Rattlesnake Canyon (Joshua Tree National Park)
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| | Difficulty:3B I (v3a2 I) Raps:3-4, max ↨60ft
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| Condition Reports: | 27 Dec 2024
"Fun quick run down rattlesnake canyon. Water was ice cold. Canyon is so short that a wetsuit isnt needed. No anchors were available when we arrived. 1 |
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| Best season: | Oct-Apr
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34.0824, -116.1392
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Nearby photosIntroduction
This is a short but sweet technical canyon in the Indian Cove area of Joshua Tree National Park. Especially nice in Spring when water flows through the canyon, this descent should not be attempted in summer when the desert is scorching hot.
The canyon has several potholes that usually will require wading through waist deep pools. The last pothole is a swimmer, but can be avoided climbing carefully out on canyon left. The canyon is so short that no wetsuits should be required.
Indian Cave: There is also a small cave nearby called Indian Cave (see map). This cave is a Talus cave (formed by water flowing through boulders) and has no formations but still makes for a fun through trip. There are couple of tight belly crawls on sand that can be bypassed by climbing over the boulders. The exit is right after a big underground waterfall, climbing around and back over the falls and then up through intricate passage till you surface next to a undercut rock. Once out, you can keep exploring upstream (the cave somehow continues here and there) or you can return boulder hopping on the surface to where you started.
Approach
From the parking lot follow the wash to the base of the canyon and then scramble up the rocks on canyon left.
Descent
All the anchors are usually "nuts" left by rock climbers, not likely to be there after a flood. Polished granite the whole way, so be prepared to build knot-chock anchors. (Knot-chock anchors can be challenging to get right. Might want to bring a selection of nuts.)
Exit
Once out of the last pool just scramble down to the wash and back to the car.
Red tape
Beta sites
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That Adventure Life : Rattlesnake Canyon in Joshua Tree National Park
Trip reports and media
- That Adventure Life : Rattlesnake Canyon in Joshua Tree National Park
- Facebook Album 7 Nov 2011
- Facebook Album 6 Nov 2011
- Rattlesnake Canyon Video - 20 Feb 2017
Background
We thought the technical section of the canyon was a first descent, but found many anchors left by rock climbers that seem to descended the canyon regularly.
