maps, it has always been labeled across a very wide general area.  Yet, when a hiker goes out to this general area, there is nothing significant to find.  Therefore, it is necessary to use our route map included on our trip report for this area in order to successfully find Red Amp and Red Amp Canyon.  Along the way, be sure and stop at Strange Place to see a very interesting pyramid shaped rock formation with a cave entrance at the front.  This is one of the easiest hikes that is located close to Furnace Creek.  The only difficulties along the way besides route finding is scrambling up to a ridge and then slowly working your way down the opposite side on a steep slope.  Note on our trip report page that we have taken a few panoramic photographs of the Red Amphitheater formation.  As you can see, this is a very nice place for photography.  This hike should take about a half day.

Contact Canyon is the most scenically beautiful of the five officially named canyons in the Owlshead Mountains.  Reaching the starting point for the hike requires about a 1 hour drive south of Furnace Creek on Badwater Road and then a brief stretch on the gravel Harry Wade Road.  Not many people come to Death Valley and hike in the Owlshead Mountains, but Contact Canyon would serve as a great introduction.  The Owlsheads are made up of decomposed granite, which is very unique and not found very often in other areas of the park.  Contact Canyon remains fairly narrow from the mouth of the canyon all the way to the logical end at the colorful 4-way junction.  If you look carefully, you can even find a beautiful white rock arch above the canyon in this colorful area.  Surely you will want to take lots of pictures if you can make it this far.  One thing to keep in mind about this hike is that you are going to have to hike several miles just to reach the beginning of the canyon.  And getting to the beginning can be slightly tricky when you pass through the Confidence Hills.  So if you are not a good map reader or navigator of desert terrain, you may want to bring a GPS unit.

Thimble Peak is one hike that I can highly recommend as a very enjoyable peak hike.  The nice thing about doing this peak is that you can do it along with a drive of the scenic Titus Canyon Road.  So that's two great destinations that you can cover in one day.  The peak hike is somewhat short but fairly steep most of the time.  The exception to this is a short stretch where the hillside levels off as you approach the face of Thimble Peak.  This part of the hike has absolutely amazing and breathtaking views of the front of Thimble.  As you continue hiking up, most of the time on a hiker-maintained trail, things begin to get steeper during the ascent of Thimble.  There are a couple of slightly scary spots, but nothing too extreme.  The rewards for reaching the top of Thimble include being able to see some of the best views in the park of surrounding peaks, mountain ranges, and central Death Valley.  As you are hiking back down from Thimble, you will enjoy views into Titus Canyon and see vehicles driving through the area and down Red Pass.  When you are hiking, if you notice the trail disappear a few times, simply follow along the obvious ridges circling around toward Thimble.

Room Canyon is a fantastic hike, although the exact location remains unpublished at this time.  If you are wondering why I am including hikes that don't have directions on the main site, it is because finding these locations teaches you to use your map reading skills and resources such as Google Earth which are very valuable in desert hiking.  Clues to unpublished locations are purposely left within the reports to help hikers be able to find them.  Room Canyon has the tallest pinnacles within Death Valley.  The pinnacles are spectacular to behold in person, although a bit of scrambling is required to get up to the base of them for close-ups.  Room Canyon also has a very nice set of narrows which lead into The Room, a large section of canyon that is cathedral-like which the canyon is named after.  A little known fact about Room Canyon is that the park used to lead Adventure Hikes out to here in the past.  Those have since been discontinued.  The hike is not very long and there are very few obstacles to contend with.  About the only issue is a boulder in the wash which has to be bypassed or squeezed around.  And there is also a wedged boulder in the narrows to walk under.

Corkscrew Peak is the final hike that I have added for my list of Death Valley day hike recommendations.  I decided to add it because there is very easy access to get to the hike, it is a fairly popular peak hike, and there is a trail much of the way to the top once you have attained the ridge.  The key to this hike is to use the easier Round Boulder Route to access the ridge and gain the summit.  This route does not have a lot of difficulty with the exception of getting lost or not choosing the right drainages to hike up.  Corkscrew Peak has some very nice views looking out towards Stovepipe Wells and Furnace Creek.  Tucki Mountain, the Mesquite Sand Dunes, and Thimble Peak are all visually impressive from the peak.  Bighorn sheep also live in this area, which may provide a nice surprise for you while hiking.  And there is an interesting formation close to the summit known as Keyhole Rock which is a neat natural arch formation to check out.  One caution about this hike is that it is kind of steep and if you take the wrong canyon route then it will be a treacherous climb to the summit.  The standard Round Boulder Route is still steep but very manageable along the trail.

One of the questions I seem to get asked the most has to do with what the best backpacking routes are in Death Valley for both first-time visitors and returning hikers.  Thus, I have put together a group of five of my favorite backpacking routes within the park.  A majority of these are the same as recommended by the NPS.  When backpacking in Death Valley, one of the biggest issues is water availability.  If you don't want to have to carry all of the water for your trip, you are going to need a route which passes by reliable springs that you can pump drinking water out of.  Some of the routes below have water, and some do not.  But all of these routes are well worth doing and will make for enjoyable backpacking trips.  Before you start your backpacking trip, make sure to pick up a free permit at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center.

