Lizards, birds abound in Mecca Hills canyon

The colorful Great Basin collared lizard resides in
the Mecca Hills' many washes.

The following article originally was written for and appeared at Uken Report.

Day hikers can see dinosaur-like creatures in a remote canyon of California's Mecca Hills.

Well, that’s dinosaurs with an asterisk. But the forerunners of dinos – reptiles – as well their descendants – birds – are plentiful in Never-Ending Canyon. A 3.72-miles lollipop trail runs the length of the Mecca Hills Wilderness box canyon as well as a connecting wash.

To reach the trailhead, take Calif. Hwy. 111 to Mecca. Turn northeast onto Fourth Street then at the roundabout veer right/southeast onto Hammond Avenue. Next, go left/east onto 66th Avenue. As the street curves northeast toward the Mecca Hills, it becomes Box Canyon Road. After crossing the Coachella Canal, drive about 3.4 miles into Box Canyon with the Mecca Hills badlands formations rising on both sides of you. Park off the side of the road. The trail is on the road's north side.

Take one of the feint dirt paths to a wash that heads east on a roadside ridge’s north side. The canyon is the first and westernmost wash coming from the northeast.

Collared lizard
Walking into it, you’ll immediately feel like you’ve left the civilized world for the Land of the Lost, as the trail serpentines between gradually narrowing canyon walls.

You’d half expect to see a small dino lurking around the bend. While dinos went extinct about 66 million years ago, the descendants of reptiles that gave rise to them are still around. Because of their similarities, dinosaurs have long been thought to be reptiles, but there are significant differences. Among them is reptiles’ thigh bones are parallel to the ground while dinos, like mammals, have thigh bones that are roughly perpendicular. Dinos split from reptiles on the family tree of life about 260 million years ago.

Among the common reptiles in the canyon today is the Great Basin collared lizard. Running between 2.5 to 4.5 inches in length, it’s easily spotted by a pair of black bands on its neck. Common across the Southwest, the collared lizard mainly eats insects and spiders, but its strong jaws allow it to much on other lizards, snakes and even rodents.

At 0.52 miles, the canyon splits. Go left/northwest. Shortly after, at 0.65 miles, you’ll reach the first of two washes coming in from the right. Take the second of them north.

Another reptile in the canyon is the western long-tailed brush lizard. Its gray or tan color makes them difficult to spot, but they’re usually spotted near the canyon’s few shrubs. They often cling to branches where they wait to snack on insects flitting by. One way to know that you’re looking at a brush lizard rather than another species is that its tail is more than twice the body length.

Salton Sea vista
Along this stretch of the hike, the trail heads around a small hill. About 0.88 miles in, the trail splits again. Go left/north.

Should you scare up a lizard during the hike, you may be lucky enough to see it flash a black and white banded tail as running away. This is the zebra-tailed lizard, which ranges from 2.5 to 4 inches. Colored gray to sandy brown, a pair of dark gray spots run down the back, gradually merging to form black crossbands along the tail. They dine on ants, bees, moths and spiders and smaller lizards. During spring, you might catch them dining on leaf buds and flowers.

At 1.75 miles, the canyon climbs to the ridge. Awesome views await. The blue Salton Sea spreads southward beyond the hills while the Santa Rosa Mountains rise to the west.

The vista is also a great spot to see birds, descendants of dinosaurs. About 150 million years ago, birds began to evolve from the type of dino known as theropods. The T. rex is a theropod, though birds split from a much smaller species rather than any of the large ones.

Flying over the farm fields between the Mecca Hills and the Salton Sea will be the red-tailed hawk. It prefers open country, where it can more easily spot prey, over the badland canyons. If you see one dive slowly, its legs outstretched, its in attack mode. They are dark brown with light barring on their wing feathers and brilliant red tail feathers. They are vital to population control of rodents, which can make up to 85 percent of their diet. They also enjoy a good snake and lizard now and then.

Rock wren
After taking in the views, walk a few yards to the north, looking for a saddle on the left. Descend it into the canyon on your left. Take it south.

This canyon has an entirely different feel – thanks its color and width – then the one you were in, even though they are only a few yards apart.

