Darwin Falls Wilderness

---

title: "Darwin Falls Wilderness" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["wilderness-areas-of-california", "protected-areas-of-inyo-county,-california", "protected-areas-of-the-mojave-desert", "bureau-of-land-management-areas-in-california"] description: "Protected wilderness area in California, United States" topic_path: "general/wilderness-areas-of-california" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_Falls_Wilderness" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Protected wilderness area in California, United States ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox protected area"]

Field	Value
name	Darwin Falls Wilderness
iucn_category	Ib
iucn_ref
photo	Darwin Falls Wilderness, Inyo County, California, USA.jpg
photo_alt	Photo of Darwin Falls Wilderness.
photo_caption	Darwin Falls Wilderness viewed from California State Route 190
map	California#USA
relief	1
map_caption	Location in California##Location in United States
location	Inyo County, California, United States
nearest_city	Darwin, CA
coordinates
area	8,190 acre
established
governing_body	Bureau of Land Management
::

| name = Darwin Falls Wilderness | iucn_category = Ib | iucn_ref = | photo = Darwin Falls Wilderness, Inyo County, California, USA.jpg | photo_alt = Photo of Darwin Falls Wilderness. | photo_caption = Darwin Falls Wilderness viewed from California State Route 190 | map = California#USA | relief = 1 | map_caption = Location in California##Location in United States | location = Inyo County, California, United States | nearest_city = Darwin, CA | coordinates = | area = 8,190 acre | established = | visitation_num = | visitation_year = | visitation_ref = | governing_body = Bureau of Land Management The Darwin Falls Wilderness is a protected area in the northern Mojave Desert adjacent to Death Valley National Park. The 8189 acre wilderness area was created by the California Desert Protection Act of 1994 and is managed by the Bureau of Land Management as part of the National Wilderness Preservation System.

The wilderness includes portions of the Darwin Plateau and the Darwin Hills. Much of the higher elevations are Tertiary volcanic rocks while the lower elevations to the southeast in Darwin Canyon are dominated by Permian marine sedimentary and metasedimentary rock. Though the wilderness is traditionally considered to be within the northern Mojave Desert, some classifications acknowledge floristic affinities with the colder deserts to the north and consider this the Southeastern Great Basin Ecoregion. A desert scrub community is common in the wilderness with Joshua tree woodlands at higher elevations.

The high point of the Darwin Falls Wilderness is at an elevation of 5699 ft in the Darwin Hills. The lowest elevation is in Darwin Canyon at 3129 ft.

Darwin Falls

Darwin Falls, for which the wilderness is named, is actually located outside the wilderness in the adjacent Death Valley National Park. The lowest region of the wilderness area is to the east in Darwin Canyon, which then descends into Death Valley National Park where the spring-fed falls are located less than 1 mi from the wilderness boundary. Darwin Falls is in a narrow, shaded gorge where perennial flow and pools allow for a riparian habitat uncommon in the Mojave Desert.

The falls are most easily accessed from the east through Death Valley National Park and not through the more remote and difficult terrain of the Darwin Falls Wilderness.

Darwin Falls, the Darwin Falls Wilderness, and all other areas named "Darwin" in the vicinity are named after Darwin French (1822–1902), a local rancher, miner, and explorer.

Access

The nearest settlement is the community of Darwin. Access to this wilderness is via State Route 190 through Panamint Valley approximately 30 miles east of Olancha and along the road into Darwin or down the Darwin Canyon Road.

References

References

1. [https://www.protectedplanet.net/367686 Protected Planet Website]- Retrieved April 11, 2023
2. "Darwin Falls Wilderness". Wilderness.net.
3. "Darwin Falls Wilderness". BLM.
4. "Geologic Map of California". California Geologic Survey.
5. "Biogeographic Information and Observation System". California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
6. "Darwin Falls Wilderness 7.5 Topo Map 1". BLM.
7. "Panamint Springs Area". National Park Service.
8. "Hiking: Darwin Falls". National Park Service.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::