Conditions:Keane Canyon-20181203192138

Latest:	1 Dec 2018 (7 yrs, 2 mos ago)

Reported by:	Xenonrocket (111 reports)
Quality:	Great
Waterflow:	Dry
Wetsuit:	None
Water temperature:
Difficulty:	Normal
Time: ":14" is not declared as a valid unit of measurement for this property.	8 hours

Team: 6 people with experience level Brand new to Expert

Trip report URL:

Comments: Fun day. Went bottom up to Big Bell. Spent a lot of time exploring Keane and Big Bell mine, including dropping into a shaft in Big Bell. Replaced all anchor webbing. Brennan beta seems pretty accurate still.

All condition reports

Date	Quality	Waterflow	Wetsuit	Difficulty	Time	Team	Reported by
5 Jan 2026	Good				7 hours	2 people Advanced	Triggerfish (87 reports)
Comment: The mines made this a uniquely fun day after 3 big days in the Black Mountains. Cool history all over the place. Rappels are decent, and the anchors in good shape.
2 Jan 2026	Good	Dry	None	Normal	8 hours	5 people Beginner to Advanced	BryceM777 (27 reports)
Comment: We ran the full canyon loop in about 8 hours. The trail up is steep with a lot of elevation gain is pretty but is straightforward to follow and no scrambling is involved which is nice. It certainly felt like a slog so be prepared to work to get to the top of this one. While the abandoned mines were certainly cool, I was a little disappointed in the canyon itself. The full canyon adds an additional 2 rappels that were not very noteworthy to make 7 in total. After reaching bell view mine, these first 2 rappels come fairly shortly, but after that comes a very long canyon walk. No down climbs between R2 and R3 and perhaps a select handful of mine artifacts. This part of the canyon was the least interesting in my book and if I were to do this over again, I would only take the shortcut route and opt to do the lower 5 raps. After R3 is where the canyon really starts to get more interesting. You start to see more polished granite surfaces and some “flutier” passages. There is more downclimbing here but not much more and the downclimbs are very straightforward. We ended up seeing a tarantula and a dead coyote in this lower section. The road to get there was easier than I was expecting and from my perspective a sedan could probably make it with some care but I would caveat that roads are always subject to change based on weather. I really love DV for the down climbs so the lack of those with a long creek walk made this canyon only ok in my opinion, especially since it’s quite a hike up. Given that the approach is easy and not loose scree, it does make a good day for beginners and the canyon is easy for those that know how to make natural anchors. All of the anchors were in good shape and on one rappel you will find a quite interesting kleimheist looking anchor off of a downed tram cable that was pretty solid.
20 Dec 2024	Great	Dry	None	Normal	8 hours	11 people Intermediate to Expert	Rapbear (80 reports)
Comment: You go to Keane for the mines! The old mines and the history behind this canyon is what really makes this trip worth doing. The hike up is exposed and long but there are so many interesting points of interest along the way. From the aerial ore cart tram to all the old mining equipment. Watch for rusty nails if you are going to explore. The canyon has some good rappels. All the anchors at the time were in good shape with recently replaced webbing. We ghosted off the white marble slot because you just need to be in there to experience it. The walk between rappels can be long so be sure to bring a friend.
28 Mar 2023	Good	Dry	None	Normal	8 hours	7 people Beginner to Advanced	Feroz (36 reports),Boof (34 reports),Levr (23 reports),Giniya5 (7 reports),Knight (7 reports)
Comment: We took a while on the approach hike, and also checked out some of the mines. The canyon itself is pretty decent, but the mines and old buildings made it more worth it. Some fun downclimbs and pretty marble in the canyon itself.
25 Mar 2023	Great	Dry	None	Normal	7 hours	6 people Intermediate to Expert	Bricepollock (42 reports)
Comment: Another great trip up to play around in Big Bell. All anchors and webbing looked good. The rappel is now off the metal cable which is unique.
15 Feb 2020	Good	Dry	None	Normal	8 hours	8 people Beginner to Expert	Danielson (93 reports)
Comment: Meh. Looks like everything else. There's some mines so +1 stars for that. But also -1 stars for the mines having poisonous air in them because everything in Death Valley has to suck. Thanks for reading this Dav.
25 Dec 2018	Great	Dry	None	Normal	7 hours	2 people Intermediate to Advanced	Bricepollock (42 reports)
Comment: 7.5 hours bottom up with 1.5 hours of playing around and exploring.
1 Dec 2018	Great	Dry	None	Normal	8 hours	6 people Brand new to Expert	Xenonrocket (111 reports)
Comment: Fun day. Went bottom up to Big Bell. Spent a lot of time exploring Keane and Big Bell mine, including dropping into a shaft in Big Bell. Replaced all anchor webbing. Brennan beta seems pretty accurate still.
30 Mar 2018	Amazing	Dry	None	Normal	7 hours	2 people Intermediate	Tarannosaurus (26 reports)
Comment: The Keane Mine area is now open, though not widely publicized (still shown on the printed park maps as closed). Did the route from the bottom up (Keane Wonder Mill to the Big Bell Mine) and descended from there. All anchors were present and in relatively good condition (although some webbing will need replacing soon) with the exception of the final necessary rappel (35 feet), which had no anchor. However, we found that it can be down climbed fairly easily. There were also no anchors built for the two optional raps at the end, which we bypassed, although they did look fun. All mine shafts and openings at the Keane Mill and Mine are closed off, but there's plenty to explore at the Big Bell Mine.