A dino descendant you may spot on the walk back is the rock wren. Between 5-6 inches long, their topside is gray to brown upperparts with small black and white spots. A light gray line runs over each eye. They sport a long slightly downward curved thin bill, which they use to extract insects and spiders while hunting on the ground.

At 3.25 miles, the trail reaches the three-way junction where you took the middle option. Continue right/south onto the stem portion of the trail that you walked in on from the road.

Be sure to don sunscreen, sunglasses and a sunhat as well as bring plenty of water on this trail. Dogs are allowed. Never hike the trail if rain is forecast or if rain has fallen within the past couple of days.

Never-Ending Canyon Trail aerial map. Click for larger version.

Learn more about national park day hiking trails in my Best Sights to See at America’s National Parks series.

Mecca Hills trail heads to rare slot canyons

The Slot Canyon Cave Trail heads through
a narrow wash to a small cave in the Mecca Hills.

The following article originally was written for and appeared in Uken Report.

Day hikers can explore slot canyons reminiscent of Utah or Arizona right in the Coachella Valley.

The Slot Canyon Cave Trail runs 6.5 miles round trip in the Mecca Hills Wilderness Area. It gains 100 feet in elevation so is fairly flat.

To reach the trailhead, take Calif. Hwy. 111 to Mecca. Turn left/northeast onto Fourth Street then at the roundabout go right/southeast onto Hammond Road. After a couple of blocks, head left/east onto 66th Avenue. As the street curves northeast, it naturally becomes Box Canyon Road. After crossing the canal, in 3 miles look for a flat, hard-packed dirt on the left; about 50 yards from the road are boulders aligned to keep vehicles from going into the canyon. Park off the road here.

The hike begins in Big Colorful Canyon. Compared to other canyons in the Mecca Hills, Big Colorful is an easy walk as flooding has removed much of the sand.

At 0.25 miles in, Pyramid Canyon is to the right. Continue left into the wider Big Colorful Canyon.

Scenic canyon walls
The strata in this part of the Mecca Hills badlands is sharply uplifted. The result is multiple layers of rocks in a variety of colors visible on the canyon walls.

At 0.8 miles, turn right/northeast into a narrow canyon. You’re now on the Slot Canyon Cave Trail proper. This is not the trail’s official Bureau of Land Management name but was christened by previous hikers who explored the Mecca Hills.

The trail quickly opens up. Scenic formations rise above on the canyon walls.

At 1.3 miles, you’ll reach a spot where the canyon’s right wall collapsed. Though debris covers the entire canyon floor, you can negotiate it by staying on the left.

Slot canyons
Another slide appears at 1.8 miles. After that, the canyon divides. Go right/northeast.

The trail follows several narrowing curves that form a slot canyon.

Slot canyons – in which the canyon is extremely deep but usually no wider than three or so feet – are rare geological formations. They often feel like caves with windows of sunlight when the canyon briefly widens. Among the more famous slot canyons are the Narrows in Utah’s Zion National Park and Antelope Canyon on the Navajo reservation in northern Arizona.

Such canyons form over millions of years when water from rainstorms rush through titled rock, usually sandstone or limestone, which easily erode compared to granite and basalt. Rocks and sand caught up in the fast-moving water carve out the walls while digging a deeper trench.

Cave-like chamber
The slot canyon ends when it reaches a large cave-like chamber created when the walls collapsed. No flashlight is needed to see in the cave.

After taking in the cave, head back to where the canyon split. Another slot canyon awaits on the other wash; turn right/northeast onto it.

Once you’ve completed the hike up that canyon, retrace your steps back to your vehicle.

Much of the trail lacks shade, so be sure to don sunscreen, sunglasses and sunhat. Never hike this trail if rain is forecast or has fallen within the past 48 hours or you may be caught in a flashflood.

Slot Canyon Cave Trail topo map. Click for larger version.

Learn more about national park day hiking trails in my Best Sights to See at America’s National Parks series.

Mecca Hills trail heads to pyramid-like rock

The Pyramid Canyon Trail heads up a Mecca Hills wash
to a pyramid-shaped rock.

The following article originally was written for and appeared at the Uken Report.

Day hikers can discover several desert wash plants on their way to a pyramid-shape monolith in the Mecca Hills.

The Pyramid Canyon Trail runs 6.04 miles with an elevation gain of 600 feet in the Mecca Hills Wilderness. The canyon cuts through the heart of the 26,242-acre badlands.

