Rings Loop Trail
Mojave National Preserve · Hole-in-the-Wall · near Needles / Baker (distant) · California Desert
Via Ferrata
At a glance
- Route type
- ladder-stair
- Cost
- free
- Difficulty
- beginner
- Best season
- October–April; summer heat is dangerous; wildflowers pop after wet winters
What is here
- Amenities
- Hole-in-the-Wall info center & campground · Ring bolts do the work — no ladders to haul · Swiss-cheese rock formations everywhere · Dark-sky camping steps away
- Best for
- A hands-on iron moment anyone can do
- Features
- Steel rings bolted through a slot descent · Banshee Canyon's wind-sculpted holes · Mojave National Preserve solitude · Free camping culture nearby
Worth knowing
- Hazards
- Rings are polished — three points of contact · Summer heat in the Mojave is no joke · Remote: no fuel/services for many miles · Rock is sharp volcanic tuff — gloves help
- Family friendly
- Yes
Via Ferrata detail
- Nickname
- The ring-bolt descent of Banshee Canyon
- Hardware
- rungs
- Exposure
- 2
- Iron notes
- A short desert loop where the trail drops through the pocked volcanic walls of Banshee Canyon on two sets of steel rings bolted into the rock — you climb down (or up) hand-over-hand holding the rings like giant chain links
- Logistics note
- Free; no permit; ~1.5 mi loop from the Hole-in-the-Wall Information Center; the ring sections are short but hands-on
- No lottery
- Yes
- Intl tip
- A free, remote Mojave desert loop where you descend a slot canyon holding steel rings bolted into volcanic rock — short, hands-on, and fun for all ages. Visit October–April only; Mojave National Preserve has no entry fee, huge solitude, and superb dark-sky camping at the trailhead. Fuel up before entering the preserve.
The guide
Deep in Mojave National Preserve — the huge, quiet, free-entry preserve between I-15 and I-40 — the Rings Loop Trail delivers t…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Rings Loop Trail — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 35.0486, -115.3928