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Lovell Canyon Trailhead & Trail - Summary Page

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This page last updated on 10/04/2017

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(Fig. 01)
Area Description: The area in general is kind of a high desert, Joshua Tree environment. Lovell Canyon Road, the access road to this location, is a little-used, paved backcountry road that runs north from Highway 160 (the road to Pahrump) into the wild backcountry of Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area (BLM land) and the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area (USFS land). The road provides access to hikes on the backside of the Red Rocks Escarpment, Rocky Gap Road (aka Potato Road), Lovell Summit Road (Lovell Canyon Trailhead), bottom of (Fig. 02), and the Torino Ranch for critically ill and at-risk children, lower right corner of (Fig. 02). Having opened in 2008, the Lovell Canyon Trail is a 6 mile R/T moderate hiking and equestrian trail with an elevation gain/loss of +/- 300 feet over rolling terrain on a well maintained trail. Although this hike ends at the peak and overlook into First Creek at Red Rock Canyon, you begin and end the hike at the Lovell Canyon Trailhead, WP 1 in (Fig. 02), in Lovell Canyon.
            
MAP-Lovell Canyon Trail
(Fig. 02)
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(Fig. 03)

09/15/2016 Trip Notes: Today’s trip to Lovell Canyon with the rock-hounds from the Henderson Heritage Park’s Senior Facility was a beautiful sunny day with clear blue skies. We had a full van and almost all of us hike to the fork in the hike that led to the loop portion of the hike. New too many hikers, and even those of us who have hike before, but now a little out of condition, several of us felt this was a little more than a "moderate" hike. Click the following link to view a few pictures from today's hike ... Lovell Canyon Trail - 09/15/2016 Trip Notes



05/23/2013 Trip Notes: It has been over a year since we visited this area. Heavy rains in 2012 resulted in considerable road damage, causing it to be closed for road re-construction during a large part of the year, resulting in the cancellation of our last scheduled trip here. On today’s visit, I decided to hike the CC Spring Road instead of the Lovell Canyon Trail. As a result, I have no pictures to add for this visit. Click the following link to view pictures and read about my hike to CC Spring … CC Spring Road at Lovell Canyon.


04/26/2012 Trip Notes: Today’s trip to Lovell Canyon with the rock-hounds from the Henderson Heritage Park’s Senior Facility was shrouded in low hanging clouds and threatening rain. The good news being that we ended the day with no rain to dampen our hiking experience. However, having hiked the Lovell Canyon Trail on my last two visits, a couple of us decided to hike to the top of Lovell Summit Road. As a result, I have no pictures to add for this visit. Click the following link to view pictures read about my hike along Lovell Summit Road … Lovell Summit Road.



09/29/2011 Trip Notes: Because this was the second time this year that I visited this area to hike the Lovell Canyon Trail with the rock hounds from the Heritage Park Senior Facility, I didn’t seem to capture as many pictures as I did on my first hike, even though I actually hiked twice as far as I did on my first visit. Unfortunately, even though we saw a wild deer, two rabbits and a couple of huge blue-jays, I was unable to get any pictures. About three-quarters of a mile out, the view in (Fig. 04) below shows the lush valley wash several hundred feet below the ridge that the trail follows. The picture above (Fig. 03) is a panoramic photo taken near the end point of our hike. It was taken about 1.4 miles out from the trailhead, just short of the waypoint where the “loop” trail begins. As a point of reference, it was taken approximately where the yellow arrow is located on the trail map below and was “stitched” together from eight separate pictures. Taken from approximately the same spot, (Fig. 05) is “zoomed-in” shot of the same area in (Fig. 01). Today we hiked to WP 6 on the trail map in (Fig. 02).
               
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(Fig. 04)
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(Fig. 05)

04/28/2011 Trip Notes: I visited this area with the rock hounds from the Heritage Park Senior Facility and spent the morning hiking in and around Lovell Canyon and its surrounding washes. The picture in (Fig. 01) was taken from parking lot and trailhead for the Lovell Canyon Trail, approximately 11 miles in from SR-160. The first picture below, (Fig. 06), was taken from a spot that overlooked the buildings and grounds of the Torino Ranch, host of Camp Firefly, a summer camp for special needs children in Southern Nevada who are critically ill or who are living in an at-risk environment. The early part of the trail is the steepest and most difficult portion. The picture in (Figs. 07 thru 12) depict various locations along the trail’s many switchbacks at it climbs towards the top of the mountain.
          
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(Fig. 06)
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(Fig. 07)
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(Fig. 08)
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(Fig. 09)
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(Fig. 10)
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(Fig. 11)
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(Fig. 12)
The pictures in (Figs. 13 thru 18) show a few of the plants and flowers that I found growing along the trail. The first flower on the left (Fig. 13), is the Freckled Milkvetch (Astragalus lentiginosus). The quite beautiful flower in the middle (Fig. 14), is a closeup of a Fremont’s Phacelia (Phacelia Fremontii)  (click on a picture to enlarge it to full-size). If you recognize some of these plants, you can email me at [kccandcj@yahoo.com].
           
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(Fig. 13)
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(Fig. 14)
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(Fig. 15)
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(Fig. 16)
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(Fig. 17)
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(Fig. 18)
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