Hiking Eureka Valley’s Last Chance Range Canyons

Fall temperatures always invite us to explore new areas east of the Sierra Nevada...in this case, an invitation to the desert valleys east of Owens Valley.  Eureka Valley is just an hour’s drive from Bishop and is made up of some of the most beautiful mountains outside of Death Valley.  Recently we enjoyed our third exploration of the Last Chance Range with its series of sinuous canyons that make up the eastern portion of the valley.   Halfway to the Eureka Sand Dunes on Eureka Valley Road (about 5 miles) is a patch of white, which I assume to be the old staging area of material mined near the mouth of our target canyon.

A half mile walk on faded dirt up an alluvial fan took us to the beginning of the gully. The twisted and contorted ocean sediments that make up the gulch produce some interesting rock formations.

From the canyon entrance we walked another ½ mile until we hit a wall, halting our advance to the upper part of the gully.  Paula suggested we climb up the side of the steep canyon talus to the right to get around it.  We climbed 200’ higher and realized to get to the upper canyon, we’d have to drop back down a very steep 200’.  So we just enjoyed the view of Eureka Valley 1000’ below us.




At the top, the exposed ancient seabed was eroded into sharp spines of limestone.  You couldn’t put any weight on it without puncturing our hands.   We seem to get to these high places by saying, “Let’s just go to that point right there;” We get to that point and then... say it again.
We stayed but a few minutes and headed back down admiring the steepness of our climb.  Even the “so-so” canyons produce memorable experiences.  It’s hard to beat the pristine landscapes and magnificent solitude of the desert valleys.


End of the line...or we thought.