Palmer Canyon Narrows via The Badlands

Death Valley National Park, CA Northern Death Valley + White Mountains

Trip stats

Distance
4.8 mi
Net Gain
900 ft
Time
2-4 hrs
YDS Rating
Class 2
Route
Out/Back

Ratings out of 10

Effort
2.3/10
Personality
6/10
Beauty
6/10
Solitude
5.2/10
What do these mean? →

Route map + Trailhead

Trailhead Coordinates

36.822105, -117.174086

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

Jan 21, 2017 — Palmer Canyon is a pretty slot canyon accessed via a desert stroll and a region called "The Badlands". It was a good excursion since we came through Titus Canyon and landed at this trailhead. We set out to the north along the standard Fall Canyon route to the alluvial fan draining from Fall Canyon. We crossed the wash and continued west through a gravel-filled wash, where we lost some elevation in order to follow the path of least resistance. This wash crossed another drainage, and eventually took us into The Badlands, where colorful rock and interesting formations lined the walls of the canyon choices we made. Additionally, we passed a small crumbly arch and a bunch of yellow hoodoos. Our route worked pretty well, and led us into the alluvial fan that drained from Palmer Canyon. We headed in and turned around after the first set of narrows. I'm sure the canyon continues to be pretty later on, but we were content with not trying to navigate The Badlands in the dark on the way back.

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Photos

33 photos

  1. Starting along the Fall Canyon Trail.
  3. Fall Canyon up ahead.
  4. We crossed the wash draining from Fall Canyon, pictured here, and located another wash on the other side.
  5. Heading into the wash on the other side of the Fall Canyon alluvial fan.
  6. Within a wash that sort of inconveniently lost some elevation that we'd have to re-gain, but it was better than going up and down the hills to make the route more direct.
  7. Still within the wash, heading toward north now toward the Badlands, seen ahead.
  8. A pretty canyon with a crumbly arch.
  9. Crumbly arch within the approach canyon to The Badlands.
  13. Lots of colors as we approached The Badlands.
  14. Hoodoos of The Badlands.
  15. More hoodoos. We worked around them in canyons and drainages.
  17. Looking back the way we came as we head out of The Badlands in order to get to Palmer Canyon.
  18. Another shot looking back at The Badlands (left) and the maze of drainages that are possible approach routes. I couldn't tell you which one we took to get here.
  19. Dropping down into the alluvial fan leading to Palmer Canyon.
  20. Mouth of Palmer Canyon.
  21. Narrows shortly after entering Palmer Canyon.
  22. Some easy scrambling.
  25. Very pretty narrows within Palmer Canyon.
  33. Palmer Canyon eventually opened up. This is looking back into the narrows from the wide section. We turned around here.

Photo 1 of 1

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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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