The Cottonwood-Marble loop is the premier backpacking trip in Death Valley.  It is a very popular route and you are likely to have other people camping near you, especially on the weekends.  The reason that this route is so popular is that it passes through two of the most well known canyons (Cottonwood and Marble) and there are generally reliable water sources at the springs (Cottonwood Spring and Dead Horse Sping).  The only drawback with this route is that many people end up getting lost and being unable to complete their planned loop by finding the correct crossover into Dead Horse Canyon.  Because of this, I have made a great effort to help hikers on my backpacking report by sharing photographs, information, and maps.  If you carry a GPS unit with you and input the correct coordinates of the crossover, there should be no reason to get lost.  The Cottonwood-Marble loop starts out by heading up Cottonwood Canyon.  Late in the Spring, you can find lush greenery here and Cottonwood trees full of leaves.  On the final day, you end up hiking down Marble Canyon, which as mentioned earlier, has towering narrows and marble walls.

One of the easiest backpacking routes to access in the park is Indian Pass Canyon.  Because it is nearly 10 miles one-way to see this entire canyon, many people choose to do it as an overnight backpacking trip.  There are a couple of seeps and springs scattered throughout the canyon where you can usually get water.  If you decide to get it at the first seep, you will need to be patient and let the water build up a little bit before you can pump it.  But farther up canyon, the springs seem to be more active.  The trickiest part about backpacking Indian Pass Canyon is successfully finding the entrance to it.  Because of this, you will need to prepare well and make sure you are able to find the correct route to get into the canyon.  Outside of the canyon, there seems to be a maze of confusing washes that can mislead hikers.  We have encountered lost groups while backpacking into Indian Pass.  If you do this trip, make sure you see the entire canyon, because the higher up you go, the more interesting the scenery becomes.  Don't expect great views up at Indian Pass, but expect to have a good time and appreciate the scenic trenches made of breccia rock throughout the canyon.

The Sand Canyon-Owl Lake route is a backpacking trip that you will not find recommended anywhere else except for here.  It is an outstanding hike through an extremely interesting and scenic canyon with a fantastic end destination and perfect place to camp out under the stars and enjoy amazing solitude.  You will need at least high clearance to drive out to the starting point for the hike into Sand Canyon on the Harry Wade Road.  Sand Canyon is the best canyon in the Owlshead Mountains and one of my personal favorites in the park.  The canyon starts out very narrow and you begin passing patches of sand.  Soon, you run into a bouldering section with huge boulders that are bigger than cars and houses.  If you have the skills to get through this area, you can continue hiking up canyon all the way to the end where there are twin sand dunes.  This is the only canyon in Death Valley which has sand dunes.  Beyond the sand dunes you will attain the ridge and drop down the other side onto a very gentle grade which leads down to Owl Lake (usually a dry lake).  This is where you will camp for the night before returning back the way you came the next day.  You will need to bring all of your water with you.

Bighorn Gorge is an epic overnight backpacking trip into a very isolated area with fantastic sets of polished canyon narrows.  The journey begins on Scotty's Castle Road as you hike down the fan and then head up the other side towards the mouth of Bighorn Gorge.  For a backpacking trip, you will want to set up camp about 7 miles into the canyon.  Then, on the next day, you can hike and climb your way through the narrows to get as far as your skills will let you.  For most people, that will be all the way.  But for some, they might get stuck at a few of the dry falls.  A few people will make it all the way to the end (or head) of the gorge and be able to see out into the White Top Mountain area.  You most likely will not run into any people here, but you will have Bighorn Gorge all to yourself.  You might be sharing it with Bighorn sheep or mountain lions, but don't let that scare you.  This is another route where you are going to need to bring all of your water with you, since there is none available in the area.  When I hiked Bighorn Gorge for the first time, I did it as a 20 mile day hike.  But it would have been so much more enjoyable as an overnight trip.

To close out my backpacking recommendations, I must include one of my personal favorites-- the trip up Surprise Canyon to Panamint City.  Although this hike is only about 6 miles each way, it will most likely take first-timers the entire day to reach camp at Panamint City.  This is because Surprise Canyon is so overgrown with lush greenery that route finding can be tricky, especially for those who try to keep their feet dry as long as they can.  The first section through Surprise Canyon is extremely beautiful with cascades and waterfalls in a setting of pretty canyon narrows.  As you continue hiking, you will pass by Limekiln Eden and through The Tunnel of Love (pictured at right).  There is plentiful water available for the entire first half of the hike.  Then the spring dries up and you won't be able to get water again until you arrive in Panamint City.  So be prepared for that, especially on a hot day.  Once in Panamint City, you can get water either from the pump at the machine shop if it is working or from the creek in Water Canyon.  This is not the best backpacking trip for the Winter months, as Panamint City is located at a high elevation and there is often snow on the ground.