Twilight Zone to Grapevine Springs - 10/14/12

Grapevine Springs of Kyle Canyon

                                   

Snow Covered Mt. Charleston

                                       

View from Trail to the Desert Lowlands

 Four hikers showed up for an exploratory hike off of Kyle Canyon Highway in the Red Rock Canyon NCA. A new hike for the club, Grapevine Springs of Kyle Canyon via the Twilight Zone Trail turned out to be around 6.5 miles with a gross elevation gain of around 1600 feet. It was a great workout with many undulating hills. The hike had a combination of smooth and rocky trails, and a gravelly wash. Much of the trail seemed to be washed out from recent rains and is now used mostly by bikers.

Twilight Zone Trail

 We parked at the old horse riding parking lot located nine miles up Kyle Canyon Highway on the right side. The trail begins parallel to the highway and is marked with trail signs that indicate the trail can used for hiking, bicycling and horse back riding. During our morning there, we saw three guys on bicycles and one jeep on the nearby dirt road.

Springs Entrance

                                           

Collection Cistern and Corral

                                       

 Three miles into the hike, the springs area came into view. We dropped down to a place where the dirt road passed dilapidated fences and an orange metal corral. A rock hillside stood on one side of the area and a very large grapevine covered the other side. Although we did not see where the springs came out from the ground, there is a cistern near the corral that collects the water. We sat in some shade near the grapevines and had our break.

Heading Toward the Springs

 After our break, we returned the way we came with a couple of improvements. There are a few choices in routes between the meeting of the dirt road and the springs but they all get the hiker to the same place. We returned without a problem as the trail takes a fairly straight route across the drainage swales of the desert. Our exploration lasted only three hours but we all agreed it was a great workout. The hike is worth doing again but the return should be checked out for making a loop.

Twilight Zone Trail

                                                

Northeast View from Twilight Zone Trail