Dead Man Canyon to Gravel Canyon O&B - 5/4/26

Approaching Gravel Canyon

Mouth of Gravel Canyon

Hidden Forest Cabin photos from 2014

(So, who is that standing next to the corral 12 years ago?)

Approach to Dead Man Canyon & Hidden Forest

Lady Hikers on an Adventure

Looking for different places to hike with not a lot of elevation gain due to an injury, the Lady Hikers went on an adventure into the Desert National Wildlife Refuge (DNWR). Susan drives a Subaru and we piled in for a very long drive out Alamo Road. Alamo Road begins at the DNWR Visitor Center on Corn Creek Road turning to the left. We drove 15 miles on Alamo Road and another 4 miles on Hidden Forest Road at an average of 12mph. (Yep.) Well, none of us wanted to get a flat tire since we are all just "pampered" senior ladies with fantastic husbands who do all of that stuff. However, the road conditions were excellent! We rarely needed high clearance ... only when the middle of the dirt road was piled with a few inches of rocks.

Entering Dead Man Canyon

Starting up Hidden Forest Trail

Susan at the perspective Point

Heading into taller Walls

We had stopped at the visitor center and signed in as a safety precaution. There haven't been a lot of visitors going into the back country lately. (Or, at least, ones that have signed in.) Driving out to the trailhead, an SUV came flying by us. We saw the SUV later at the trailhead and passed him and his dog on the trail. He said he takes Rosie out for hiking in the DNWR quite often. Nice guy. He had hiked out to around the 4 mile mark that morning. The trail is covered with gravel for the first 2.5 miles or so. There was a lot of crunching going on. The path is very clear. For this hike, we went up 2 miles until the trail junctioned with what we dubbed Gravel Canyon. It comes in from the right and a storm, maybe Hurricane Hilary, had brought down tons of gravel to pile into Dead Man Canyon at its mouth. Curious, we turned to the right and hiked up the canyon a little just to get a feel for it. We had planned not to go all the way to the cabin anyway. The canyon flora and debris closed in on the gravel carpet and we decided not to pursue the route. Seeing that the day was passing quickly, we turned around here and hiked back down to the mouth of "Gravel Canyon" to take our break. Notes on the Hidden Forest Cabin and Trail were printed on a sign at the trailhead: 

The Hidden Forest Trail

"The Hidden Forest Trail begins at the mouth of Dead Man Canyon and as you ascend you’ll find yourself staring into the majestic canopy of a ponderosa pine forest. This forest cathedral is a welcome respite from the desert heat and shelters a historic game warden’s cabin at the trail’s end. Near the cabin you will find Wiregrass Spring bubbling out of the hillside. Hidden Forest Trail is the typical access point to Hayford Peak."

Canyon narrows as we search for bighorns on the Cliffs (none, of course)

Blooming cliffrose was a delight!

Hidden Forest Trail

Hidden Forest Trail

Although I have been to the cabin 3 times, I have not climbed Hayford Peak. Unless you are a really strong fast hiker, Hayford Peak is not a day hike. A lot of people stay in the cabin at the end of Dead Man Canyon overnight for this adventure. Or, they simply backpack in. Hayford Peak has a prominence of 5,392' topping out at 9,924' being the tallest mountain in the Sheep Range. The Hidden Forest Cabin lies at 7,850' in elevation. The trailhead of Dead Man Canyon is at 5,863'. (You do the math!) For our hike today, we reached an elevation of 6,878'. On the return, the crunching seemed endless! Susan found a collared lizard and our car was safe at the trailhead! We drove slightly faster on the way back down Alamo Road. I think the jostling fixed my back that had been hurting for a couple of weeks! All that and a chiropractor, too!

Stats: 5 miles; 1040' gain; 3.5 hours hike time

Nearing Gravel Canyon Junction

Heading out of Dead Man Canyon

A small collared Lizard

Moenkopi Brokeback Loop (to Cowboy Hill O&B) - 4/25/26

Wilson and Rainbow Peaks from Brokeback Mountain Trail

Kraft Mountain from Moenkopi Trail

Cliffs along Red Rock Wash

Moenkopi Trail

Over the last few years, bike trails have popped up between the North Blue Diamond Hill and SR 159 across from Calico Basin. Until recently, these trails didn't seem that attractive to hikers since they began as routes for bikers to enter Red Rock without having to deal with the fee booth traffic. Now, these trails have become very interesting. They offer sandstone outcrops, access to Cowboy Hill and the rest of the North Blue Diamond Hill trail system from the Moenkopi Trailhead, cliff inspections, and culvert tunnels! For what more could you ask? So, the other day, Susan and I parked at the Moenkopi Trailhead, went through the pedestrian gate and took a hard right to begin our exploration.

