An aerial view of the Jail Canyon pot farm taken in 2021/NPS file

A pot farm with a street value estimated at $7 million has been removed from the backcountry of Death Valley National Park.

Crews from the National Park Service and outside partners recently removed trash and dangerous chemicals left behind from the illegal marijuana grow site operation in Jail Canyon. Jail Canyon has reopened to public visitation now that the safety closure has been lifted. 

The active marijuana grow operation was discovered during a fly-over of Jail Canyon, located on the western slope of the Panamint Mountains. More than 10,000 plants were eradicated with an estimated sale value of over $7million. Upon learning that they were discovered, the growers abandoned the site. They left behind a damaged landscape, trash, and hazardous chemicals, according to the Park Service.  

35 cubic yards of trash from an illegal marijuana grow site was removed from Jail Canyon in Death Valley National Park, in a joint effort by the National Park Service, the American Conservation Experience and the California Air National Guard/NPS

Jail Canyon is one of more than 20 illegal grow sites that have been found near springs in remote canyons in the park over the past decade. The growers typically terrace the landscape and install irrigation tubing to divert water to the marijuana plants. Workers have poached wildlife for food. They stockpiled chemicals and applied pesticides to protect their illegal crop, contaminating water sources in the process. The most dangerous chemical found in Jail Canyon was carbofuran, which is very toxic to humans and wildlife. 

On April 27, park rangers and American Conservation Experience members hiked through dense vegetation into Jail Canyon and bagged up tubing, tarps, bedding, and other trash. A few days later, the California Air National Guard used their Pave Hawk helicopter to perform a "longline operation." This operation consisted of dropping large cargo nets to the park rangers in the canyon to load garbage into the nets. Thirty-five cubic yards of trash were removed, and the site was returned to a more natural state.  

When hiking in remote areas of the park, visitors are advised to be aware of their surroundings, and pay attention to things that seem unusual, such as modern trash, well-used human trails, or tubing. If you discover a grow site, leave the area immediately and report the location to the Park Service at a visitor center or call the NPS tip line at 888-653-0009.  

Due to the rugged, often trailless terrain of Death Valley National Park, the Park Service has increased the use of surveillance to detect the presence of new grow operations to protect park resources and improve visitor safety.