The Chasm of Doom!

What Is This Place?

Hidden Valley Loop & the Chasm of Doom

The Chasm of Doom is one of Joshua Tree’s most beloved hidden gems among local hikers and climbers. While more of a tight secret passage than a large open chasm, this adventure weaves and climbs through the open space between rocks and traverses completely through a large mountain of boulders in the Hidden Valley area.

Hikers in Joshua Tree sitting in a cave escaping the heat

Is It Safe?

The Chasm of Doom certainly is not as perilous as the name implies. It doesn’t require any technical rock climbing skills or equipment, but you do have to do some scrambling, crawling and tight squeezing. It's the quintessential J-tree daytime adventure!

While generally safe, this adventure is not for everyone. You may want to reconsider this one if you:

Are claustrophobic or averse to very tight squeezes or spaces
Have knee or back problems, as it involves extended bending and dynamic maneuvers
Don’t enjoy climbing or scrambling
Don’t want to get your body or clothes dirty and possibly scraped up a bit

What Should I Bring?

Due to the sustained tight squeezes against rough J-tree granite your ideal scenario is minimal gear on this one. Your most important items will be a headlamp and water. Backpacks will be a pain and may get scratched or torn (I’d leave them behind). Everything else is at your discretion.

For any climbers out there—approach shoes are ideal; actual climbing shoes are pointless.

How Long Does It Take?

Assuming you don’t get lost, it shouldn’t take you more than about an hour. If you’re fast, maybe as little as a half hour.

How Do I Find It??

Video courtesy via: The Adventure Life Project

The entrance is easy to find if you know what to look for.

The video featured here from this generous hiker explains the approach well.

Additionally, you’ll want to look for a few key landmarks, which I’ve supplemented in the photos below.

Milestone 1: Start at the Hidden Valley Loop Picnic Area

Exploring the Chasm of Doom

The Front Half: A Tight Scramble Upwards

The first half of this journey is a fun, flowy scramble that heads upwards into the heart of the mountain. The route is mostly intuitive, and it would be nearly impossible to tell describe each maneuver without physically showing it, so the risk (and adventure) will be on you, the reader, to guide your own way through.

Here’s one extremely important tip. Roughly 10-15 min. into your journey, you’ll run into a large chamber that doesn’t seem to go anywhere but up. At this point, look down at a waist-high flat horizontal crawl way, roughly 1 ft. high and 6 ft. deep. This feature is called “The Coffin.” At first, it will seem impossibly tight (and for any hefty sized readers out there, it may be), but most people should be able to squeeze their way through it and up the chimney-sized hole that follows.

The Midway Point: Reaching the Opening

Shortly after the flat squeeze, you’ll climb upward and reach a large chamber that opens up to the daylight and gives you a cool view of the parking area below. After snagging a few photos, head back inside the cavern and look for a different hole from the one you crawled up (further away from the opening), which descends back down into the mountain away from the parking lot.

The Back Half: A Smooth Easy Stairway Back Down

The back half of this adventure is noticeably different from the front half. It’s faster, easier and much less cramped. It’s essentially a long straight “stairway” downward with a few sizable boulder descents. You’ll want to spot your friends to make sure any large down climb moves are sure footed.

Directions are very straight-forward—you simply follow the tunnel downward until you reach the exit.

Exiting the mountain isn’t difficult. Simply scramble down the remaining rocks to the ground floor, where you’ll meet back up with the Hidden Valley Loop trail on the opposite end of the mountain from where you started.

The Night Owl Expedition

Do Not Attempt This Route at Night on Your First Time!

For any veterans out there who feel comfortable with this route and want to add an interesting twist, bring your headlamps and enter the Chasm at the very last sign of light. The Chasm of Doom is just as cool at night, either completely in the dark or with just the red light setting on your headlamp to guide the way.