Cool Canyon / Rainbow Canyon - ABDSP

Two of the lesser known and least visited canyons in Anza Borrego Desert State Park are Cool Canyon and Rainbow Canyon. This last weekend I visited both. These canyons are semi slot canyons and reminded me a lot of canyons in Death Valley in that they narrow up and have lots of marbled, swirled types of rock. You can use Cool Canyon as a starting point to climb Granite Mountain, I made a last minute decision to try and get to the top but I stopped at Peak 4624, I just wasn't prepared to go another 1,000' that day.

Rainbow Canyon is another great little canyon that is only a mile or so long and great for a quick hike or family exploration opportunity. If you are camping in Blair Valley and have someone who can drop you off at the canyon mouth you can hike in and over to Blair Valley for about a 5 mile easy going but fun hike.

You can see all of the pictures from Cool Cool Canyon here and Rainbow Canyon here

Here is the entrance to Cool Canyon


Morteros nearby indicate past Indian occupation in the area



Some quality scat entering the canyon


This appears to be a Hawk Massacre


One of many dry falls in the canyon


Another larger dry fall


Some Honeycomb up in the rocks, this was a great find


My lunch on Peak 4624, you can see Whale Peak straight ahead in the distance


Looking back at Peak 4624 as I descended


After Cool Canyon I headed over to Rainbow Canyon for a quick couple of hours

Here is the entrance to Rainbow Canyon


You will almost immediately see the first dry fall, there are many and they are all fun to climb and easy to get over unless you decide to wear Stilettos on your desert hike...


Lots of marbled rock in this canyon


Approaching another dry fall


Looking up thru a section of the canyon


Kitty Kat scat


Looking east towards Blair Valley at the saddle area


Here is a narrow section of the canyon


This is looking down probably the largest dry fall, it is actually a "double" dry fall


Download a panorama of Earthquake Valley from Peak 4624 here



Both of the canyons are great for a quick 2 mile hike and are family and kid friendly