To reach the trailhead, take Calif. Hwy. 111 to Mecca. Turn left/northeast onto Fourth Street then at the roundabout go right/southeast onto Hammond Road. After a couple of blocks, head left/east onto 66th Avenue. As the street curves northeast, it naturally becomes Box Canyon Road. Cross the canal and drive about 2 miles. When the road curves southeast, look for two washes on the road's left/right side. Park off the road at the second of the two washes.

Entering the wash, the trail splits into two canyons. Go right/northeast into Pyramid Canyon.

Desert wash flora
Initially, the sandy washes are quite wide. While the badlands is extremely dry, several large desert plants make their home in this wash.

Among the largest is the desert ironwood. In ideal conditions it reaches a height of 33 feet with a trunk diameter of 24 inches. Most of the ironwood here is young, with its smooth, shiny gray bark a giveaway of its immaturity; older trees sport broken open bark.

The ironwood is a nurse plant with some 230 species of desert plants starting their growth in its protective shade. More than 60 reptiles and another 60 mammals rely on the ironwood for cover, nesting and food. If its seeds - which taste like peanuts - have fallen from the tree, you may spot doves and quail eating them.

Paloverde can grow even taller than ironwood, topping out at 39 feet high. Its grayish green branches and twigs are photosynthetic, so it thrives even when it has no leaves, which usually pop out after a rainfall. The bush grows in washes and bajadas where it can collect the most water.

The smoketree is slightly smaller at 25 feet high and across. It likes the desert's direct sunlight, and since it needs a regular source of water, washes are a perfect home. As with paloverde, the smoketree's branches contain chlorophyll pigments, allowing photosynthesis to occur all year. Because of its silver branches, from a distance the shrub looks like rising smoke. During June-July, it boasts impressive blooms of bluish-violet flowers.

On gentler slopes and the ridgetops, ocotillo stand out. Though the large, spiny sticks look like cactus, the ocotillo is more closely related to blueberry and tea shrubs. The plant can reach a height of 33 feet. After a rainfall, ocotillo sprouts small leaves and during spring, summer, and sometimes fall will bloom with bright, crimson flowers.

At about 0.85 miles, a canyon wash meets another wash from the right. Go left/north.

Rock formations
Typical of a canyon, the wash gains elevation the deeper you go into it. This allows hikers to see a variety of different rock layers, many of which are different colors - beige, burnt sienna. green, mauve, rust and white. The best time to see the rock colors is early in the morning on clear sunny days when the light doesn't wash them out.

Around 1.8 miles, the trail reaches a small hill. After passing it, in about 50 yards look back. It appears to be a pyramid.

How did a pyramid get here? Ancient Egyptian travelers swept off course in a hurricane? Ancient aliens who also visited Mars?

Try simple erosion. Water and wind hitting at just the right angles over the centuries shaped it. Combined with our minds that often imagine familiar patterns in stone, and you get one of the more interesting rock formations in the Coachella Valley.

Salton Sea vista
At about 2.27 miles, the wash splits. Go right/east. When the narrow canyon peters out, scramble to the ridge top for a great view of the Salton Sea.

The vista is from more than 120 stories up, as the ridge top is 1000+ feet above sea level while the sea's surface sits at 236 feet below sea level. Covering more than 343 square miles, the blue water seems to stretch forever.

From the ridge top as looking at the sea, look for a small canyon/wash on the right heading west to southwest. Scramble down the canyon side and continue left/southwest on it.

At 3.77 miles, you'll arrive back at where the wash split. Continue straight-right/south. From there, retrace your steps back to your vehicle.

While shadows from the canyon walls can provide some shade at certain times of the day, for the most part the trail is entirely exposed to the sun. Given this, be sure to don sunglasses, sunscreen and sunhat, as well as bring plenty of water. Never hike this trail if rain is forecast or has fallen during the past 48 hours.

Pyramid Canyon Trail topo map, Plate 1

Pyramid Canyon Trail topo map, Plate 2
Click each map for larger versions

Learn more about national park day hiking trails in my Best Sights to See at America’s National Parks series.

Mecca Hills trail leads to Rainbow Rocks

Rainbow Rocks can be reached via a Mecca Hills grotto.

