Getting Away From It All at Desert Hole-in-the-Wall

Hole-in-the-Wall is the kind of place Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid might have chosen as their hideout. The famous outlaws of a century ago gave the sheriff the slip in Utah’s Hole-in-the-Wall, but California’s red-rock country of the same name would also have aided the outlaws’ escape.

The Hole-in-the-Wall region of the eastern Mojave Desert is a great place to take friends and family and hide from the stresses of urban life. The tranquil locale is an ideal site for camping, hiking and bird watching. Hole-in-the-Wall, now under the administration of the Bureau of Land Management, will become one of the centerpieces of the new Mojave National Park if Sen. Alan Cranston’s California Desert Conservation bill is approved by the next Congress.

Hole-in-the-Wall is a twisted maze of red rock. Geologists call this rhyolite, a kind of lava that existed as hot liquid far below the Earth’s surface, then crystallized.

A word of caution about the descent into Banshee Campground from Hole-in-the-Wall Campground: One must negotiate two sets of iron rings that have been affixed to the rocks. Descending with these rings is not particularly difficult for those who are reasonably agile and take their time. Acrophobes or claustrophobes may want to pass on this trail or join the hike in Wildhorse Canyon.

Directions to trail head: From Interstate 40, about 42 miles west of Needles and nearly 100 miles east of Barstow, exit on Essex Road. Head north 9 1/2 miles to the junction of Essex Road and Black Canyon Road. Bear right on Black Canyon Road, which soon turns to dirt; the road is well-graded and suitable for passenger cars. After 8 1/2 miles, you will spot Hole-in-the-Wall Campground on your left and a Bureau of Land Management fire station/information center on your right. The information center is usually an unmanned trailer that sometimes has a supply of helpful brochures. Turn into the campground and park at the lip of Banshee Canyon on the upper loop of the camp road. The unsigned trail plunges right into the canyon.

If it’s desert information you’re after, stop by the California Desert Information Center, 831 Barstow Road in Barstow. Take the Central Barstow exit. Information: (619) 256-8617.

The hike: From the trail head, enjoy the view of the wide Clipper Valley, the Providence Mountains to the west, and Wildhorse Canyon and Wildhorse Mesa.

Begin your descent by squeezing through the tight jumble of volcanic rock formation. Soon you will encounter the two sets of iron rings that aid your descent. Remember the old climber’s adage: Secure three limbs and move the fourth.

Past the rings, a few minutes of travel brings you to the mouth of Banshee Canyon. Look behind you at the rose-colored rock, which forms a classic desert box canyon. You probably won’t spot any banshees, those shrieking little elves that pop up in the Scottish Highlands, but you’ll likely observe a multitude of lizards and jack rabbits. The keen-eyed may spot a golden eagle soaring overhead.

At the mouth of the canyon, bear left on a faint dirt road that follows a shallow wash spreading south. The track becomes more distinct as it approaches Wildhorse Canyon Road. Trail-side flora includes creosote, cholla and prickly pear.

The path intersects Wildhorse Canyon Road at a cattle guard. Bear right and walk half a mile on the infrequently traveled dirt road, to a small parking area bordered by rocks on the north side of the road. Here is the unsigned path that leads toward Wildhorse Canyon.

For a mile the trail heads north on a straight course, dodging cholla and yucca. The wild horses that gave the canyon its name are not in evidence, but you may encounter some horses that belong to nearby ranchers. One little filly is particularly sociable, and if you offer her the apple you have in your day pack, you’ll make a fast friend.

The trail climbs gently onto a low mesa that offers good views of Wildhorse Canyon to your left and some handsome rock formations on your right. The rock wears a brown-black cap of iron and manganese known as desert varnish. Like a new coat of paint on a very old house, desert varnish, perhaps only a few thousand years old, can cover rocks and ridges that are hundreds of millions of years old.

The path is a bit indistinct as it nears the pass, but the pass itself is quite obvious, and you should have no trouble reaching it. From atop the pass, enjoy the view of basin and range, mountains and mesas.

Unpack your lunch at the top of the pass or descend northward to a juniper-filled canyon. The juniper is among the most drought-resistant of our cone-bearing trees, and here, sheltered from the full force of the desert sun, it not only survives but flourishes.

Return the same way or, if you wish, after you retrace your steps to Wildhorse Canyon Road, follow this dirt road to Black Canyon Road, where a left turn brings you back to Hole-in-the-Wall Campground.

Serrano Canyon--The Rest of the Trail: Many readers of last Saturday’s Day Hike column, which detailed a hike through Serrano Canyon in Point Mugu State Park, have been wondering where the trail goes after you arrive in the bottom of the canyon. Because of a computer error, the rest of the hike write-up was omitted.

Sooooo. . . .

After joining Serrano Canyon Trail from Big Sycamore Canyon, you’ll enter the sweeping grass lands of Serrano Valley. The valley is a beauty, as quiet a place as you’ll find in the Santa Monica Mountains.

After crossing the valley, you’ll join Old Bony Trail, then a second trail that takes you on a short, steep descent to Big Sycamore Canyon. Big Sycamore Canyon Trail passes through a peaceful woodland, where a multitude of monarch butterflies dwell, and returns you to the trail head.

Enjoy.

Hole-in-the-Wall Trail

Hole-in-the-Wall Campground to Banshee Canyon: three-quarter mile round trip.

Hole-in-the-Wall Campground to Wildhorse Canyon: 5 miles round trip; 400-foot gain.