The Death Canyon Trail hike in Grand Teton NP is a strenuous but rewarding hike of about 8 mile RT with a total climb of about 2000 feet. The hike passes Phelps Lake - and offers nice views of the lake. The trail then descends down towards the lake, before splitting and heading back up the canyon. It it "tough" to give up ground on this type of hike, so I didn't like descending 500 feet only to have to climb back up, but the views were very nice. Above the lake, the trail eventually aproaches Death Canyon Creek which was in fill flow when we were there! The hike is strenuous but rewarding - eventually approaching a plateau at about 8500 feet, where there is a rangers cabin and some "flat" water. From there you can continue upwards or turn back and head back down - which is what we did. All told, about a 5 hr strenuous hike.
Snowshoed about 2.5 miles of this trail starting at closed portion of road to Moose walking on trail toward mountain base. Used by cross-country skiers. No snowmobiles allowed. Beautiful trail under awesome mountains. Loved it. Trees, sun, quiet. Only saw 1 squirrel - not even tracks of moose or elk ;-(
Death Canyon is a nice hike with great views and some nice vertical gain. This hike is in the southern part of the national park off the dirt road. The last mile or two are very bumpy getting to the trailhead so bring the right vehicle or expect poor clearance. I love this hike, but also love the awesome rock climbs further up the canyon. Enjoy the peace and quiet!
Have done this hike twice. Great views, list of elevation, River in the valley flowing out to Phelps Lake.
The trailhead starts off as an easy/moderate uphill to the Phelps Lake lookout about a mile in where there are excellent views of the lake and surrounding hinterland.The trail then dips down to Phelps Lake and campsite where there are some sandy beaches about a mile down from the lookout. Continuing straight ahead at the fork to the campsite will take you into Death Canyon through a small micro climate of ferns, cottonwood stands and pine forest. From here the trail starts to climb at a moderate grade through a fairly wide canyon that gives great views both up into, and down towards the hinterland plains.We didn't have time to get to the end of the canyon although we probably got a mile into it which took an hour from the micro climate area, and there may have been a further mile to go to the end. The trail didn't look to change much ahead of us so its probably a moderate climb for the remainder.If you don't feel like drinking the stream water (which I wouldn't unless I had purification tablets/steriliser) you need to take sufficient water and food for a 4 hour hike if you go to the canyons end.
La trail pour Death Canyon est très bien balisée entretenue. Nous avons fait une loupe en montant par le canyon, avec couché sur le shelf, puis retour par le Static Peak Divide, à 3300 mètres d'altitude. 51 kilomètres environ en 2 jours en raison des sentiers en lacet. Les vues sont inoubliables. On traverse un peu de neige (en août).
This is a fun drive but quite rough as you get further down the road. You would be best with a 4 wheel drive.
Made it to the ranger's station during this day hike. A lot of sun, so little relief. Beautiful views of Phelp's Lake and waterfalls. Ate mulberries along the way.
This is a wonderful canyon with lovely views of lakes below. Elevation change is significant so be ready for some climbing. Much of the hike is through forested areas along streams.
Moderate - difficult hike that provides beautiful views to the east and down to Phelps lake; we stopped short of the canyon - round trip from the car was about 2 1/2 hours.