Day hikers can climb through a small cave
and enjoy fantastical and colorful rock formations
in the Mecca Hills Wilderness.

The 3.65-mile round trip Rainbow Rocks Trail consists of a section of the Hidden Springs Trail. Because of the desert heat, the trail is best done in October through May. Never enter the canyon if rain is forecast or for a couple of days after rain has fallen.

To reach the trailhead, take Calif. Hwy. 111 south to Mecca. Turn left/northeast onto Fourth Street and at the roundabout go right/southeast onto Hammond Road. The street naturally curves east and becomes 66th Avenue. East of town at Garfield Avenue, the street becomes Box Canyon Road and curves northeast. The road then crosses the Coachella Canal and enters a broad sandy wash and finally Box Canyon.

While the road is paved, you’ll need to drive slower in Box Canyon. Turns can be tight, and a thin layer of sand often covers part of the asphalt.

A single wood post lets you known you’ve reached the parking area – which is just a sandy wash – for the trail to Sheep Hole Oasis. It’s roughly five miles from the canal. The trailhead for Hidden Springs Canyon is on the road’s east side and marked by rocks placed in the ground across the canyon’s mouth.

Follow the canyon east. In about 350 feet, the trail climbs atop a ridge and curls south. You’ve entered a region of barren hillsides banded in earth tones, reminiscent of South Dakota’s Badlands.

Sheep Hole Oasis
In about a quarter mile, a small clump of fan palms appear in the canyon below. This is Sheep Hole Oasis, an important watering ground for bighorn sheep.

The trail descends to the oasis and then follows the canyon south. As the trail’s sandy surface suggests, water cuts out the canyons in these hills. The sandstone easily erodes when flashfloods rush through and with the wind constantly striking the canyon walls.

In about a half mile, watch for a trail cutting through a side canyon to the east. Take this up over a small ridge and then down into Spring Canyon.

Upon entering the wide wash, go east and follow it as it turns northeast. Upon reaching another split, about a third of a mile up the wash, go right/northeast. The canyon here narrows.

Geographically, the Mecca Hills mark the Coachella Valley’s eastern edge. They formed as the Pacific Plate to the west of the San Andreas Fault slid past and under the North American plate. This lifted and folded the North American plate here. Water and wind then carved the sandstone into a series of clefts and gorges.

Grotto #2
In another third of a mile is a small slot canyon heading north. This heads to Hidden Springs. Instead continue right/east up the wash.

Shortly thereafter in about an eighth of a mile, a second canyon heads north leading to The Grotto. Continue straight-right/east. You’ve now left the Hidden Springs Trail.

As the wash curves south, it passes some fascinating examples of rock shearing, or warped rocks. Shearing here occurs as the Pacific and North American tectonic plates move laterally against one another. The pressure of that movement is so intense that it reshapes the buried rocks.

You’ll reach a grotto in a little more than a third of a mile. A grotto is a small cave that usually floods during rainfalls. Erosion in this steep mud and slot canyon created the cave-like formation. This particular cave often is referred to as "Grotto #2" on maps.

The grotto has a narrow opening. You'll need a flashlight to see while crawling around inside.

Rainbow Rocks
The cave ends at a rock wall. If you're able, climb the rock wall up. The reward for your effort is the Rainbow Rocks, a colorful array of boulders and dirt.

The varying colors offer a mini-lesson in the Mecca Hills’ geology.

If you see gray rocks that are extremely hard, they’re the Coachella Valley’s bedrock. This gneiss formed between 1.8 billion and 1.65 billion years ago, long before there was plant or animal life on Earth.

Mixed with the gneiss are layers of much younger rock. Among them are brown volcanic tuff – hardened ash – and sediments of Dos Palmas Rhyolite that settled here between 23 million to 5.3 million years ago.

Red, tan, buff rocks
Much of the Mecca Hills consists of reddish sandstone and conglomerate – pebbles cemented in layers of finer grain sands – of the Mecca Formation. This formed about 5.3 million to 2.58 million years ago when flash flooding washed away sediment from higher land east of the Coachella Valley and deposited it on alluvial fans that already were here.

Usually above the red rock are the tan, buff and gray layers of sandstone of the Canebrake Formation. This was set down between 2.6 million years to 11,700 years ago when water flowing out of higher ground to east deposited sediment here.

