Page 6 - Winter 2016 flip 1

6 Friends oF red rock canyon

ne of the most popular trails at Red Rock what’s generally a dry fall area. Shortly you come
Canyon is Calico Tanks. No hiker should to an area where there is a bit of exposure to the
O forego this trail because it’s popular, and right as you are go-
you meet a lot of people going up and back. It’s too ing out. There are
nice to pass up. plenty of handholds
so it shouldn’t be a
The trailhead is at the Sand- problem.
stone Quarry parking lot
by the two pit toilets. For the most
The trail is for both part the trail is not
Calico Tanks and marked, but you can
Volunteers dedicated to the preservation of Red Rock Canyon
Turtlehead Peak. follow the lighter
The turn to Calico color on the sand-
Tanks is clearly stone where people
marked not too far have deposited sand
from the trailhead. their boots picked up
The trail winds on the way. There are
around the end of also rock steps put in
the sandstone of years ago, although
the Calico Hills there are many spider trails that people have made.
and then goes up a As you ascend, you’ll see some small tanks. The
canyon. As long as you stay in that canyon, you’ll tanks are natural depressions in the sandstone that
make it to the top. fill with water when we have rain.
The trail varies if there has been
This is a hike of contrasts. You start rain. It can also be dangerous in the
walking on gravel and then go across winter if we’ve had rain that turns
a wash. After hiking for about 15 to ice, but it’s a magical site in our
minutes, you come to soft sand that desert! There are work-arounds so
makes the going a bit harder. Then you you don’t get wet boots or fall on
come to sandstone and you have some ice. For this hike, I really do recom-
scrambling to do to go up canyon. mend boots with good tread. They

There is one place where you have will serve you well.
to do a bit of scrambling to get up Once past the major sandstone

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the Rock - Volume 7 Issue 2