Grapevine Springs Loop 2 (Kyle Canyon) - 5/20/25

Cliff above Grapevine Spring

Burro on his/her way to drink Water

Cliff Trail above SR 157

Sue and Susan on loop Trail

It had been years since the club visited Kyle Canyon's Grapevine Springs. The last time we saw the spring area, it was dry and ugly. However, on this hike, the grapevine was green and healthy and the spring cistern was full of clear water. We even had a single burro attest to the thirst quenching liquid. The Lady Hikers parked at the Twilight Trailhead 9 miles up Kyle Canyon Road on the right side and dove down the hill to the wash. Following the bike / horse trail through the wash and up the other side, we joined the Cliff Trail that continues straight along the cliff. (It probably has another name.) Anyway, we followed this trail and crossed the high clearance 4WD dirt road called Lucky Strike Road. 

Twilight Ridge (L) and Sheep Mountains (R)

Burro Bones

Loop Trail

Lucky Strike Road in Grapevine Canyon from Saddle

Staying on the trail, we looped around until we met up with the dirt road again. The trail glided through several arroyos and hundreds of joshua trees. We even passed a grouping of dry burro bones. Meeting the road, we continued up to a saddle. Sidling over to a trail on the right, we joined the Twilight Zone Trail. This trail took us down through the Grapevine Canyon staying parallel to the Lucky Strike Road. About halfway down the canyon, we looked up to the right and spotted an adolescent burro. Taking our photos, we realized that the young'un was trying to make their way down toward the spring but we were blocking their way. So, we continued down the trail not wasting anymore time and allowed the burro to make their decisions according to our location. Finally, we came to the "Twilight Zone" sign and continued straight down toward the road below. Crossing the road, we dropped into the wash that also had tire tracks and turned right.

Hi There!

Heading down to the spring Area

Descent to cistern area from Grapevine Dryfall

Descending to Spring

Shortly, we came to the Grapevine Spring area right at a dryfall cliff covered with lush green grapevines. There was no down climbing here! We turned to the right and made our way down the neighboring hill to find the corralled cistern. There were two ways to reach the cistern pooled water by the wildlife. We took a peek at both sides, well aware that the burro had followed us to a ridge above. They were waiting patiently enough for us to vacate the premises. We took our pics and forewent the break near the spring water and were careful not to touch (or contaminate) the cistern water. Afterwards, we returned to the nearby dirt road and peered up to the right to see the burro descend our trail and cross the road. They made their way around to the corralled spring water and began to take their fill of the necessary liquid. We could see the head just above the large bushes. Taking our leave, we found a burro trail to take us over the old old fence and up the hill to our trail and the Twilight Zone sign. There were so many trails that it was difficult to find the one we had come in on. Regardless, we started back up Grapevine Canyon while the burro drank and drank. When we were not too far up the trail, we suddenly heard a loud burro braying ruckus from a ridge above. 

Cistern from corral Side

Cistern from spring Side

Grapevine covering the springs Cliffs

Kay hikes up toward the Grapevine

Wow! It was a mother burro having a fit of terror for her baby as she ran down the ridge toward the road below. The adolescent burro returned the call and all was suddenly well! We skeedaddled up the trail! None of us wanted to get in the way of nature. A little further up, we found rocks to sit on for our break. Hiking up to the saddle, we stayed on the trail without crossing the Lucky Strike Road. This main trail, called the Twilight Zone, would take us straight back to the trailhead. During the desert walk, we crossed 3 or 4 other trails that ran perpendicular to ours but we stayed the course as we negotiated a few deep arroyos and finally passed the Inner Wash junction. Next, we dropped down into the main Kyle Canyon wash and followed the trail up to the trailhead. It was a wonderful morning with a breeze that kept us very comfortable. Fun. Fun. Fun.

Stats: 7 miles; 950' gain; 4 hours

Lucky Strike Road ascending past Grapevine Spring Area

Starting down Twilight Zone from the Saddle

Reaching the trailhead area on the Twilight Zone Trail