If you notice white, crystal-like rock snaking through a canyon wall, you’ve come across an aplite dike. It’s mainly quartz and light-colored feldspar that formed about 10 miles below the surface. There, heat and pressure allowed the rocks to melt and flow upward into the surrounding rocks, which since have been uplifted and exposed.

After taking in the sights, head back into the grotto and retrace your steps back to the parking lot.

Most of the trail is exposed to the sun, so you’ll definitely need to don sunhat, sunglasses and sunscreen. Bring plenty of water. Because of the cave and boulders to it, you may want to carry gloves as well.

Rainbow Rocks Trail topo Map. Click for larger version.

Mecca Hills slot canyon offers fun day hike

The Big Split Rock Canyon Trail traverses
a narrow slot canyon in the Mecca Hills.

Day hikers can explore a Mecca Hills slot canyon that’ll make them feel like a kid again.

The 3-miles round trip Big Split Rock Slot Canyon Trail heads past fascinating stone formations, through narrow passages, and up small rock chutes. The rocks appear in a range of colors – red, lilac, orange, coral, burnt sienna, and other desert hues.

Move over Disneyland’s “Alice in Wonderland” ride!

Morning marks the best time to hike the slot canyon or anywhere else in the Mecca Hills, for that matter. Not only will temperatures be cooler, but the rising sun brightens the rock walls in a slowly changing color show.

To reach the trailhead, take Calif. Hwy. 111 to Mecca. Turn left/northeast onto Fourth Street then at the roundabout go right/southeast onto Hammond Road. After a couple of blocks, go left/east onto 66th Avenue. As the street curves northeast, it naturally becomes Box Canyon Road. After crossing the canal, in a little more than a half-mile turn left/northwest onto the gravel Painted Canyon Road. That road can be sandy and sometimes is washed out; a four-wheel drive is recommended. Ultimately, the road winds into a canyons, ending at a sand parking lot.

From the lot, walk 0.25 miles south along the road. You’ll see the slot canyon on the left/east. Mesquite sits near the canyon opening.

Feeling like a kid
Entering the canyon, it soon narrows. At times you’ll need to clamber over boulders, sometimes under them. A few low overhangs give you a sense of being in a cave.

You’ll be instantly fascinating by the trail’s geology. The Mecca Hills sit at the boundary of the North American and the Pacific tectonic plates and was lifted off the valley floor as the two plates slide against one another along the San Andreas Fault. Rain and to a lesser degree wind has cut canyons through the hills.

In about 0.7 miles, the canyon splits. This area is known as “The Big Split.” Go into the canyon on the left/north.

The open, wash canyon partially circles the base of a hill, which tops out at 1181 feet elevation. The canyon bottom here is around 500 feet elevation.

At 1.2 miles, the canyon narrows significantly. You may need to turn sideways to work your way through it.

Mecca Hills geology
The canyon’s varying colors offer a mini-lesson in the Mecca Hills’ geology.

If you see gray rocks that are extremely hard, they’re the Coachella Valley’s bedrock. This gneiss formed between 1.8 billion and 1.65 billion years ago, long before there was plant or animal life on Earth.

Mixed with the gneiss are layers of much younger rock. Among them are brown volcanic tuff – hardened ash – and sediments of Dos Palmas Rhyolite that settled here between 23 million to 5.3 million years ago.

Much of the Mecca Hills consists of reddish sandstone and conglomerate of the Mecca Formation. This formed about 5.3 million to 2.58 million years ago when flash flooding washed away sediment from higher land east of the Coachella Valley and deposited it on alluvial fans that already were here.

Usually above the red rock are the tan, buff and gray layers of sandstone of the Canebrake Formation. This was set down between 2.6 million years to 11,700 years ago when water flowing out of higher ground to the east deposited sediment here.

Dangerous rocks
At 1.5 miles from the trailhead, broken rocks and boulders hang precariously above you. For safety reasons, you’ll want to turn back here.

If intrepid, you can continue on, though. The canyon eventually leads to its headwaters atop the Mecca Hills.

Never hike the canyon if rain is forecast or if it has fallen during the past 48 hours, due to the danger of flashfloods.

