Cathedral Canyon Trail

DAY TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY SEVEN

After work I went out driving after work, looking for some place to hike. I settled on the Cathedral City cove area figuring I could go up Cathedral Canyon or maybe hike up Dunn Road and see where that would take me.

I start at the top of the Cathedral City Cove and start hiking toward Cathedral Canyon. I quickly come to this sign prohibiting motor vehicles. There's not much area here for motor vehicles so I don't see why this is necessary but whatever.

Rather than going up the canyon I spot this old road going up the hill and decide this might be good so I take it.

It turns out to be a good decision. This little road is STEEP and I gain a couple hundred feet in elevation is about five minutes. It leads to a little level area and then from there is really nice trail. And the best thing about the trail is that it has NO footprints on it, none.

It is somewhat windy and a Red Tail Hawk takes off and enjoys the breezes. I don't mind the wind because the weather is perfect and it makes me feel like I'm flying.

Looking over at Dunn Road I wonder if maybe this trail leads over to it. If it does I'll go down that way.

There are a couple of palms growing in this little cleft in the mountain. There are a few of these little pocket oases up here.

The trail takes me high up above the Coachella Valley and offers nice views.

The trail eventually leads up to where it leads down toward Palm Canyon and the San Jacinto Mountains. I don't have time to head this way today but it's good to know this access point.

It connects to Dunn Road which I'll follow back to the start. There are no footprints here but there are plenty of mountain bike tracks. This is probably the most popular mountain bike route in the area and has been for years.

The road, which was illegally built many years ago, will take me back to the my starting point. It's not as nice as the trail but not having to hike back the same way is a good option. And speaking of options. I saw another trail a bit east of the one I came up that I want to follow next time. I just have to find out where to access it.