Dipping down to Red Rock Wash on Moenkopi Trail

View back after reaching Wash

View of North Blue Diamond Hill from Moenkopi Trail

Sandstone outcrop on Brokeback Mountain Trail

The vague trail to the right led straight over to the cliff that rises above the very wide Red Rock Wash. There is a use trail that leads down but we preferred to go back to the Moenkopi Trail and hike in style. The vague trail continues along and back over to the main trail. Following the Moenkopi Trail we passed the Firehouse Trail junction, another trail that led down to the wash and the Yellow Sandstone Trail junction. We continued straight.

Susan poking around for Fossils

Kay enjoying the Views

Sandstone wash at bottom of Muffins Hill

View back down sandstone Wash

As we hiked, the trail lowered down into the wash. To our right, all we could see was 0.15 mile of gravel and brush reaching across to SR 159. Soon, we passed colorfully painted rocks that clued us in on the names of our trail and a trail that forked to the right. Our trail was named Brokeback Mountain Trail, due to the path of the trail wandering up and down the hillside to the left. The trail forking to the right leads to a culvert tunnel into Red Rock. (We will explore that at a later date.) As we continued following Brokeback Mountain Trail, we found ourselves hiking along the base of the hill on a sandstone outcrop. There were a couple of places where the sandstone reached up the hill. We climbed up one to take a look. Hmm. Pretty cool. 😎 The trail proceeded up the wash along the base of the hill and met up with one of the Cowboy Trails at a small canyon wash. We took a right fork and continued up toward the Muffins approach trail. (Very familiar territory!) To put an exclamation point on this newly created hike, we made our way over past the horse corral and found a good start to the vague trail that climbs up what I am calling Cowboy Hill. This trail didn't always appear vague!

Trail leading back down to Red Rock Wash

Cowboy Hill in foreground to Right

Trail leading to horse Corrals

Corralled horses for visitors' Enjoyment

In fact, by the looks of the complete Cowboy Hill Trail, it was once used as part of the trail rides for said visitors. However, it is not used anymore for the horse rides and seldom do we see hikers along the ridge. It is difficult to find the zigzagging trail up the southwest side of the hill but somehow, I always find it near the top of the initial climb. The trail follows along the ridge of the hill and eventually comes to a small peak where there used to be a circle for the horse trains. There is also a well-made (albeit in poor condition) trail that descends down the north side of the hill from the peak. The peak views are of the route we took getting there. Here, we went straight down ... directly through an abundance of red brome (cheatgrass).

The climb up Cowboy Hill

Interesting sponge fossil fact: The ones that have the middle filled is a sponge and the ones that are just circles and empty are sponge skeletons!

The northeast side descent of Cowboy Hill

Hiking through the maze of Red Rock Wash

Starting along the cliffs next to Red Rock Wash

The cheatgrass covered our shoes and socks by the time we got to the bottom! (Gaiters would be appropriate everywhere off trail at this time!) Here, we sat and took our break. The wide wash with paths of gravel stretched out in front of us. We simply pointed our nose to the sandstone outcrop on the side of the North Blue Diamond Hill and found the best way to get there by foot! Upon reaching Brokeback Mountain Trail, we hiked back toward the Moenkopi Trail until we reached the trail that dips back down into the wash connecting us with the cliff base trail. This trail winded along the base of the cliffs and finally came to the old road exit. When we reached the top of the cliff on the old road, we were very close to the parking lot. Fun and interesting new route. We saw only two bikes along the way on this beautiful Saturday. The hikers we saw were all enjoying the Cowboy Trails or Firehouse Hill.

Stats: 6 miles; 625' gain: 4.25 hours

Light trail along base of Cliffs

Tall cliffs along Trail

Kay starts up the old road to exit the Wash

Dragon / Gateway Loop (with new approach) - 4/18/26

Heading into lower Gateway Canyon

From Dragon Canyon to Ash Meadows and North Blue Diamond Hill

From top of Rattlesnake Canyon to Gray Cap and Damsel Peaks

Dragon Peak in morning Light

There is a loop hike / scramble out of Calico Basin that many of us enjoy in many ways and routes. Taking a look at the traditional loop, I decided it could be improved by changing the beginning. Three Lady Hikers parked at the lower end of the Kraft Mountain Trailhead in Calico Basin and started out the trail next to the large sign. We headed straight toward Kraft Mountain and the boulder field used largely by rock climbers that practice their skills and have a great day with friends. Nearing the mountain, there is a trail junction sign where we turned left. We decided to stay on the most worn trail and not venture up into the boulders. It was a beautiful morning and the colors of Kraft and Dragon Peaks were striking.

West Kraft boulder Field

Sue and Susan hiking along boulder Field

A canyon in Dragon Peak

Sue and Kay hiking the Slab Trail

Eventually, we came to the 5-Stop Hill area and joined the most used trail that runs from the parking lot to the dreaded climb up to Kraft Saddle. Not staying on that trail for long, we turned to the left onto a trail that climbs up to the top end of a ridge that comes from the center of Calico Basin. At that time, we were nearing the base of Dragon Peak. Our target was the mouth of Dragon Canyon so we continued across the base of the mountain on a seldom used trail that uses sandstone slab to go up and over another ridge. Finally, we had approached the canyon where there were at least two trails offering to take hikers up into the colors. Deciding to take the wash trail to start, we climbed up the middle of the canyon.