While California recently closed national forests to hiking and camping out of concern for wildfires, the Mecca Hills sits on Federal land run by the Bureau of Land Management and so is open. Most BLM land near Palm Springs, however, is in the desert, so always be aware of hot temperatures and carry plenty of water when hiking it.

Big Split Rock Canyon Trail topo map.
Click for larger version.

Oases, grotto await on Mecca Hills trail

The Grotto cave runs several yards through a slot canyon.

Hidden Springs Trail topo map.

The following article originally appeared at the Uken Report.

Day hikers can do a little spelunking in the Coachella Valley via the Hidden Spring Trail.

While the Coachella Valley doesn’t have the limestone rock formations that allows for massive underground rooms like Mammoth Cave or Carlsbad Caverns, it does have the next best thing: grottos. You can find them in the Mecca Hills Wilderness that sits north of the Salton Sea.

The 5.1-mile round trip hike to The Grotto takes you through two oasis and past several impressive painted rock canyons. Because of the desert heat, the trail is best done in October through May. Never enter the box canyons if rain is forecast or for a couple of days after rain has fallen.

To reach the trailhead, take Calif. Hwy. 111 south to Mecca. Turn left/northeast onto Fourth Street and at the roundabout go right/southeast onto Hammond Road. The street naturally curves east and becomes 66th Avenue. East of town at Garfield Avenue, it becomes Box Canyon Road and curves northeast. The road then crosses the Coachella Canal and enters a broad sandy wash and finally Box Canyon.

While the road is paved, you’ll need to drive slower in Box Canyon. Turns can be tight, and a thin layer of sand often covers part of the asphalt.

Sheep Hole Oasis
A single wood post lets you known you’ve reached the parking area – which is just a sandy wash – for the trail to Sheep Hole Oasis. It’s roughly five miles from the canal. The trailhead on the road’s east side is marked by rocks placed in the ground across the canyon’s mouth.

Follow the canyon east. In about 350 feet, the trail climbs atop a ridge and curls south. You’ve entered a region of barren hillsides banded in earth tones, reminiscent of South Dakota’s Badlands.

In about a quarter mile, a small clump of fan palms appear in the canyon below. This is Sheep Hole Oasis, an important watering ground for bighorn sheep.

The trail descends to the oasis and then follows the canyon south. As the trail’s sandy surface suggests, water cuts out the canyons in these hills. The sandstone easily erodes when flashfloods rush through and with the wind constantly striking their walls.

Hidden Spring
In a little more than a third of a mile, watch for a trail cutting through a side canyon to the east. Take this up over a small ridge and then down into Spring Canyon.

Upon entering the wide wash, go east and follow it as it turns northeast. When reaching another split, about a third of a mile up the wash, go right/northeast. The canyon here narrows.

Geographically, the Mecca Hills mark the Coachella Valley’s eastern edge. They formed as the Pacific Plate to the west of the San Andreas Fault slid past and under the North American plate. This lifted and folded the North American plate here. Water and wind then carved the sandstone into a series of clefts and gorges.

In another third of a mile is a small slot canyon heading north. Enter it.

The trail winds around and scrambles over boulders, leaving you at Hidden Spring, another oasis. As with Sheep Hole, this is an important water source for local wildlife. Hidden Spring appears a but more lush than Sheep Hole if only because this canyon is smaller.

Return to Spring Canyon and go left/east. (You’ve technically left the Hidden Spring Trail.) In about 500 feet, turn left/northeast into another slot canyon. The canyon walls here mainly consist of small stones stuck in sandstone.

The Grotto
In 0.75 miles, the trail reaches The Grotto. A grotto is a small cave that usually floods during rainfalls. Erosion in this steep mud and slot canyon created the cave-like formation.

Feel free to climb into The Grotto. It’ll be pitch black inside, so first break out a flashlight. The other end comes out just a bit farther north in the same slot canyon. Once you’ve reached the other side, head back through The Grotto and retrace your steps back to the parking lot.

There are other grottos in the Mecca Hills, and some hikers have fashioned loop trails out of the many connecting paths to see all of them in a single walk. That adventure requires hiking several miles, though.

Most of the trail is exposed to the sun, so you’ll definitely need to don sunhat, sunglasses and sunscreen. Bring plenty of water. Because of the cave and boulders to it, you may want to carry gloves as well.

