Whitewater Preserve (Canyon View Loop)
Whitewater Canyon (I-10) · near Whitewater · California Desert
Hiking
At a glance
- Difficulty
- moderate
- Route type
- loop
- Distance
- 3.5 miles
- Elevation gain
- 600 ft
- Time needed
- day
- Best season
- Oct–Apr (spring for river flow/wildflowers)
Permits and booking
- Permit required
- No
- How the permit works
- Free (donations); Wildlands Conservancy preserve with gated day-use hours. Connects to the Pacific Crest Trail.
- How hard the permit is to get
- 0 of 5
What is here
- Features
- Year-round Whitewater River · Red-rock canyon walls · PCT junction · Wading pond · Bighorn sheep habitat
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Not permitted
- Good for a first timer
- No
Hiking detail
- Intl tip
- Do the Canyon View Loop clockwise for the best ridge panorama; the river crossing on the longer PCT extension can run high in spring — check flow first.
The guide
A striking change of pace from palm oases and slot canyons — a perennial river runs through a broad red-rock canyon at the dese…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Whitewater Preserve (Canyon View Loop) — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 33.9887, -116.6547