Turning the corner to Dragon Canyon

A few tough Scrambles

Dragon Canyon

Climbing Dragon Canyon

There are some good class 2.5 scrambles inside the wash. The canyon trail parallels closely to the right. We only used the trail once during the initial climb, however, near the top, we decided to take the trail up all the way to one of the highest crossovers to Dragon Saddle. What a thrill! We actually came out about 20' higher than the saddle and had to make our way carefully down. By using the higher trail, we avoided climbing up a choice of steep scree-filled trails or difficult wash scrambles. We reached the saddle and had the place to ourselves. Colorful views everywhere! Dragon Saddle lies between the deep part of Ash Canyon and the top regions of Dragon Canyon. We stopped here for our group photo.

View back down Ash Canyon

Lady Hikers on the Dragon Saddle

Ash Canyon with side trails and Red Cap at Top

Peering over the side into Ash Canyon

Moving on, we could still see the recently maintained trail under us and we followed it across the sandstone slab. It led into the limestone gravel and earth making a few dips and climbs just above Ash Canyon to the left. As we continued to follow this trail, we hiked at a climbing traverse above Ash Canyon that took the three of us all the way up to the top of the canyon. Another way to have fun is to drop into the canyon's wash and climb up through to the very top. We were already going to be sore enough so we stayed on the trail! At the top, we took in the views and enjoyed a snack break. Turtlehead Peak rose from the limestone directly across from Ash Canyon to the west. To the southwest, the yellow sandstone walls rose up to Red Cap. Dragon Peak still reigned to what was now our east. After the break, it was time to descend. We dropped around to the right into Rattlesnake Canyon, a small canyon that connects to Gateway Canyon further on. (It's trail also continues part way down Gateway Canyon to make a loop around Dragon Peak.)

Beginning the Ash Canyon side Trail

From the side Trail

Arriving at the top of Ash Canyon

Taking a break at the top of Ash Canyon

The Rattlesnake Trail is a nice trail down through the small canyon wash. Ahead of us and above, Gray Cap can be seen. Being part of the collective Keystone Thrust, Gray Cap is a limestone peak sitting atop huge mounds of yellow and red sandstone. At this angle, there is no mistake about where Gray Cap is located! See the photo below. We reached Gateway Canyon, turned right and immediately started scrambling again! Most of us locals have done the Gateway Boogie many times so we know the scrambles and their choreography like the back of our hands ... (where did that mole come from?). The thing is, this canyon can change from year to year due to rains carrying the boatloads of gravel from scramble to scramble.

Rattlesnake Trail with Gray Cap Above

Sue tackles the first Slider

Another Scramble

Carpet of Gravel

This year, the gravel had landed in our favor ... for the most part. The first significant drop is a sliding rock that you find on the left side of a big boulder in the middle of the wash. We got down to a certain point then let 'er rip! (Hopefully not our pants!) It's quite fun! But you have to aim for the stacked rocks at the bottom that are sometimes there and sometimes not. Nevertheless, your choice is a nasty downclimb over to the right. What fun! The next significant drop is through some medium sized boulders. Not difficult. Next comes a whole lot of gravel to crunch down through as you pass the Rattlesnake Trail junction to the right. (Here is where we passed several tourist types trying to figure out how to finish the Kraft Mountain CCW Loop. If you can, try to show them the trail junction. It is not marked at this time.)

Lower Gateway Canyon

A six-part scramble Descent

The end of the six-part Scramble

Susan nearing the end of the Wash

After the Gravel Crunch, the scrambles come a little closer together. Stay on the right side of the canyon for best results on two of the harder scrambles. This was where the gravel was situated in our best interests. The last big scramble had a gravel dump that raised the bottom of the canyon about 3-4 feet. (Of course, this is referring to where the gravel level was for many years before 2023. Remember Hurricane Hilary?) After this last scramble, there is only a few more medium scrambles before you finally reach the Kraft Mountain Loop Trail meeting the wash on the right side. This is the best way to exit the wash and follow trails back to the car. Usually, you can see rock and boulder climbers along the trail but we didn't see any on this hike. Strike that! There were some rock climbers playing high above the left side of the wash about midway down. And, we did hear voices coming from the rocks and crevices of Kraft Mountain on the right side! Anyway, we followed the trail all the way around and back to the very first junction sign of the hike. Turning left, we started back to the cars. Btw, please do not short cut this last corner from the loop. You would be crossing private property. It was a great day! I'm going to be sore!!!

Stats: 5 miles; 1300' gain; 4.5 hours

Starting on the trail circling east end of Kraft Mountain

Leopard Lizard

Finishing view of Dragon Peak