Learn more about national park day hiking trails in my Best Sights to See at America’s National Parks series.

Trail heads through slot canyon via ladders

Hikers must climb ladders to traverse  Ladder Canyon in California.

Satellite map of Ladder Canyon-Big Painted Canyon Loop.

Day hikers can explore a beautiful slot canyon while traversing a series of ladders at steep spots in the Mecca Hills Wilderness.

The Ladder Canyon-Big Painted Canyon Loop is a 6-mile lollipop trail with an elevation gain of 450 feet. Located on BLM land in California’s Coachella Valley, a local hiking club provides the ladders and large arrows of collected rocks to keep you going the right way.

To reach the trailhead, take Hwy. 111 to Mecca. Turn left/northeast onto Fourth Street then at the roundabout go right/southeast onto Hammond Road. After a couple of blocks, go left/east onto 66th Avenue. As the street curves northeast, it naturally becomes Box Canyon Road. After crossing the canal, in a little more than a half-mile turn left/northwest onto the gravel Painted Canyon Road. The road winds through some scenic canyons; when it loops back upon itself, you're at a sand parking lot. The trailhead heads northeast from the loop into a narrow canyon.

You'll walk on the stem of the lollipop trail for about 0.25 miles; watch for a small trail sign pointing left to a canyon entrance with rockfall. This is Ladder Canyon. Scramble over the rocks and head into the narrow and noticeably cooler slot canyon. On the rockfall's other side is your first ladder.

The Mecca Hills are being uplifted as the North American and Pacific tectonic plates slide against one another along the nearby San Andreas Fault. When rain falls across the nearly barren hills, the rushing water cuts through the rock, forming the canyons. Some of the exposed rock at the canyons' lowest points were are more than 600 million years ago. The process of erosion continues today, leaving a layer of soft sand across the canyon floors.

Ladder Canyon is an otherworldly experience of curving stone, at time reminiscent of the famous Antelope Canyon near Grand Canyon National Park. Sometimes the slot canyon here is a mere two feet wide.

Look for the cairn
Upon exiting the slot canyon, you'll be on a small ledge that gives you an awesome bird's eye view of where you've just walked. Gradually the greater canyon widens, and the heat picks up here as there's less shade from the mudstone walls.

Once you've entirely left the canyon, you'll see a large pile of small rocks, often referred to as a cairn. Upon reaching it, you've gone about 2.75 miles and used four or five ladders. Be sure to look south for a great view of the Salton Sea.

While turning back than continuing the loop means less walking, climbing down the ladders actually is more difficult than going up them. Instead, descend to your vehicle through the wider, less steep and only slightly longer Big Painted Canyon – which means continuing the loop.

To do so, from the cairn, look for the footpath that goes northeast. When the trail reaches a T at the top of Big Painted Canyon, turn left/north; you'll walk across the desert with communication towers in the distance. Near the base of a foothill, the trail curves right/east then right/south, as it heads down into Big Painted Canyon. Large arrows fashioned out of rocks point the way to go.

Big Painted Canyon
Follow Big Painted Canyon south/southwest. A lot of neat rock formations appear in various hues of pink, purple, red, rose and green, with quartz scattered across the canyon floor. There are additional ladders along the way as you descend through the canyon. Be aware that some lead to a canyon top vista; going “up” a ladder means you’re leaving the canyon and trail.

With Big Painted Canyon's moister conditions, you can find ironwood, palo verde, smoke trees and even the rare lilac-colored Mecca aster along the trail. Ocotillo rises on the canyon rim. Plenty of harmless lizards scramble about the rocks, and if glancing at the sky, you'll probably spot prairie falcons.

Eventually the trail reaches the entry to Ladder Canyon. Continue southwest onto the stem trail leading to the parking lot.

The loop is best done in early spring and late fall. The early morning light plays sublimely on the slot canyon walls. As this is a remote desert hike, carry extra water. Always test the ladders to ensure they are stable and secure before climbing them (note that the tallest ladder is about 12 feet). Be aware that flashfloods can wash away the cairn and rock trail markers, so always carry a topo map and compass on this hike.

Learn more about national park day hiking trails in my Best Sights to See at America’s National Parks series.