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| Rita gazes at desert Mountains |
The Lower Showgirl Trail rests in the Transition Life Zone of the Spring Mountains at around the 7000'-7500' altitude level. This life zone includes Pinon-juniper woodland, sagebrush, ephedra, and grasses. There is also vegetation that belongs to the Upper Sonoran Life Zone such as joshua trees. Manzanita belongs in the upper portion of the Transition zone and they are there, too.
The different climatic zones encountered as one goes up in elevation result in notable differences in vegetation type. The 10,000 foot ascent from Las Vegas to the summit of Charleston Peak is equivalent, in terms of vegetation associations, to a trip from Las Vegas to the Canadian arctic and passes through six different life zones. You will pass through only four of these life zones on the trip up Kyle Canyon. You would need to hike to the top of Charleston Peak to encounter the upper two life zones.
~Geologic Tours in the Las Vegas Area (Expanded Edition with GPS Coordinates), Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology Special Publication 16, University of Nevada, Reno, Mackay School of Earth Sciences, 2008, Bear Printing, Sparks, NV; page 37.
The Lower Showgirl Trailhead is located just under 13 miles up Kyle Canyon Road from the interstate exit. It is on the left and really difficult to see before you get there. The trail is mostly used by mountain bikers but it is a very pleasant trail for hikers as well. You can park in a small gravel area off the paved road and hike down the hill to the wash as the trail begins by going under an overpass. There is a newly installed trail sign at the bottom of the hill. Hike as far as you wish then turnaround and hike back. Or, by leaving a car at the lower end of the trail and driving up to the top end of the trail (Juniper Trailhead), you can hike 9 miles point to point all downhill. The represented hike for this entry is an out and back hike of 5 miles total. Today, we only hiked to the high point for this section making the hike 4.5 miles.
Stats: 4.5 miles; ~650' gain; 2.75 hours
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