Overview

The Middle Oak Creek Trail provides a pleasant walk across Red Rock Valley into Oak Creek Canyon, connecting to the regular Oak Creek Canyon Trail after 1.5 miles. For people who don't want to drive the entire Scenic Loop Road to get to the Oak Creek Canyon Trailhead, and for people who just don't want to pay the entrance fee, the Middle Oak Creek Trail provides alternate access to hiking and rock climbing areas along the Red Rock Cliffs.

This hike starts in an area burned during the 2007 Bonnie Springs Fire (see map). The contrast between the burned and unburned areas displays dramatically what happens when the Mojave Desert Scrub burns, and as importantly, how slowly the desert scrub grows back.

Link to map.

Link to BLM Georeference PDF map file.

Watch Out

Other than the standard warnings about hiking in the desert, ...this is a safe hike, even for kids. While hiking, please respect the land and the other people out there, and try to Leave No Trace of your passage. Also, this hike is just a short connector route, so be sure to bring what you need of the 10 Essentials for the entire hike.

Getting to the Trailhead

This hike is located in Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, about 40 minutes from town, but not on the Scenic Loop Road. Drive out West Charleston Blvd, past the Scenic Loop Road entrance and exit, to the Middle Oak Creek Trailhead. Park here; this is the trailhead.

Alternatively, hikers may park a few yards farther north at another gate (Wpt. 07), but that parking area is smaller and harder to use. Also, on the way back with tired legs, hikers will have to hike straight up the hill rather than hiking diagonally across the hillside at a more gentle grade.

The Hike

From the trailhead (Table 1, Waypoint 06), the Middle Oak Creek Trail runs through a gate heading northwest and down across a hillside that burned during the 2007 Bonnie Springs Fire (see map).

At the bottom of the hillside, the Middle Oak Creek Trail bends left and merges (Wpt. 08) with a trail that comes down from the alternative trailhead. Now together, the Middle Oak Creek Trail heads west out across the desert flats towards the escarpment. While fighting the fire, firefighters successfully used this trail as a fire break. Through here, the north side of trail is unburned and thickly vegetated with shrubs including Blackbrush, Joshua Trees, Mojave Yucca, Mojave Cottonthorn, Indigo Bush, Galleta Grass, Spiny Menodora, and Buckhorn Cholla.

On the south side of the trail, the vegetation is growing back, but the dominant species are grasses and early successional subshrubs such as Globemallow, Matchweed, and a few of the burned Banana Yucca are resprouting from the burned stumps.

Comparing the burned and unburned sides, it is clear that many years will pass before nature reclaims the burn area, and probably many more years after that before Cactus Wrens, which build nests in the Buckhorn Cholla, return.

Before long, the trail passes out of the burn area, and higher on the bajada, the vegetation becomes more diverse with many more Mojave Yucca, Eastern Joshua Trees, and also Desert Almond, which usually is more common in dry washes.

Up ahead, closer to the cliffs, Utah Juniper will begin to appear, and many Narrowleaf Goldenbush and California Buckwheat join the vegetation mix.

The Middle Oak Creek Trail runs more-or-less straight west, passing several side trails along the way. At about 0.18 (Wpt. 09) and 0.64 miles out (Wpt. 10), use-trails to the right run north to the parking lot at the exit to the Scenic Loop Road, and at 0.75 miles out (Wpt. 11), a use-trail to the left runs south to join the many use-trails around Wilson Pimple.

Eventually the Middle Oak Creek Trail runs over a low ridge, passes to the left of a few Utah Junipers, and drops to join the main Oak Creek Canyon Trail (Wpt. 02).

In this area, there is some confusing multiple trailing (several trails all going the same general direction) and trail junctions, but hiking west towards the canyon, any trail will work. In general, the trail passes just to the right of an isolated Singleleaf Pinyon Pine, and then continues to join the Oak Creek Trail a few yards short of the next isolated tree (Utah Juniper).

Assuming hikers continue west toward Oak Creek Canyon, notice a trail junction (Wpt. 12) to the left shortly after joining the main trail. This use-trail runs south towards Wilson Pimple, and this spot could be a point of confusion when hiking back to the trailhead. On the way out, recall that the Middle Oak Creek Trail runs by an isolated juniper, then forks right aiming for the left side of the next isolated tree (pinyon pine) before crossing a low ridge to the right of a group of junipers. From there, the trailhead is visible in the distance and the trail is more obvious.