Epic Travel → North America → The West Coast → Southern California → Anza Borrego Desert → ⊗ Cougar Canyon

  ⊗ Technical Route ⊗

Warning: Do Not Attempt Without Proper Training – click here for details

Location: Northwest Anza Borrego Desert, California

Distance: 4.7 miles total, 1.3 miles technical

Elevation Ascent/Descent: 1600 feet/1600 feet

Time Required: 6-12 hours

Rappels: ~13, lengths up to 70 feet

Red Tape/Notes: No permit required. Approach requires 4WD and high clearance to navigate boulder alley, although the way was pretty tame as of March 2018. The area is closed from June 1 – September 30. Ropewiki provides good beta here.

What’s Nearby?: Borrego Palm Canyon, Lower Coyote Canyon, Galleta Meadows Sculptures, Villager Peak, Rabbit Peak

Cougar Canyon is a great adventure day outing in the desert. The approach leads you through a palm grove and up a steep, rocky slope for around 1000 feet of elevation gain, then you’ll drop into the canyon and experience that odd sense of entering another world that happens when there’s water in the desert. The stream that created this canyon can flow pretty heavily in the spring, particularly if there’ve been recent rains, so be prepared to get wet. There are lots of rappels, nearly all from natural anchors, and sometimes finding the anchors is something of a treasure hunt. We’ve run this canyon twice, once attempting to stay out of the water course (we weren’t wearing wetsuits) and once staying in it, and the route is much faster and easier going down the water course. Progress outside the course is slowed by lots of debris (sticks, logs, wads of plantlife, etc), and also means you end up opting for more difficult downclimbs, so if you’re worried about time, plan to stay in the watercourse. On our first trip, we ended up finishing the canyon in the dark (long story…but it made for an interesting day!), which was especially fun since the water flow was heavy and we got absolutely soaked in one waterfall. In the dark. On a cold desert night in February. It was character building. Our second trip only took us 8 hours and we finished mid-afternoon, despite adding extra time by taking an ill-advised alternate approach route. However, there were only two of us the second time; due to the large number of raps, each extra person probably adds an hour (at 5 minutes per rap), so if you’re going with a larger group, plan for an early start so you don’t end up exiting in the dark and consider running more than one rope.

Epic Travel → North America → The West Coast → Southern California → Anza Borrego Desert → ⊗ Cougar Canyon