Rattlesnake Canyon (Joshua Tree National Park)

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.

From the parking lot follow the wash to the base of the canyon and then scramble up the rocks on canyon left.

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.)

Once out of the last pool just scramble down to the wash and back to the car.