The canyon is deceptive. One normal trail goes on a nice hike up to a couple of small waterfalls. But the canyon is also home to several other smaller trails that lead to eroded cliffs, dangerous creek crossings, and steep climbs. The first time we hike here, back before I had children, I was nearly crying because I was scared of falling down the steep hillside we were trying to hike across. We realized later we were on the wrong side of the creek.

Several years later we hike without incident. This time (as you can probably tell by my preamble), we didn’t start on the right trail and had to do a lot of scrambling to get back on the right one. Scrambling involved crossing bloating creeks, going up extremely steep, eroded hills, and bushwhacking through grass and sage brush. In some ways, it was a lot of fun. It had the benefit of being far shadier than the correct trail, and had almost as much thrill as a good roller coaster. The kids didn’t mind too much as well (minus the one creek crossing that scared Curtis to tears, but was actually easily crossed).

If you are ever hiking there, stay on the north side of the creek. And cross the creek right by the parking lot. Unless you want an adventure.