55. Titus Canyon Narrows and Fall CAnyon Trailhead at Death Valley

https://youtu.be/CjNkr1P8uKs

Two canyons which sit side-by-side in the Grapevine Mountains. Both offer good hiking opportunities and feature some decent narrows.

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Fall and Titus Canyons are located between Grapevine and CA 190 on Scotty's Castle Road. Turn east at the signed dirt road for Titus Canyon and drive 2.6 miles to the bathroom and parking area (do not proceed beyond this point, the road is one way only).

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Fall Canyon

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From the parking area, the path begins behind the bathroom and heads north along the edge of the Grapevine foothills. It passes up and across the rocky debris of several alluvial fans before reaching the large main drainage of Fall Canyon about 20 minutes later. Once in this wash, turn right, and begin slogging your way up the deep gravel of the rocky streambed. The canyon is moderately wide at first and the walking is a bit tedious. After about an hour of steady trudging you'll see a prominent side canyon which enters from the left (facing up canyon). You can walk up this drainage, but will be stopped shortly thereafter by a 25 foot dry fall. Continuing up the main wash for another 30 minutes, the canyon forms some nice gray rock narrows which soon end in a 20 foot dry fall. To proceed, retrace your steps ~100 feet and look for a cairned route around on the south side (left facing down canyon). Above the dry fall you may find a small amount of running water as you walk through two nice, if short, sets of smooth, gray, polished narrows before the canyon widens out. You can continue up canyon for several more miles, but the route is less interesting. The author turned around 2.5 hours after leaving the trail head.

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Titus Canyon

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Though cars are allowed to drive through Titus Canyon from the top, there are some short, decent narrows that start just beyond the parking lot that are worth a look. From the trail head, simply walk right up the canyon. The best narrows occur in the first mile. When ready, return the way you came.

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