Conditions:Willow Creek Canyon-20260216184001

Latest:	14 Feb 2026 (6 days ago)

Reported by:	Dyln cole (100 reports)
Quality:
Waterflow:
Wetsuit:	None
Water temperature:
Difficulty:
Time:	9 hours

Team: 5 people with experience level Beginner to Advanced

Trip report URL:

Comments: To say that this is one of the lesser Death Valley canyons would be a shame, a shying from effort, or a complete lack of timing for weather and spring flow. This is a winter canyon with water, absolutely gorgeous granite, a lower rated canyon in other regions possibly but still a standout and will likely remain my favorite Death Valley canyon, as for the rest of the team.

We did the bottom up to the easy (green) approach.

My recommendation: Bottom-up approach, do the first shortcut and avoid the last of the climb. You don't miss much and really avoid all of the willow bushwacking.

Blue Gnome beta is somehow wrong on the rappels when describing a few bolt locations. If you like updating beta, consider taking notes and reporting them to ropewiki. For example, the last rappel is in fact LDC 100ft off of bolts.

All condition reports

Date	Quality	Waterflow	Wetsuit	Difficulty	Time	Team	Reported by
14 Feb 2026			None		9 hours	5 people Beginner to Advanced	Dyln cole (100 reports)
Comment: To say that this is one of the lesser Death Valley canyons would be a shame, a shying from effort, or a complete lack of timing for weather and spring flow. This is a winter canyon with water, absolutely gorgeous granite, a lower rated canyon in other regions possibly but still a standout and will likely remain my favorite Death Valley canyon, as for the rest of the team. We did the bottom up to the easy (green) approach. My recommendation: Bottom-up approach, do the first shortcut and avoid the last of the climb. You don't miss much and really avoid all of the willow bushwacking. Blue Gnome beta is somehow wrong on the rappels when describing a few bolt locations. If you like updating beta, consider taking notes and reporting them to ropewiki. For example, the last rappel is in fact LDC 100ft off of bolts.
9 Feb 2026	Amazing	Very Low	None	Normal	9 hours	2 people Advanced	Eddyl (89 reports)
Comment: Great canyon! Flowing water in the driest desert - what more could you want? Anchors are in fantastic shape. Water is flowing. Was more comfortable with 2mm wetsuit socks. We put the largest rappel at 100 feet. My 200 foot rope was enough by itself. There are a couple 6-feet-deep pools that are avoidable, but also great for cooling off. We pioneered a new shortcut down a gully, which drops you into the canyon just below the first rappel. As the approach kinda sucks, I'd recommend doing the shuttle for this canyon. If that's not possible, use the gully approach that puts you just below R1. Also, start early. We started before sunrise to beat the heat and to avoid risking ending the canyon in the dark, and were glad we did! I'll always wonder why this is not the most popular canyon in Death Valley. It's a fun one.