Diablo Canyon

Diablo Canyon is a narrow, dark-walled slot cut into basalt northwest of Santa Fe, where cliffs up to a few hundred feet tall close in around a sandy wash leading down to the Rio Grande. It’s a well-known multi-pitch trad and sport climbing area, but the canyon floor itself makes for a nice walk even if you have no interest in climbing.

On the Big Screen

Diablo Canyon has been used as a filming location for decades. Its dark basalt walls have been used in Old West, alien, and plenty of other remote landscapes. The canyon appears in The Texas Rangers (1936), The Tracker (1988), The Last Outlaw (1993), The Staircase (1998), The Missing (2003), The Far Side of Jericho (2006), 3:10 to Yuma (2007), Appaloosa (2008), Brothers (2009), Cowboys & Aliens (2011), The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018), and The Harder They Fall (2021). Television has used the canyon too, including Earth 2, Walker, Texas Ranger, and Netflix’s Godless.

What to Do

Climbers come for more than a hundred routes rated 5.8 to 5.13, split between BLM-managed cliffs on the east side and Santa Fe National Forest land on the west. Non-climbers can simply walk the wash, enjoying the dramatic scenery. The full canyon trail runs about 7.5 miles round trip to the Rio Grande. The cracked basalt walls look best in low light and raptors nest in the cliffs, so keep an eye out overhead.

How Much Time to Spend

A short walk into the entrance narrows takes an hour or two. Hiking the full wash to the Rio Grande and back is a half-day outing. Climbers routinely spend a full day working multi-pitch routes.

Getting There

Access is by rough dirt road, and it’s the main reason this place stays uncrowded. From Santa Fe, take NM-599 (the Veterans Memorial Highway) to the Camino La Tierra exit and head west, then continue onto Old Buckman Road for 12 miles before you reach the first pullouts used for canyon parking. A standard car can make it when the road is dry. There are no facilities, no fee, and no potable water. Primitive camping is allowed for up to two weeks.

Diablo Canyon’s combination of film history and unique scenery make it an easy detour to justify!