Mosaic Canyon
Stovepipe Wells, Death Valley NP · near Stovepipe Wells · California Desert
Hiking
At a glance
- Difficulty
- moderate
- Route type
- out-and-back
- Distance
- 4 miles
- Elevation gain
- 750 ft
- Time needed
- day
- Best season
- Nov–Mar
Permits and booking
- Permit required
- No
- How the permit works
- $30/vehicle 7-day Death Valley NP entrance fee (card only). Day hikes need no other permit; overnight backcountry needs a free Recreation.gov permit.
- How hard the permit is to get
- 1 of 5
What is here
- Features
- Polished marble narrows · Mosaic breccia conglomerate · Water-carved walls · Minor dry-fall scrambles
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Not permitted
- Good for a first timer
- No
Hiking detail
- Intl tip
- Even if you only do the first half-mile of narrows, it's worth it — that's where the polished marble is most dramatic.
The guide
A geologic showpiece where flash floods have buffed the marble walls to a satin polish and cemented rock fragments into natural…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Mosaic Canyon — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 36.5719, -117.1443