Red Rock Canyon offers Children's Trail

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Children's Discovery Trail is an easy loop trail with the opportunity to take a short side trip to a seasonal waterfall in Lost Creek Canyon.

Located in Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, this route has appealing elements for adults and children and makes an ideal introductory hike for anyone. Besides the waterfall, it accesses a creek, an agave roasting pit, pictographs made by American Indians, and interesting plant life, some of it unusual.

The hike totals about a mile for the Discovery Trail loop, with the addition of a few hundred yards for the spur trail to Lost Creek Falls.

With an elevation gain of about 200 feet, the entire trip is an easy one, but it's strictly for hiking. Strollers and little ones' legs don't work well here because of uneven, rocky terrain, sandstone steps, stream crossings and slippery rocks near the water. Small children need to be in a child-carrier back or front pack.

From the parking area, take the trail at the far right, which is well marked as the Children's Discovery Trail. After less than five minutes you will cross over the broad Red Rock Wash.

This is usually a dry stream, but if you happen to find a good flow of water here, or even if you visit when it's raining, don't attempt to cross; save this hike for another day. This wash is a major drainage for the area, so flash flooding is common, and it is possible to walk across the wash dry-footed, yet be unable to safely return just a few minutes later.

On the other side of the wash, the trail narrows and begins an easy ascent up a mix of smooth sandstone steps and rocky terrain, into a plant community of manzanita, scrub live oak, juniper and pinyon pines.

For the next quarter-mile, the area contains important cultural resources -- fragile and nonrenewable evidence of prehistoric occupation.

This area is known to have provided a seasonal camp for American Indians.

Look for the sign indicating the location of an agave roasting pit, sometimes called a prehistoric kitchen, near a large pinyon pine.

The native people created such pits by burying the basketball-sized hearts of the agave plant, along with rocks heated in a fire, which cooked this favorite food slowly and thoroughly. Vanishing elsewhere, they are still common in Red Rock Canyon.

You will find a signed spur trail on the right, marking a 0.85-mile, one-way side trip to Willow Springs Picnic area.

Continuing on the main loop, on your right you will notice sandstone cliffs that have many overhangs. Keep an eye out high above and around these because sometimes you can see desert bighorn sheep, especially in the early morning.

There also are a few pictographs in this area. They are very faint so it might take you a while to see them, but they're worth looking for as pictographs are not commonly found in our area.

Unlike petroglyphs, the more common but equally irreplaceable form of rock writing, pictographs are painted. Pictographs tend to weather away, and both kinds are easily damaged by the touch of human hands, boots, etc.

After an approximate half-mile hike from the trailhead, take the unmarked spur trail on your right that goes towards a narrow canyon. You will need to make a couple of small crossings over Lost Creek.

The trail also passes by an unusual sight at this elevation, a ponderosa tree, one of a handful along this trail.

Because of the water and cooler temperature, ponderosas find suitable homes not only here but also in nearby Pine Creek Canyon. If you are unsure which of the large pines are ponderosas, smell the bark. Its scent resembles that of vanilla.

Continue up the sandstone steps, which will bring you under the wedge where two giant boulders have fallen against each other, forming a roof over the trail for a few feet.

The trail ends about 15 yards from here inside a box canyon, highlighted by Lost Creek Falls. About 50 feet high, the falls are seasonal.

Two weeks ago, they were flowing pretty well, feeding a nice pool of water below.

On your return from Lost Creek Falls side trail, continue down the Discovery Trail and you will come to a wooden boardwalk.

This walkway and deck serves a higher purpose than merely keeping your feet dry. This is a riparian restoration area and the boardwalk protects all sorts of plants from getting trampled, including wild grapes, horsetails, watercress, grasses and rushes.

This also is a critical habitat for the southeastern Nevada spring snail.

From the viewing deck, you will be able to get a good glimpse of Lost Creek as it flows under the willows here, forming a broad canopy over the creek.

There are some benches built into the walkway, making this a good place to stop for a while and listen to the gentle-sounding creek and the local birds that like this spot as much as we do.

Remain here until stress disappears, then follow the loop back to the trailhead and resume daily responsibilities with renewed spirit.

Deborah Wall is the author of "Great Hikes, A Cerca Country Guide," published by Stephens Press. She can be reached at Deborah@hikingthewest.com.