Mecca Hills Wilderness Adventures - Ladder Canyon / Big Painted Canyon Loop
Me and a buddy of mine @csusbgeochem1 headed east out the 10 freeway into the desert. All the way out passed Indio through the Coachella valley to the little town of Mecca just north of the Salton sea. From there we drove up into the Mecca Hills wilderness to the trailhead for Ladder and Big Painted canyons. We started up the bottom of Big Painted canyon and before long we got to the junction with Ladder canyon.
Arriving at the trailhead
Starting up the lower part of the canyon
Working our way up the lower canyon
Vertical selfie in a narrow section of the canyon
Our plan was to go up Ladder canyon and come back via Big Painted canyon so from the junction we made the left turn and headed up Ladder canyon. Ladder canyon is a really cool slot canyon that contains several ladders (hence the name) to aid your passage through the canyon.
Entering Ladder Canyon
Working our way up the ladders
In ladder canyon
We made our way up the ladders and through the slot canyon to where the canyon opened up. We continued up to the top of the canyon and then took a ridge up to the top of the hill where we got great views overlooking the Mecca Hills wilderness. We took a quick rest at the top and enjoyed the views. Then we headed down the other side of the hill to a saddle where we were able to drop down and gain access to Big Painted canyon.
Exiting the slot canyon
The upper part of Ladder canyon
Views from the top of the hill
Once we got down into Big Painted canyon we headed down the canyon. This canyon is aptly named for all the different colors of rock you find here. As we headed down canyon the canyon got bigger and bigger with huge walls forming on all sides. And there was even a couple fun ladder sections in Big Painted canyon as well! We made our way down canyon eventually passing the mouth of Ladder canyon and rejoining with the lower canyon that we had hiked up earlier in the day. We headed back through the lower canyon and finally arrived back at the trailhead safe and sound. Wrapping up another fun adventure!!
Big Painted canyon
More ladders...
this one had a puddle that was attracting bees...
that was an extra fun little obstacle lol
Hiking down Big Painted canyon
Back at the trailhead
(yes, he did actually park like that the whole time we were out hiking lol)
youtube video -
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@derekrichardson,
Great images.
The acoustics must be awesome in some of those places, no?
Namaste,
JaiChai
Thanks @JaiChai. The slot canyon had some good acoustics, but the bigger canyon had the better echo!
Dude that's a phat hike.. love the ladders.. looks like a blast.
It's a super fun hike. There are a bunch of really cool canyons in the Mecca Hills, some cool caves too!
That's a negative on the caves.. claustrophobic...
Ah, man, your terrain is so, so, so different to ours. It's amazing to see :)
California really has such a huge variety of different terrain. Mountains, deserts , canyons, forests, beaches, farmland, etc... there is no shortage of cool new places to explore!
awesome pictures! im out in la and been itching to do some hiking. I'll have to put this place on my list! (tho im afraid of heights...)
Thanks! It's a really cool hike. And now that it's not so hot it's the time to do it. In the summer this place is a freakin' oven!! lol. I'm not sure how scared of heights you are, but the ladders are only like 10ft or so, so it's not really all that high up.
This is everything I would ever hope for 😮. Great images and narration; I def added this to my ever growing list of places to visit.
Thank you! I'm really glad you enjoyed it.
Definitely check out Mecca Hills if you're ever in the area. There's a ton of cool stuff to see out there. Just don't go in the summer, it gets WAY to hot out there.
These are such great photos.. I have never explored canyon but I bet they are awesome. some of the parts look scary too.. safe travel xxx
Thank you I'm so glad you like the photos. Exploring canyons can be lots of fun, and the scary parts are extra fun!! lol. Safety is always very important though.
yeah..I think I would feel safe if exploring together with someone who is familiar with the region bec I got pretty scared easily.. haha
Very cool. I have been interested in visiting Ladder Canyon and your article really shows what I will find there. I am kind of afraid of climbing, but wow, it seems worth the adrenaline rush!
It's a super fun hike! All the technical climbing sections have the ladders so there's nothing to dangerous. Anyone who is fairly fit can do this hike.
Who brought all the ladders?!? ;-) Great stuff, amazing adventure!
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Thanks @climbing-trail! The ladders are maintained by volunteers. They used to be all wooden, but now they've replaced most of them with aluminum ones. I'm not sure how long they've been doing that up there, but long enough to get the name Ladder canyon I guess. lol.
Wooooh @derekrichardson
Beautiful adventure, must be really fun! And nice how well you broke it down for our viewing and watching pleasure so you dont get to catch all the fun completely alone. Thats cool.
#thumbsup
Ladder Canyon looks amazing, did they film Indiana Jones there or something? Some really nice shots. Kudos!
Thanks @zeroooc. It does seem like a good place for an Indiana Jones adventure! When I was a kid I always wanted to grow up to be Indiana Jones. lol.
Kalima!
Sing it with me:
Dun de dun dun de de duuuuun. Dun de dun dun de de Dun Dun Dun!
I sure love me some Indy, and now that song is stuck in your head :P