Trails heads into Cathedral City foothills

The Dunn Road Trail offers great views of the Santa Rosa Mountains.

Topo map of Dunn Road Trail-Art Smith Trail loop.
Click for larger version.

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

Hikers can enjoy great views of Cathedral City Cove and the surrounding Coachella Valley on a segment of the Dunn Road Trail.

The entire Dunn Hill Trail runs 14.7 miles with a 6% average grade uphill almost all the way. For a day hike, though, you can simply do a segment of it. One good route is taking part of Dunn Road Trail and combining it with a segment of the Art Smith Trail so that you loop between the two ends of Cathedral City Cove. That comes to about 4.55 miles with a good portion of it downhill.

To reach the trailhead, in Cathedral City at the intersection of East Palm Canyon Drive/Calif. Hwy. 111 with Cathedral Canyon Drive, take the latter south. Turn right/west onto Terrace Road, which becomes Charlesworth Drive when the street curves south. Next, turn right/west onto Valley Vista Drive, which becomes Channel Drive when the street veers south. The trailhead is at the intersection of Channel and Carroll drives; park along the street.

Starting at 728 feet elevation in a wash, the trail quickly comes to a line of small boulders known as the Lower Dunn Road Wall. Past the “wall,” the trail curls south (some maps refer to this as the “Dunn Ramp, east trailhead”) and heads up the ridgeline.

To the northwest is Murray Hill, a prominent foothill visible in Cathedral City. The hill tops out at 2202 feet.

About 0.5 miles in, you’ll arrive at a junction with a narrower trail heading north (some maps refer to this as the “Dunn Ramp, west trailhead”). Continue straight-left/southwest.

Road’s origins
Dunn Road is remnant of a conflict during the early 1970s between landowners and conservationists. At the time, Mike Dunn began building a road that would connect Palm Springs to Pinyon Flats so landowners could better access their property. The Bureau of Land Management – which oversaw the foothills at that time – believed the road posed a threat to peninsular bighorn sheep and promptly gated off the road.

Lawsuits followed, and eventually Dunn gave up on the project. Higher up the trail, remains of road construction equipment that Dunn left behind still can be seen. The land wilderness has become part of the San Bernardino National Forest, managed by the U.S. Forest Service.

Despite being decades old, the road portion of the trail is in good condition. It’s wide and the surface is a smooth hard pack. Sometimes small sections wash out, though, so at times you’ll walk over rocks for a few yards. Hiking boots are recommended.

The trail soon arrives at one of its few flat stretches. The trail’s orientation changes as well, allowing for excellent views of the cove and the Coachella Valley below.

Cathedral Canyon
About 2.3 miles in, just before the trail starts climbing again, a trail junctions from the east. This is the Art Smith Trail. If you need a break, this is a good spot to rest as there are picnic tables.

Go left/east onto the Art Smith Trail. You’re at 1641 feet elevation and will begin your descent into Cathedral Canyon.

Interesting rock formations can be seen on the way through the canyon.

The trail arrives back in a wash at the Cathedral City Trailhead. From there, take Foothill Drive northwest back to Channel Drive and your vehicle, about a three block walk.

The trail is entirely exposed to the sun, so be sure to don sunscreen, sunglasses and sunhat. Leashed dogs are allowed on the route.

Bighorn sheep await on Palm Desert trail

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

Hikers can enjoy panoramic views of the Coachella Valley with the opportunity to spot rare bighorn sheep on the Art Smith Trail.

The out-and-back trail runs 8.3 miles one way but can be shortened depending on your level of physical fitness. It’s best done September through May. Mornings offer cooler temperatures with the added bonus of blooming wildflowers if hiked after a rainfall.

To reach the trailhead, from Calif. Hwy. 111 in Palm Desert turn south onto Calif. Hwy. 74. In about four miles, just past the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto National Monument Visitor Center entrance, turn right/west into the parking lot. You also can park in a smaller lot before the reaching the visitor center entrance.

From there, follow the Dead Indian Creek wash roughly northwest via a 0.2-mile connector until reaching the Art Smith Trail proper. If you were able to park in the smaller lot north of the visitor center, cross the wash directly onto the trail.

Spectacular views
The three miles beyond the connector are strenuous, thanks to elevation gains. The trailhead starts at 1000 feet elevation and rises another 1465 feet.

Your reward for that effort are increasingly fantastic views of the Coachella Valley below. The Big Horn Golf Course and homes initially appears below then the whole of Palm Desert and Rancho Mirage with Cathedral City and Palm Springs to the northwest. Across the valley stand the Little San Bernardino Mountains and Joshua Tree National Park.

A variety of desert plants can be spotted along the trail. Barrel cactus, beavertail cactus with its magenta flower, Christmas and staghorn cholla, and fishhook cactus dominate. After a rainfall, though, bring a wildflower guide and see if you can spot blossoming blazing star, brittlebush, California Fagonbush, chia, chuparosa, creosote, desert lavender, desert lupine, indigo bush, pink globemallow, notch-leaf phacelia, Spanish needles, white desert puncushion, white globemallow, or the yellow sweetbush.

The trail passes plenty of interesting desert rock formations, many informally named after animals they resemble. Make a game of it and see if you identify Squirrel Rock, Gorilla Rock, Two Toads, and Turtle Rock.

Peninsular bighorn sheep
Certainly the highlight of the trail is spying the endangered Peninsular bighorn sheep, a Coachella Valley icon.

About 950 bighorn sheep live in the mountains surrounding the Coachella Valley. They blend in quite well with the tawny landscape, but their size gives them away. Adult rams can weigh between 150-200 pounds – as much as a full-grown man – and ewes usually are 100-125 pounds. The adult ram’s horns sometimes reach 30 inches each in length and at the base are 15 inches in circumference.

Bighorn often can be seen feeding on acacia, encelia, krameria and sweetbush, but they will adapt their diet to what’s available. Indeed – no doubt like hikers admiring the lush valley below – some bighorn have migrated onto golf courses where they browse on the greens and drink from water hazards.

Lambs usually arrive in January-June, with most births in February-April. Sometimes parts of the trail are closed during birthing season. Golden eagles will prey upon the younger lambs; coyotes, mountain lions and wolves are the bighorn’s main predators.

If no bighorn show, don’t fret. Plenty of other animals inhabit this seemingly desolate terrain, and your certain to see Baja California Collared and side-blotched lizards, roadrunners, chipmunks, and maybe even burrowing owls and chuckwallas.

Shorten the trail
Unless backpacking, you’ll want to cut this trail short rather than do the entire length. A couple of good spots to turn around are at a palm oasis – there’s one at 2.5 miles in then another at about three miles, where the trail mostly levels out.

Should you wish to continue onward, the trail at five miles passes palm-filled Magnesia Canyon’s upper reaches. After that, it intersects Hahn Buena Vista Trail at Dunn Road, offering more great views of the valley below. The Hahn Buena Vista connects with the Wild Horse and Garstin trails and ends in Palm Springs about eight miles on. Dunn Road and the Cathedral Canyon Trail head into Cathedral City.

The trail’s namesake was a trail boss for the Desert Riders. He developed a number of area trails to move horses from Palm Springs to Anza and escape the summer heat.

Note that the trail offers little shade, so be sure to don sunhat and sunscreen, as well as bring plenty of water. Also, to protect bighorn sheep, dogs are not allowed on the trail.

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