#desert
6 trips tagged “desert”
desert backpacking at a glance
CaliPeaks documents 6 California backpacking routes tagged desert, ranging from 3 to 26 miles with 700–4,000 feet of total climbing. Difficulty spans 4/100 (Easy) on Borrego Palm Canyon up to 33/100 (Moderate) on Surprise Canyon to Panamint City, which also carries the tag's biggest climb at 4,000 feet. 4 of the 6 need no wilderness permit.
These routes cross Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Joshua Tree National Park and Death Valley National Park, and the months most of them share are October, November, March. Every stat below is cited on its trip page, so you can compare them like-for-like and follow any number back to the managing agency.
Borrego Palm Canyon
Borrego Palm Canyon is Anza-Borrego's signature walk: 1.5 miles up a rocky canyon to an overlook above the state park's most famous palm oas…
Boy Scout Trail
The Boy Scout Trail is Joshua Tree's signature backpacking route: 7.8 miles of sandy wash and slickrock between the 4,000-foot trailhead and…
Fall Canyon
Fall Canyon is Titus Canyon without the road: a narrow-walled wash that climbs 6 miles past two dry falls, with the second requiring a scram…
Telescope Peak
Telescope Peak is Death Valley's rooftop: 11,043 feet of Panamint Range granite rising two vertical miles above Badwater. The 7-mile trail f…
Surprise Canyon to Panamint City
Surprise Canyon is Death Valley's oasis walk: 5 miles up a spring-fed canyon on an old washed-out jeep road to the ghost town of Panamint Ci…
Cottonwood-Marble Canyon Loop
The Cottonwood-Marble Canyon Loop is Death Valley's signature backpack: 26 miles through polished slot canyons and open desert, linking Cott…