Overview

The Middle Oak Creek Trail provides a pleasant walk across Red Rock Valley into Oak Creek Canyon, connecting with 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 trail map and confusing trail junction 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 stop and park a few yards before the regular trailhead at another gate (Wpt. 07) in the highway fence, but this 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). There are several use-trails that branch off to the left into the burn area, but the main trail continues down across the hillside to the base of the slope.

At the bottom of the slope, the Middle Oak Creek Trail bends left and merges with the trail (Wpt. 08) 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, Eastern Joshua Trees, Mojave Yucca, Mojave Cottonthorn, Indigo Bush, Big Galleta Grass, Spiny Menodora, Buckhorn Cholla, 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 gradually begins to climb towards the Escarpment. 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 (Exit Trailhead), 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.

At about 0.83 miles out, the nice, sandy trail crosses onto a different soil type and the trail becomes much more rocky. In stead of sand with a few rocks, the trail become rocks with a few smaller rocks. In this area, it also become more apparent that this trail was an old two-track road, and the trail becomes braided sometimes with three tracks in the width of the old road.

At about 1.3 miles out, the trail encounters a confusing junction where it seems that the old road bends hard to the left. Hikers can get there from here, but the left is not a better way to go. Instead, the trail continues straight up the hillside even though bushes obscure the trail ahead.

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

This area is confusing (map), as there is some multiple trailing and unmarked junctions with trails going in different directions, but by hiking west towards the mouth of the canyon, any trail will work. In general, the trail passes left of the pair of Utah Junipers, passes just to the right of an isolated Singleleaf Pinyon Pine (Wpt. 12), and then continues to join the Oak Creek Trail (Wpt. 02) a few yards short of the next isolated Utah Juniper tree. The last isolated Utah Juniper tree is near the Knoll Trail junction (Wpt. 03).