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Lower Deer Creek Canyon (Mummy Mountain in Background)
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Mama and Baby on Burro Hill
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Morning Light on Mummy Mountain
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Joshua Tree fallen into Wash
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Two of us went out Saturday for an exploration of Burro Trail 2, a hike that culminates in an overlook of Lower Deer Creek Canyon then drops through a small rocky forked wash. The hike turned out to be yet another fun find in the lower elevations of the Spring Mountains complete with a sighting of seven or eight burros. The adult burros are really special this year. A few are colored a bright silver and we wondered if they were sired by the white burro that we have observed in the past as somewhat of a loner. As we found out the week before, the white burro is no longer a loner but a protector of his ladies, children, and grandchildren! But, how beautiful his genes have made the earth!! (See the second photo!) By the way, the white male is the burro that was snorting at us repeatedly last week.
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Following Wash down to Burro Trail (Apache Plume in Distance)
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We parked at the Fleabane Road Trailhead found 8.8 miles up Lee Canyon Road from SR-95. This is almost up to MM 8 on the right side of the road where a trailing rocky ridge comes down to the pavement.
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Rock Overlook
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The elevation 6000 sign is also found just past the trailhead. From there, we crossed the pavement and dropped into the wash on the other side. We considered going through the culvert but there is a drop of about 5 feet on the other side.
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Rita watches burros on Burro Hill
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Burro Hill Profile
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As we hiked down the wash, we saw that there were several joshua trees that had been uprooted by the last big rainstorm in July 2020. (The only big rainstorm in the summer of 2020.) These trees still had roots on them and we hoped that there were a couple of roots in the ground. The first sign of hiker/ equestrian life was a cairn set on the right side of the wash past some cliffs. This sort of threw us off since we were expecting a clear burro trail. We went ahead and climbed the hill to only later find the burro trail that we had wanted was a little further down. We'll know next time. Anyway, there is a good burro trail that leaves the wash on the right side as the hill above starts to lower itself down.
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Following Burro Trail down into Burro Valley
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At the top of the first climb, there is a stone outcrop serving as an overlook of Burro Hill. And, sure enough, two burros snorted at us from this vantage point. On the outcrop, there are a couple of buckets in the stone that probably catch and hold water for the wildlife.
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Burros in Burro Valley
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Now, on the burro trail, we dropped down near the canyon wash below and followed the burros which were pretty far away and had come down from the hill. They kept an eye on us!
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Burro Valley to Burro Hill to Desert NWR
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View down Deer Creek Canyon
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We had to continuously watch our GPS track to make sure that we were staying on the best trail when it would fork here and there. We crossed a wide shallow wash then went up and over a berm to another valley. Before, we dropped into the valley, we saw that there were four burros coming straight toward us on our trail in the distance. As far as we could tell, they did not know we were there so we stepped off the trail and gave them plenty of room should they keep coming. They turned out to have made a detour to their right and began grazing on bushes. When we knew that we would not disturb them, we continued down the trail and crossed what we would call Burro Valley. Up the other side of the valley and over one more ridge, we came to Deer Creek Canyon.
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Burro Trail leading into Deer Creek Canyon
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There is a trail that runs along the southeastern rim of Deer Creek Canyon. We turned right onto this burro trail and started hiking along the canyon amazed by the awesomeness of this simple large canyon.
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Deer Creek Canyon from Break Spot
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There is a dirt road that runs along the bottom of the canyon up until the canyon narrows into brush. A few precarious burro trails suggest ways the animals proceeded into the canyon to find water.
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Rita enjoys the Break - Trail into Canyon to Right
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Trail leading to Jackrabbit Junction Wash
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But, when we got to the right turn junction that we sought, there was the best trail leading down to the end of the road below. This trail traversed the side of the canyon for some length before it reached the bottom and it would be possible for hikers to use this as a grand stairway. We stopped here for a break with a view. Afterwards, we turned an about face and started out a burro trail that headed into some rolly polly hills. It was difficult to follow the trail and we accidentally ended up heading into the first rocky canyon on the right. We retraced our steps and found our way over to the second rocky canyon from the wash below Jackrabbit Junction. This canyon met the first canyon in a fork below. They were both beautiful, fun and recently super washed out! This is where we found the only other cairn of the morning.
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Dropping into Canyon Fork Area
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We hiked through the canyon taking a look-see at the other canyon as we passed. Then, we followed the wash out to another burro trail that led to the left. Again, we lost our main trail and found it later with the help of the GPS track.
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Canyon Fork Area
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Once we were back on the correct trail, it took us back over toward Lee Canyon past Burro Hill at a higher elevation. We saw a few more juniper trees at this elevation to add to the joshua trees and blackbush.
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Canyon Fork Area
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Hiking down Canyon
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I was constantly checking the GPS track to make sure I was where I wanted to be so if anyone wants to explore this part of the desert, make sure that you do some research and use a GPS. This last burro trail led us straight back to the Lee Canyon wash where we had begun. We climbed back up to the pavement on the other side of the culverts this time. It is always fun to see new stuff and experience new trails. Always study the maps before trying a new hike. Then be prepared for beautiful views and lots of burros!
Stats: 5 miles; 825' gain; 3.75 hours
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Burro Hill from Mouth of Canyon Wash
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Desert Fall Colors on Return
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Burro Trail leading back to Cars
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