Death Valley Classic Backpack

Shuttle to Death Valley: 4 hours Hiking Mileage: 8.5 miles Elevation Gain: 1300 feet This multi-day Death Valley hiking trip begins with pickup from your hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada and transportation to our trailhead. Upon entering Death Valley National Park we’ll stop at the Furnace Creek Visitors’ Center to pick up our permit. After Furnace Creek, we’ll have about 30 more minutes of driving on the pavement before we turn off at Stovepipe Wells onto a rough dirt road. Ten miles of washboarded four-wheel driving will take us to the start of our hike at the confluence of Cottonwood and Marble Canyons. We’ll make lunch at the car before heading off down the trail. Our hike will take us along 8.5 miles up the Cottonwood Canyon road to the wilderness boundary. We’ll make camp here under the shade of a few cottonwood trees next to a lush desert spring, a pleasant anomaly in such a harsh environment.

Hiking Mileage: 3.5 miles Elevation Gain: 500 feet With just a few miles on our plate today, we’ll enjoy a leisurely breakfast this morning and take our time packing. Traversing along Cottonwood Creek for another 3.5 miles, we’ll come to another spring where we’ll make camp and break-out lunch. We’ll then enjoy the option of exploring one of the many narrow, side-canyons or summiting one of the surrounding unnamed peaks for incredible, 4,000-foot views of the surrounding desert. Tonight, we’ll stock our bellies with a hearty dinner and go to bed early to get plenty of rest for tomorrow’s adventure.

Hiking Mileage: 6.5 miles Elevation Gain: 1500 feet Elevation Loss: 1200 feet Although today doesn’t have the most mileage, many would consider it the most difficult day of the trip. We’ll start by hiking further into Cottonwood Canyon. Our now-familiar springs quickly dry out as the once-dramatic canyon dissipates into a shallow valley. Hiking towards the head of Cottonwood Canyon, we’ll continue up over a pass and drop down a steep, off trail descent into Dead Horse canyon — all the while enjoying tremendous views of 6,381-ft Thimble Peak and the Grapevine Mountains to the Northeast. After a steep descent, we’ll enter Dead Horse Canyon and make our way to our campsite for the evening near a friendly spring. We’ll follow this trickle to an eight-foot dry-fall, scramble down the fall and take a rest at the confluence of Dead Horse and Marble Canyons. Tonight’s camp is here on a secluded sandy bench at the confluence with our third and final canyon.