Kaleidoscope Canyon to Overlook

Death Valley National Park, CA Southern Death Valley + Amargosa Desert

Trip stats

Distance
7.3 mi
Net Gain
2,200 ft
Time
3-5 hrs
YDS Rating
Class 2
Route
Out/Back

Ratings out of 10

Effort
3.7/10
Personality
4/10
Beauty
5/10
Solitude
3.7/10
What do these mean? →

Route map + Trailhead

Trailhead Coordinates

35.906910, -116.622580

The directions link below drops a pin on the trailhead coordinates and lets Google Maps pick the route. If the drive has rough roads or access issues that GPS nav might get wrong, I cover that in my trip report.

Get directions (opens Google Maps in a new tab)

Trip report

Nov 13, 2017 — A long walk through an alluvial fan leads to the ridiculously coorful Kaleidoscope Canyon. Continue up the canyon past a small section of easy Class 3, and up to the overlook (or farther, where the canyon seems to be less interesting). The overlook provides a nice view of Kaleidoscope Canyon from above, and you an maybe see your car far away. I tried to head down the west fork of Kaleidoscope Canyon to make this a loop, but there was a maybe 60 foot or so dryfall preventing me from doing so. The west fork wasn't colorful anyway, so I turned back the way I came.

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Photos

34 photos

  1. Heading up the alluvial fan forever.
  6. Colors starting a bit up Kaleidoscope Canyon.
  9. Purple and orange everywhere in Kaleidoscope Canyon.
  15. Wide show of a hairpin turn within Kaleidoscope Canyon.
  20. Looking up Kaleidoscope Canyon after the colors end.
  21. Looking back the way I came toward the colorful section.
  23. Kaleidoscope Canyon gets more narrow, but loses its color toward the top.
  24. Some mini scrambles.
  26. Exiting Kaleidoscope Canyon.
  27. The wash above the narrows.
  28. Looking back down Kaleidoscope Canyon.
  29. Heading up the overlook.
  30. Kaleidoscope Canyon overlook ahead.
  31. Along the ridge to the overlook.
  32. Looking back. The way I came up was on the right. The left side is the technical west fork.
  33. Overlooking Kaleidoscope Canyon. You can see the colors toward the center.
  34. Close-up from the overlook. The colorful section is Kaleidoscope Canyon.

Photo 1 of 1

Hire me or show some love!

Hire or refer me as a web developer, or send me a few bucks if you find my site useful. I'm not sponsored, so it's funded by yours truly. It also takes a ton of work to edit photos and write these reports. I really appreciate it!

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