Sidewinder Canyon is a 3.9 mile lightly trafficked out and back trail located near Death Valley, California that offers the chance to see wildlife and is rated as moderate. The trail is primarily used for hiking.
hiking
views
wildlife
scramble
no shade
no dogs
Please note: Dogs are not permitted on trails or in the wilderness at Death Valley National Park. They are only permitted in campgrounds and along roads.
Craig Chisolm recorded Sidewinder Canyon
This will always be one of my all-time favorite hikes! Very scenic! My recommendation is to come early, so you can explore all the off-trails! They’re definitely worth it!
A happy place for rock lovers, exploring slot canyons. As a bonus, the slot canyons were shady and about 10 degrees cooler than the valley floor. A little scrambling required.
Dusty Trailhead recorded Sidewinder Canyon
The 3rd slot canyon is beautiful. 1st slot was nice, but not extraordinary. I couldn’t go far in the second slot, the 3rd rise was vertical and about 7 ft tall.
Vera Urbanovich recorded Sidewinder Canyon
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ 3 slot canyons
Once you get up there I found a couple of cool slot canyons - one super long and another with a couple of 7 ft arches to walk through. Very cool!
Eric St Jean recorded Sidewinder Canyon
I wouldn’t necessarily call this a trail, though the hike was pretty cool. Kinda of like a choose your own adventure as there are many different slot canyons you can climb out of.
Lisa P.
04/04/2019 Fun for those who are looking for more than a walk in the park! It starts with a slow, uphill hike in sand and gravel, but once you reach the slot canyons, you can climb up and over boulders and wind your way through the twisting rock walls. There are a few tight spots that you have to literally squeeze through.
Mit Bour recorded Sidewinder Canyon
Hiked in to do the slot canyons. We were able to do 2&3, which I was surprised how long 2 was. I don’t highly recommend this hike unless you are doing the slot canyons and I don’t recommend doing the slot canyons unless you confident in scrambling. 3 has some tight squeezes towards the end and 2 had medium scrambles throughout. 1 had very large boulders that had fallen at the mouth of the canyon, so we avoided it entirely.
This trail was absolutely amazing. If you only stay on the main trail and don't do any slot canyons it's about 4 miles in and out. we did 3 slot canyons and ended up doing 7.3 miles. If you want adventure, and aren't afraid to climb over a few boulders I highly recommend this trail!
Charlie Crawford recorded Sidewinder Canyon
Wonderful experience. Very won’t!
Codie H.
Fun hike with a few sweet semi-hidden slot canyons!
Date Hiked: (3/6/19) This hike is awesome! I'm not sure why it isn't talked about more! The canyons are so surreal like you are in a fairy tale world The hike is like almost all the hikes in DV -- more of a "cross-coutry" hike rather than a trail. I didn't get to do every slot on this hike due to storms rolling in. Did not want to get caught in a flash flood. I will definitely be coming back here!
fun hike to several slot canyons. fun to scramble through and explore.
Agree with the prior reviews. The slot canyons make this hike a beauty. You could skip hiking to the “end” of this trail and spend more time in the canyons.
The trailhead is south of the parking lot, but not clearly marked. Follow it south up the hill before turning left into the canyon. The highlights of the hike were all the skinny slot canyons veering off from the main canyon. Most involve some rock scrambling, but nothing my 8 year old couldn’t handle. The end of the trail was not worth reaching in my opinion.
Awesome slot canyon hike. Scramble north up the hill of where the route on this page ends to get an incredible view of the valley below (you'll see a use trail from the canyon floor). It's totally worth the effort, but be careful coming down as the scree is loose.
the slots are beautiful! lots of interpretive trails at the end of the canyon.
slot canyon, some parts more cave than canyon..
We hiked the loop up Willow Creek Canyon, over the ridge & back down Sidewinder Canyon. The narrows in the side canyons of Sidewinder were very cool. Very tight & dark in some spots. Could have spent several more hours out there exploring more slots.
we got lost--- then sun went down. We learned that many creatures live in death valley and they emerge at night! Was a little frightening- especially the coyote. But interesting to come across creatures you never imagined were present from daytime view.
