Due to my scheduling blunders I had a break for lunch and to strategize on how to use my time for the remaining daylight hours. There are a some hiking trails in the monument that look pretty interesting, but as I sat in the shady forest eating my sandwich the ominous clouds rolled in across an otherwise clear sky just a few hours prior. Now it’s looking like my typical adventures!
I hit the trails posthaste in a foolish effort (as usual) to race against the elements. There is a short loop that goes around the visitor center called the Roof Trail and for now it will have to suffice. I put away my picnic and followed the signs just steps off the parking lot.
The trail is entirely crushed gravel and meanders through the Ponderosa pines and grassy underbrush. It’s a little bit hazy but otherwise a beautiful and perfect 72 degrees. Not missing being at work one bit right now.
The trail is clearly marked with sign posts and maps at each intersection. That being said, I almost went on the wrong path at this marker but it would have been all my fault for not being able to read.
Here’s a look at the map if you’re interested. That blue line for the Canyons Trail did look mighty interesting but I would have missed the cave tour for a 2nd time so I thought better of it. “There’s always next time.”
Call it paranoia. Call it delusion. But sometimes I swear the clouds are, in fact, following me. Time to move my feet.
As you can see the trail is mostly flat with very little vertical change. There are only a couple slightly steep inclines but even those are what I would call “easy” for most people. All in all it’s a nice gentle trail.
Here’s the other intersection but this time I followed true to my left and not the other left and stayed on course. Whew, that was close!
There is a small observation deck that looks across the valley and forest. If you are doing the trail counter-clockwise this is very near the end; or, if you want a shorter trip you can just head from the visitor center straight to the overlook and still reap most of the rewards.
The view is decent but the trees have grown tall enough to obscure most of the panorama (but that’s okay, trees are awesome). Not sure if that haze on the horizon is just the atmosphere or smoke from fires, it has been very dry with burn bans so I’ll have to keep an eye on this as I go along.
From the viewpoint the trail turns and heads directly back towards the visitor center. This is the steepest section but it’s not bad and is very short. And with minutes to spare I was back just in time for are more in-depth cave tour (pun intended).
Hiking Data
Here’s the recording of my hiking path. See how it doesn’t quite match up with the map and gets a little jagged? I’ve often noticed in hilly/mountainous areas and especially when down low in valleys that the satellites will have time picking up and the line gets a little wonky. No big deal though, just an interesting observation.
Actual overall distance was 0.47 miles which is very different than the listed 0.25 miles on the map. No big deal, just added a couple minutes to the journey. Elevation change of about 100 feet and I’d bet most of that is the final staircase/slope back to the visitor center so overall mostly flat.
