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Juniper Draw Trail

Cathedral Gorge State Park, Nevada

A visit to Cathedral Gorge State Park provides an opportunity to hike the 4 mile Juniper Draw Loop Trail, with an extra 1 mile roundtrip spur option to Miller Point (also accessible by car), where hikers will marvel at the cliffs, caves, fins, and eroded side canyons of this remote desert gorge.

The trail leaves from the picnic area, which is in and of itself very scenic, to meander past cliffs of soft bentonite clay that have been eroded into fantastic spires and other odd formations. The trail is relatively flat, so you are easily able to enjoy the juniper trees, cliffrose, and Fremont barberry that grow along the path.

At about the half-way mark of the trail, you will leave the proper trail and continue hiking along a dried wash—well, a normally dry wash, it had rained the night before our hike and the clay was nice and slick along the wash. This was a great place to spot animal tracks and to fall on your backside—that always leaves a nice imprint as well! You might want to rethink hiking this portion of the trail if a storm is pending, or if it has recently rained. With that said, the hike along the wash was probably our favorite part of the hike, thanks to the great scenery and colorful patterns in the damp clay. The last portion of the hike leaves the wash to rejoin the loop trail, returning you to the picnic area.

 

Canyon Caves:

Moon Caves:

Miller Point


 
 
 
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