At the start of the tour
Welcome to Hall of Horrors
Welcome to the Hall of Horrors, in the middle of Joshua Tree National Park. Don't worry about the name. There's nothing scary here, just long walls of giant boulders, a playground for rock climbers, and a hidden slot canyon that plenty of visitors walk right past.
There's no sign for the slot, so this tour will lead you to it. It's about half a mile of mostly flat, sandy path, with a little boulder scrambling at the very end. Give yourselves about an hour, carry water, and keep the little ones close. Among these rocks it's surprisingly easy to lose sight of each other.
There's no cell signal out here, but this tour works without one. I'll tell you a story at each spot and stay quiet in between.
Point 1 · At the stop
Welcome to the Hall of Horrors
Look at the rock piles in front of you. Climbers call each one a formation, and every formation here has a name. Together they're known as the Hall of Horrors, and that name gets used for three different things: the whole climbing area, the long parallel walls of rock, and the hidden slot we're looking for. That's one reason the directions you find online can be so confusing.
There's no official trail. The park asks everyone to stay on the paths climbers have already worn into the sand, so the desert around them can recover.
Here's the plan. Take the path from the parking area and keep to the left, around the south and west side of the big pile in front of you. The slot is tucked into a second, smaller pile behind it, and you can't see it from here. Behind you, across the road, is the long ridge of Ryan Mountain. Ready? Let's go find it.
History, on the way there
On the way: The climbers' wall
Next, we're heading to the climbers' wall on the far side of this pile. While we walk, here's how these boulders were made.
More than a hundred million years ago, this rock was melted rock deep underground. It cooled slowly into a kind of granite called monzogranite, and as it cooled it cracked into rough rectangular blocks. Groundwater seeped into those cracks and slowly rotted the edges, turning the grains to clay and rounding the corners, all while the rock was still buried.
Then the climate dried out. Flash floods washed away the loose ground that covered the blocks, and the rounded boulders were left sitting one on top of another, just like the piles around you.
Point 2 · At the stop
The climbers' wall
Look for the small sign for the climbers' access trail. This side of the formation is a favorite with rock climbers, and every route up the wall has a name. Here the names tell you when this place was first climbed. Two of the early routes are called Jaws and Exorcist, after the big horror films of the 1970s.
Climbers grade a route by how hard it is. Jaws is rated five point six, an easier climb by climbing standards, though the rating warns it has few places to clip in safely.
If you see climbers with ropes, give them plenty of room, and don't walk right underneath them. And a good rule from the park for everyone scrambling on boulders: it's easier to climb up than to get back down, so never go up something you can't come down from.
The slot is a little further on. Keep following the path north along this side of the rocks.
Point 3 · At the stop
The hidden slot
You should be right around it now. Look for two openings side by side, hidden behind the boulders. Climbers call this the Real Hall of Horrors: a narrow corridor between the rocks, running for a few hundred feet.
The slot on the right is wider, with a sandy floor, but getting in means dropping down a boulder about four to six feet, and it doesn't go all the way through. Before anyone drops in, make sure you can climb back out. With kids, an adult goes first and lowers them down.
The slot on the left you walk into, through a gap less than a foot wide. Inside it narrows to about six inches in a few spots, so small kids usually find it easier than grown-ups. It does go through, but the way out at the far end is a tricky scramble. Turn around before that and come back out the way you went in.
GPS won't work inside the rock, so this is the only story until you're back out. Take your time, look up at the strip of sky, and listen to how quiet it is in there.
Point 4 · At the stop
Between the walls
Stand here for a moment and look both ways. Two long formations run side by side, with this sandy corridor between them, like the walls of a hall.
That's the best-supported story behind the name. According to climbers who were there, Tobin Sorenson, one of the boldest climbers of the 1970s, suggested calling it the Hall of Horrors because the two big formations run parallel, like a hall. And the horror part fits the time: it was the age of the great horror films, which is why the routes you passed are named Jaws and Exorcist. You may hear a wilder story about a miners' brothel, but nobody has ever backed that one up.
The parking area is just ahead. If you still have energy, Cap Rock is a few minutes west with a short, flat loop, and Skull Rock is a little east past Jumbo Rocks. Thanks for exploring the Hall of Horrors with me.