Golden Canyon and Gower Gulch are near Furnace Creek in Death Valley, and Zabriskie Point. There used to be a paved road through Golden Canyon and a parking lot which were washed away, now replaced by an interpretive trail. The fun begins near the end of the interpretive trail - getting to the Red Cathedral formation and up along Manley Beacon requires some hiking up some steep terrain.
The area is riddled with "use trails" (unofficial trails), which go up almost every hill. Near the base of Manley Beacon are some great places to walk off and eat lunch, accompanied by fantastic views of the nearby hills.
After that, it's down and then up again to Zabriskie Point, a popular scenic overlook, offering vistas of the nearby mountains and valleys. A busload of German-speaking tourists I arrived just as I got up to the overlook - very entertaining.
From Zabriskie Point I headed down to Gower Gulch, which reportedly is a drainage intended to keep Furnace Creek from flooding. It eventually empties out into the valley. Along the way were the tunnel openings of old abandoned borax mines.
