Grotto Canyon (South Fork, Death Valley)

This route includes rappels down polished limestone chutes, fun downclimbs, intriguing straight corridors between tilted bedrock layers, and curvy narrows. You do have to pay for it with 3,200' feet of elevation gain in 3.5 miles.

From CA‑190, turn south onto Grotto Canyon Road. A carefully driven sedan can usually make it if the road has been recently graded. Drive approximately one mile to the parking area at about 430 feet of elevation. The road no longer continues past this point into the wash. Walk up a gentle slope until you reach the ridge. The route becomes loose and steep. At around 2,050 feet you will reach Point Hideous, which offers an excellent view of the early morning light over Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes. Continue along the ridge on a gentle, slightly downhill path until you cross a wash at approximately 1,980 feet of elevation. Scramble up a steep limestone ridge, taking occasional breaks to look at the snail fossils embedded in the rock. The drainage to your left is the East Fork, also known as the Not‑So‑Much Fork. Your destination lies on the far side of the saddle at the top of the East Fork. Unfortunately, you must climb slightly higher than the saddle to bypass several cliff bands. At roughly 3,350 feet, you should see a route descending into a broad basin that leads toward a narrow canyon. This route was previously referred to as the “sneak route” and is the only route described here, as the full route requires a longer approach without adding any additional technical canyon section.

The first downclimb begins with an exposed pour-over to warm you up. R1 (20') is anchored from a rock chock high on the left wall. Optional R2 (15') is anchored from a pinch point. This can be downclimbed on the left side. Junction with larger drainage (what was previously referred to as the full route). R3 (50' or about 100') anchored from pinch about six feet up on left wall. The first stage is about 50' past upturned rock layers. The second stage is a fun downclimb. R4 (120') two-stage rappel, anchored either from a cairn on the right, or from a crack high on a ledge on the left. Rabbit-hole downclimb through boulders on the right leads immediately to R5. R5 (20') is anchored from a pinch point in boulders 20 feet back from the edge. Just after R5 is the next obstacle: Optional R5A (20') can be downclimbed on left or can be anchored from a medium-sized rock. R6 (20') anchored from nut or knot chock on right wall, descends polished chute Scenic narrows. Optional R7 (15') anchored from left, or climb over on left side and down a ridge. Optional R8 (multi-stage) "The Escalator" is a unique downclimb where the narrow canyon open up into a large open space. Some may want to be meat anchored down the watercourse, but the climb is iconic: R9 (80') anchored from pinch point in rocks on the right. Optional R10 (40') - leave main watercourse, go up on right bank to find a cairn and a low-angle chute that leads to a 8' drop. It is an easy climb until the end, when most will want a partner assist. R11 (90) from near-pinch (really more of a knot chock if you truly inspect it) on the left. Beautiful rappel. Immediately followed by next rappel. R12 (70') from cairn, then turn corner to find next rappel R13 (20'), anchored from a pinch point on right about 25' back from the edge R14 (30') from either two pitons on right, or a horn on right. Can be downclimbed. Walk about 1/4 mile to junction with main canyon. Downclimb through rabbit-hole behind boulder on the right. Walk about 1/4 mile. R15 (50') from rock chock high on right wall. Or there is a 1/4-mile-long bypass using a trail on the right. But this rappel is down a nice, polished cute and drops you into "The Grotto", which is very scenic. Walk about 1/3 mile. R16 (12') probably won't have an anchor. You can rig this as a retrievable anchor over the giant boulder (counter-weight rappel). Very good climbers can down-climb. One more downclimb. Canyon opens up into a wash.

Continue down wash to parking.