Golden Canyon, Zabriskie Point

Golden Canyon Trail

To Red Cathedral is 2.5 miles round trip; to Zabriskie Point is 6 miles round trip with 700-foot elevation gain

Before sunrise, photographers set up their tripods at Zabriskie Point and point their cameras down at the pale mudstone hills of Golden Canyon and the great valley beyond. The panoramic view of Golden Canyon through a lens is magnificent, but don’t miss getting right into the canyon itself--which is only possible by hitting the trail.

Until the rainy winter of 1976, Golden Canyon had a road running through it. A desert deluge washed away the road, and it’s been a trail ever since.

The first mile of Golden Canyon Trail is a self-guided interpretive trail. Pick up a copy of the National Park Service’s “Trail Guide to Golden Canyon” pamphlet, available at visitor centers. Stops in the guide are keyed to numbers along the trail, and will likely tell you more about Miocene volcanic activity, Jurassic granitic intrusion and Precambrian erosion than you ever wanted to know.

At the end of the nature trail, the path branches. One fork heads for Red Cathedral, also called Red Cliffs. The red color is essentially iron oxide--rust--produced by weathering of rocks with a high iron content.

A second trail branch climbs two miles through badlands to Zabriskie Point. While it’s true that you can drive to Zabriskie Point, you’ll appreciate the view much more by sweating up those switchbacks on foot.

^ Back to Top ^

Directions to trailhead: From the Furnace Creek Visitor Center, drive south on Highway 190, forking right onto Highway 178. The signed Golden Canyon Trail is on your left, three miles from the visitor center.

The Hike

From the parking lot, hike up the alluvial fan into the canyon. Marvel at the tilted, faulted rock walls of the canyon as they close in around you. Notice the ripple marks, created long ago by water lapping at the shore of an ancient lake.

Deeper and deeper into the badlands you ascend. Watch for white crystalline outcroppings of borax--the same stuff of Twenty-Mule Team fame.

At the end of the nature trail, you can continue up the main canyon a quarter-mile to the old Golden Canyon parking lot. The trail narrows and you continue by squeezing through boulders and ascending a short ladder to the base of Red Cathedral, a colorful natural amphitheater.

Returning to the trail fork, this time you’ll follow the trail signed with the international hiker’s symbol and begin climbing toward Manly Beacon, a pinnacle of gold clay. The trail crests at the shoulder of the beacon, then descends into the badlands.

Watch for Park Service signs to stay on the trail, which is a bit difficult to follow as it marches up and down the severely eroded silt-stone hills.

A final steep grade brings you to Zabriskie Point, named for Christian Brevoort Zabriskie, one of the early leaders of Death Valley borax operations. Enjoy the grand view of the valley, framed by the badlands just below and the Panamint Mountains to the west. Walk back the way you came.

^ Back to Top ^