california - Orocopia Mountains - Red Canyon Trail Loop

A nice loop in the Orocopia Mountains.

On Interstate I 10 take exit 173 Chiriaco Summit.
Turn right and take the old road (Pinto Road) west. You are now driving parallel to the I-10 towards Indio.

After about 1 mile you see a map on your left.
This is the only road you are allowed to drive, so follow the well marked Red Canyon RD/Trail.

This dirt road is like riding waves, up and down. Not a very bad road, but a higher clearance car and AWD are recommended.
Although I don't expect you will need the AWD, but conditions may change and there are stretches where you drive in the wash, with loose sand.

After about 5.6 Mile we parked.

The hiking opportunities are plentiful out here.
We choose to hike up towards the mountain to the North.
Following a wash you meet soon and over ridges.
On the other side go down, mostly over ridges and you will end up in a wash.

Than starts the hard part, because its up steeply and down steeply.
We followed some old jeep trails and cross country, mostly going east.

You hike against the washes, crossing them countless times.
At point "Canyon Overlook" we encountered one of the mayor obstacles.
A fork of the red canyon was too steep to cross at this point.

We had to hike back a bit and more to the south there was an easy crossing, that got us into and out of the canyon.

A nice canyon for our next hike.

Pictures

Hiking time: 3 Hour, 50 Minutes.

Even though it's cooler up here (10 degrees cooler than Palm Springs), this is not an hike you want to make in summertime.
Expect a lot of steep "climbing" on the jeep trail, these trails are incredibly steep. A hiking stick is highly recommended, some parts may be bit slippery (gravel).
Make sure you have some navigational aids with you, it's pretty easy to get lost out here.

We hiked here in the beginning of March 2011, on a Saturday in total solitude.
So be prepared, you may not encounter anyone out here to help you out.