The walk through Golden Canyon is one of the most popular hikes in the park for tourists and it is very close to Furnace Creek. Starting from the parking area, you hike right into the canyon, after a while passing close to Red Cathedral and then around Manly Beacon. From that summit you have a nice view of the hills and can see the Zabriskie Point lookout off in the distance. The trail drops down again and continues as a loop through Gower Gulch, a nice canyon on its own merit. The entire loop trail is about five miles and usually takes about 2 to 3 hours. We have done this hike, or portions of it, quite a few times through the years. That's why there is a mixture of so many different photos from different times of day on this report. Personally, I try to avoid Golden Canyon due to the abundance of tourists there.
The entrance to Golden Canyon at the start of the hike:
You get to enjoy walking through narrows right from the outset:
As you can see here, portions of the old road which went through Golden Canyon still remain, even though it was wiped out by a flash flood decades ago:
Some of these photographs were taken during an evening walk, which is why the colors are not as brilliant as they can be:
Towering walls and rock formations above the canyon:
Still near the start of Golden Canyon, you get an idea of what the scenery will look like throughout:
Anthony did a little scrambling here to see what was up there:
The further you continue in the canyon, the less people there will be walking with you:
At this point, we have gotten closer to Red Cathedral and are about to begin the somewhat tiring climb to Manly Beacon:
The first view of Red Cathedral is majestic:
Alisha and Dave enjoying the hike as their romance continued to blossom. It's safe to say that they fell in love while they were in Death Valley:
Looking up at rock outcroppings high above the canyon floor:
This is where you reach a crossroads. Turn here to hike towards Manly Beacon, or continue straight to the base of Red Cathedral:
A close-up of the sign which gives the mileage for the rest of the hiking options:
John, Silva, and others on the climb up to Manly Beacon:
Somebody taking a break after gaining too much elevation too quickly. There is about a 500 foot elevation gain from the start of the trail to the small summit near Manly Beacon:
Silva and John have almost made it to the top:
A close-up of Manly Beacon and the trail which wraps around the base of it:
Once Manly Beacon is bypassed, it's time to continue down to Gower Gulch so that we can take the loop trail back:
Along the Gower Gulch route, there are a few mining tunnels along the way that we stayed out of:
This was the view where Gower Gulch drops out into the valley. Now that we've made it, we need to hike another half mile to reach the parking area for Golden Canyon. That's John Leidel and Josh on the left:
Looking back at the small trail which led us to the Golden Canyon parking area from Gower Gulch:
An awesome looking narrow bend in the canyon up ahead:
Looking up at Zabriskie Point and the tourists standing up there from Gower Gulch:
The early part of Gower Gulch is a fairly wide open area with a winding canyon:
Awesome view of Manly Beacon off in the distance:
Rather than having a consistent typical canyon with walls next to you the whole time, Gower Gulch varies quite a bit:
The one thing I did not like about Gower Gulch (besides the amount of tourists) was the clearly evident road which went through most of the walking route:
More views of Manly Beacon in the next two pictures:
Nice scenery with multi-colored hillsides:
Interesting rock slides in a variety of areas, such as the next two pictures:
We caught the late afternoon sun at the right time on one of our hikes through here:
At times the canyon would close in a bit and turn into a clear passage:
Past the mid-point of the gulch now, the canyon got a lot more interesting:
Looking up at a variety of red colors and layers of rocks:
Daria standing under an interesting rock outcropping:
The canyon walls were becoming even more formed and closing in:
Entering the gorgeous narrows of Gower Gulch. This is the best part of the Golden Canyon loop hike:
Steve on his 3rd or 4th lifetime hike through Gower Gulch in November of 2010:
Proceeding through the narrows with a couple of very easy downclimbs:
This section of the canyon is very nice indeed. The only drawback is that it is relatively short:
Towards the middle of the picture you can see the route for walking through the narrows:
Pyramid shaped rock tower made up of ledges or different layers:
Heading out of the narrows as we neared the end of the hike:
The rock colors changed from blue and grey to orange and red through here:
Final stretch of the canyon:
During flash floods, water pours over the falls here and flows down the wash:
A very easy bypass trail continues to the right of the dry fall:
Looking down at the base of the dry fall from the bypass trail:
View looking back up the wash of Gower Gulch from near Badwater Road:
