Continued from the previous page.

The Birdseye Trail morphs into the Hoodoo Trail a little west of the visitor center.

HOODOO TRAIL

This trail loop is only 3/10ths of a mile long and doesn't have any steep spots. I always hike it in combination with the Birdseye and Pink Ledges Trails.

 

 

Above and below:  White rocks are found on several of the trails in Red Canyon

 

 

 

It's fun to walk under the hoodoos and through the sagebrush, pinyon, and juniper trees on this trail.

PINK LEDGES TRAIL

This trail is hillier than either the Hoodoo or Birdseye Trails but it's not as steep as the Photo Trail. It forms more of a loop with part of the Hoodoo Trail behind the visitor center so some folks walk just it and not the other trails. The complete loop is about half a mile long.

You'll soon see why this trail has "ledges" in its name:

 

Above and below:  Some spires on this trail, too, but mostly orange and pink ledges!

 

 

This photo from the road shows that wind- and water-sculptured wall of red rock behind the Pink Ledges Trail :

 

 

These distinctive twin hoodoos can be seen from the road, the bike path, the visitor center, the Hoodoo Trail, and the Pink Ledges Trail. I've already shown them in several entries.

I bet they are the most-photographed rocks in Red Canyon!

 

Another (more cloudy) day Jim and Casey joined me on these four trails.

We stopped at the same spot as shown above to talk to some other visitors and they took our picture -- with a tree almost coming out of my head! The guy who took the photo just saw the hoodoos, not the tree.

And no, I'm not taller than Jim, just standing higher on the slope.

There are numbered stops along the Pink Ledges Trail. I never did get the interpretive map from the visitor center that explains what each number represents. I thoroughly enjoyed the trail every time I hiked it, though.

ROCK KALEIDOSCOPE

From a distance the rocks in Red Canyon do look red, or at least a bright reddish-orange that contrasts beautifully with a bright blue sky (complementary colors do that).

But if you hike these trails and get up close to the rocks, you'll soon realize many of them are multi-colored, with soft or bright reds, oranges, pinks, yellows, grays, and purples. They are even more vivid when they are wet.

You can see the multiple colors in the large formations, as well as boulders and smaller fragments that have fallen from the rock walls and the "gravel" in the washes:

Close-up of a colorful rock wall on the Birdseye Trail

Boulder with holes that look like someone shot it (Hoodoo Trail)

The large rocks look like they fragment easily.  Note all the colors in just one rock.

Colorful rock fragments in a wash along the Hoodoo Trail

I found the same variety of colors on all the other Red Canyon Trails, as well as the Fairyland, Queen's Garden, and other trails at nearby Bryce Canyon National Park.

It's fascinating to read all about the geology of Utah's canyons.

SUMMARY

If you have the time and ability, hike all of these trails. End to end and back to your vehicle either on the same trails or on the paved bike path across the road is less than three miles. In that short distance, you'll have seen an amazing variety of colors and shapes of rocks, interesting plant life, probably some interesting people from around the world, and perhaps some wildlife.

Next entry:  more great Red Canyon trails -- Castle Bridge, Golden Wall, and Tunnel

Happy trails,

Sue
"Runtrails & Company" - Sue Norwood, Jim O'Neil, Cody the ultra Lab, and Casey-pup

Previous       Next

© 2015 Sue Norwood and Jim O'Neil