Red Cliffs Desert Reserve

This was a nice non-strenuous hike we stumbled onto. The Red Cliffs Desert Reserve is full of several hikes- this one is easy and really fun for kids. You can get there by getting off the Toquerville exit and getting immediately on the frontage road to Leeds. You will come past a few homes, but if you come into Leeds, you've gone too far. Keep a close eye out for the turn on the left hand side of the road. There is a nice sign pointing you in the right direction, but if you tend to watch the scenery like I do, you may miss it. :) One big tip for this trail is that you will absolutely need 4 wheel drive. Even in the Jeep, if I hadn't had 4 wheel drive, we would have gotten stuck in a couple places due to deep sand. Like I said, there are several hikes here- to get to this easy one, take the second turn from the main dirt road off to the left. You'll see a wooden corral with signage for the trail head that starts there. You can walk all the way up to the red rock cliffs....which is a mile or more....or you can take a right hand turn as you come out of the corral and drive all the way up to the red rocks. (This is where you will need 4 wheel drive.) Take the next right hand turn you can and the road will wind around to another wooden corral and trail head. We parked there close to the red rocks and took the trail to the left. It was a source of hours of fun for the kids- as there were dozens of big and small caves and smallish tunnells carved into the red rocks. It was endless, actually. The kids were sad to leave, and we had to promise to bring them back soon. :)
The kids had to climb inside every single cave they could find. They even found some places where they were sure lizards and other desert animals had slept due to little prints in the sand inside the caves. :)
This is really a beautiful area with red rock and desert plants with Pine Valley in the background.
Besides caves carved in the sandstone, there were also many natural small arches and holes like this one where we could peek through and see eachother. :)
Giving it some perspective...here is Emma at the base of one of the cliffs with her walking stick. As you can see, the possibilities for climbing and finding places to play are truly endless.
We found lots of animal tracks in the sand and dried stream beds. I think this track belonged to a squirrel. :)
This is a neat old tree we found in a large alcove. It appeared to have been knocked over many years ago, with a few large roots still clinging to the sandy earth. Still alive, despite the adversity it has faced....I found it beautiul and inspiring. :)

Namaste