I don’t know how long Ladder Canyon has been an established hike, but I feel like I’ve been wanting to try it for decades. Every time I’m out in the Palm Springs/Palm Desert area, it calls to me. But it never seems to be the right time.

This week was finally the right time. I drove out to Mecca, did this hike in the morning and spent the rest of the day exploring the Salton Sea (Bombay Beach and Slab City).

Hikingguy.com has an incredibly detailed post about Ladder Canyon (how to get there, where to park, how to stay on the trail). I used his post to guide my hike and could not find fault with it, so I won’t recreate the work here (check it out, seriously).

A Special Hike

In Southern California, I feel like the most bally-hooed hikes are the ones that end in a waterfall. I like waterfall, truly, but they do sort of all look the same (and honestly, if you’ve seen the falls in Yosemite, or in Iceland, or Costa Rica…. Our SoCal cascades aren’t really that impressive).

So, what I’m looking for in a hike is a little bit more. I like good views. I really like wildlife (I’m a sucker for a hike with monkeys or sloths, but out of luck when I’m staying local!). I love to explore ruins (fascinated by Native American ruins, but also like more recent ones!). I’m also a fan of a slot canyon. And, as my teen would tell you, I’m obsessed with succulents, so good cacti along the way are always a plus for me!

Ladder Canyon ticks a number of boxes: good views (of the painted canyon), slot canyons (the lower is quite narrow, the upper is wider), good cacti (I love ocotillo in bloom!). It also has ladders and ropes. I especially enjoy a hike with some technical interest/challenge.

Apparently the ladders are maintained by a local hiking club or perhaps by the Bureau of Land Management. Either way, what a lovely service it is. The hike is special and someone like me would not be able to handle it without the ladders.

Timing is Everything

I went to Ladder Canyon on a weekday (spring break for our school district) and got there at 9am. There were a few cars parked when I arrived (a few more when I left). It turned out to be perfect. I passed one pair of hikers leaving as I went in and trailed another group for the last couple of miles. But, other than that, everyone was spread out enough on the 4.5 mile trail that I could only hear my own footsteps. In my opinion, as a single hiker, it’s nice not to be totally alone. If I fell off a ladder, someone would find me eventually!

It was also the perfect time in terms of sun and shade. Perhaps a touch earlier would have been even better. But for the majority of the hike, in the starting canyons, and the walk back in the wash, the canyon walls provided some shade. The only truly exposed portion of the hike was up on the ridge of the canyon (of course, the bulk of the incline came in that portion, but still).

Also, I was there in mid-April. Although it got warm up on the ridge, the weather was perfect, especially with shade breaks. This would be less fun in the summer, but I think even then, with an early start it wouldn’t be too bad (bring lots of water, obviously, there is not water on the trail).

Excellent Exercise

The walk through the canyons is all in soft sand. It’s not hard to walk, but not easy either. And although the ladders help with some incline, the bulk of the incline is in some switchbacks and just straight uphill on the canyon rim. The 4.5 mile hike is a perfect 2.5 hours or so and your legs will feel it when you’re done (but you’ll still have enough energy left over to explore the Salton Sea — a quick half hour to the south).

Hike Details

Put Painted Canyon into your map app (and make sure it’s routing you through Mecca) (coordinates 33.62352 N, 115.99672 W). Once you exit the highway in Mecca, you’ll take Box Canyon Road to Painted Canyon Road (which is a dirt road). I had no problem in my Subaru all-wheel drive, but I also saw a Prius and a Tesla parked out at the trailhead, so as long as things aren’t muddy, the dirt road seems easy to navigate.

Find the entrance

There is a trailhead (and I think some pit toilets) off Painted Canyon shortly before the trailhead, go past that. Then the road ends at the Painted Canyon Trailhead (you can’t go any farther, so you can’t miss it).

You’ll walk for a while up the wash until you get to a rock fall (on the left) that contains the first ladder. There’s a stone arrow on the ground pointing to the start (and a small post on the right side of the trail, but that’s nearly invisible). If you miss it, you’ll hike quite a ways through the wash and find some more arrows, that will lead you counter-clockwise through the trail. But, most people recommend doing it clockwise, so look out for that rockfall and first ladder.

Staying on Trail

Overall, I highly recommend downloading the app All Trails and downloading the map before you set out. Although this trail is extremely well marked, I got off course a couple of times and the map got me right back on course. I actually always find it comforting, as a solo hiker, to know I’m on the trail and not wandering into the wilderness. The All Trails map for this hike seemed just right.

There are is a serious of 4-5 ladders that lead into and out of the lower slot canyon. They are anchored at the bottom with rocks and tied at the top. They wiggle a little, and if you’re afraid of heights they’ll make you nervous, but they feel very sturdy and well located.

The lower slot is quite shady and narrow. There are not spots where you have to squeeze through, but it’s definitely a single file situation.

The upper slot is much wider. Maybe more accurate to call it a narrow canyon than a slot. But still shady and cool to walk through.

Eventually you come out and begin a bit of a climb to the upper rim of the canyon. (If you use All Trails, you’ll see that the incline keeps going, long after you think you must have gotten to the top!). Up here you see Ocotillo and other chaparral type brush. There are lots of lizards as well. I didn’t see any rattlesnakes, but this seems like the type of place they would hang out!

You’ll have beautiful views of the painted canyon (stripy colors!) but don’t forget to look back at the slot canyon from above. It’s always amazing to see how hidden these canyons are from above… such tiny openings for a space you just walked through.

You’ll walk along the ridge for a while until you come to a large collection of cairns. From there, you start down, eventually turning to descend sharply into the wash below (I definitely would have missed this turn off if I had not had my map. It’s well marked from below, but less well marked at the top).

Then you just follow the wash down to the start of the trail. At the very end, you drop back down into the lower slot, which requires a few ladders and one rope-aided descent (just a knotted rope that you hold on to). For some reason going down always feels scarier than going up, but this was a fun way to end the hike.

The Geology

If you are fascinated by rocks like I am, this return journey is really interesting. In many places there’s a clear line where the granite bedrock meets the sandstone. It’s amazing to think about how these two layers formed.

In the walls and on the ground, the granite is full of thick veins of quartz. There’s lot of quartz shards and what I think is rose quartz, in the walls and in the wash. Also, a lot of very dark rock shimmers and shines in the sun. I wish I knew what kind of rock it is, but I haven’t figured it out yet! But the walls of the canyon shine so much they look wet, but they aren’t. Anyway, any amateur geologists will find it all fascinating.

And, because this is BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land rather than a national or state park, you can actually gather some rocks for personal use. I got some of the pretty rose quarts chunks and some slivers of the shiny dark rock to do some more research on.

Final Thoughts

If you are in the Palm Desert/Palm Springs/Salton Sea/Mecca area and have a spare 3 hours, do this hike. It’s fun, unique, and just challenging enough.