Hiking · Death Valley National Park, California, USA · recorded with NomadTracks

Golden Canyon to Zabriskie badlands: 6 km below sea level

Golden Canyon is Death Valley's classic introduction: 6.2 km through glowing yellow narrows and out into badlands that look borrowed from another planet — much of it below sea level, all of it bone dry.

Distance6.2 km
Elevation gain134 m
ActivityHiking
Duration1 h 31 min

About this data: this track and its photos were personally shared with us as samples by a NomadTracks user. NomadTracks never uploads, collects or shares your tracks or photos — your recordings stay on your devices and in your own cloud.

Route map of Golden Canyon to Zabriskie badlands: 6 km below sea level drawn from the recorded GPS points on an OpenStreetMap basemap
The actual recorded GPS track — start marked green, finish orange. Numbered pins mark where the photos below were taken.

Download GPX Coordinates, elevation and relative times — recording dates are normalized out, photos not included.

Elevation profile of the track
Elevation profile over the full distance. Switch the map above to interactive mode, then slide across the chart — a marker follows the route.
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A maze that all looks the same

Badlands erode into endlessly repeating ridges; the washes between them are interchangeable. This is terrain where the recorded line earns its keep — every junction in the maze is solved by glancing at where you've already been.

Go at dawn

The recording's timestamps tell the strategy: start in the cool blue hour, be out of the canyon before the walls turn into an oven. In summer this is a sunrise-only hike.

About the place: Death Valley National Park, California, USA

Golden Canyon opens off Badwater Road in Death Valley National Park, California, a few minutes south of Furnace Creek — much of the loop toward the Zabriskie badlands runs below sea level. Hiking season is October through April; in summer the park advises against any canyon hiking after morning. There is no shade and no water, and the badlands' repeating ridges are famously disorienting.

Golden badlands rolling toward the salt flats of Death Valley
1 · Golden badlands rolling toward the salt flats of Death Valley
Morning sun flaring over the walls of Golden Canyon
2 · Morning sun flaring over the walls of Golden Canyon
The mouth of Golden Canyon opening toward the valley floor
3 · The mouth of Golden Canyon opening toward the valley floor
Gravel wash winding between golden canyon walls
4 · Gravel wash winding between golden canyon walls

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