Mid-Hills to Hole-in-the-Wall Trail : Adventurous Walk in a Desert Hole in the Wall

Hole-in-the-Wall and Mid-Hills are the centerpieces of the 1.5-million-acre East Mojave National Scenic Area administered by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. Both areas offer diverse desert scenery and fine campgrounds.

Doubling the pleasure of these special places is a brand-new, 8-mile-long trail that links them together. One of the BLM’s first major trail projects, the path was constructed by a crew from the California Conservation Corps. The Sierra Club has volunteered to maintain the trail.

“For me, the most exciting aspect of this trail is the ever-changing scenery when hiking from one end to the other,” says Jim Foote, BLM’s outdoor recreation planner and trail coordinator. “Soon as you’ve finished enjoying one terrific East Mojave vista, another one comes into view that’s equally spectacular.”

Spectacular is the right word for the heart of the East Mojave. Mile-high Mid-Hills recalls the Great Basin Desert topography of Nevada and Utah. It’s a thousand or so feet higher than Hole-in-the-Wall, and thus as a starting point offers the hiker an easier way to go.

Mid-Hills, so named because of its location halfway between the Providence and New York Mountains, offers a grand observation point from which to gaze out at the East Mojave’s dominant mountain ranges: the coffee-with-cream-colored Pinto Mountains to the north, and the rolling Kelso Dunes shining on the western horizon. Looking northwest, you’ll also get a superb view of Cima Dome, the 75-square-mile chunk of uplifted volcanic rock.

The most intriguing flora flourishing around Mid-Hills is a pinyon pine and juniper woodland. A few hundred thousand or so years ago, during Pleistocene times, these cone-bearing trees were quite numerous throughout the East Mojave. Ever-more-arid temperatures prompted the trees to retreat to higher and cooler elevations.

The tall, two-needled pinyon pine once provided an important food source for the Chemehuevi and Piutes, who gathered the cones and broke them apart to get at the nuts inside. Today, the hiker with the desire for a trail-side snack can gather some of the creamy white nuts, popular in salads and pasta.

Hole-in-the-Wall is a twisted maze of red rock, the kind of place Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid might have chosen as a hide-out. Geologists call the red rock rhyolite, a form of lava that existed as hot liquid far below the earth’s surface, then crystalized.

Fifty years ago, a hike into Hole-in-the-Wall was no walk in the park. Here’s how Walter Ford recounted his experience in a 1941 issue of Desert magazine: “With a 100-foot rope securely tied around a large boulder, I crawled over the over-hanging ledge and found myself dangling in midair with the next projecting rock 25 feet below! We had assumed there would be footholds all the way down. Playing out the rope as I went, I began a series of zigzags, only to find that my momentum increased as I descended. About 10 feet from the bottom, the rope slipped from my grasp and I landed in a heap at the bottom.”

Fortunately, for today’s hiker, a series of iron rings aids descent into Banshee Canyon. They’re not particularly difficult for those who are reasonably agile and take their time.

A word about desert hiking in general and this desert hike in particular: You’ll often travel in the bottom of sandy washes instead of over more clearly defined trails. This means the hiker must rely on maps, a sense of direction, rock cairns or signs. The BLM has plans to install directional signs in the spring. Until then, the trail from Mid-Hills to Hole-in-the-Wall is recommended only for experienced desert hikers.

The hike is an adventurous excursion through a diverse desert environment. You’ll see basin and range table-top mesas, and encounter large pinyon trees and an array of colorful cactus and lichen-covered granite rocks. East Mojave views--of Table Mountain, Wild Horse Mesa and the Providence Range--are unparalleled.

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 and bear right on the latter road, which soon turns to dirt. (Well-graded Black Canyon Road is suitable for passenger cars.) After 8 1/2 miles of travel, you’ll spot Hole-in-the-Wall Campground on your left. 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.

(Later this year, this campground access road will be closed while construction of a new Hole-in-the-Wall visitors station takes place. Camping will be at the new Hole-in-the-Wall facility just north of the old one.)

Those wishing to park vehicles for day hikes on the trail are encouraged to use the new Wild Horse Canyon Trailhead on Wild Horse Canyon Road.

Another 9 or so miles of travel on Black Canyon Road brings you to the signed turnoff for Mid-Hills Campground. You’ll turn left and travel 2 miles to the campground. The Mid-Hills trail head is adjacent to a windmill immediately opposite the entrance to the campground.

The hike: In a short distance, the path ascends to a saddle that offers splendid views of the Pinto Valley to the northeast. (The saddle is this hike’s high point.)

From the saddle, the path angles south, descending into and then climbing out of a wash. (Keep a close eye on the trail; it’s easy to lose here.)

The trail reaches a dirt road, follows it for a mere 100 feet, then turns sharply left to join a wash for a time, exits it and crosses a road. You encounter another wash, enter it and exit it.

After a modest ascent, the trail joins a road, passes through a gate and joins another road for a little more than a mile. This road serves up spectacular views to the south of the Providence Mountains and Wild Horse Mesa.

Adjacent to a group of large boulders, a road veers left but hikers bear right, soon turning sharp left with the road. The route passes through another gate, then works its way through a dense thicket of cholla cactus.

After following another wash, the trail crosses a dirt road, then soon joins a second road, which follows a wash to a dead end at an abandoned dam. The trail ascends through some rocks, levels for a time, then descends. A quarter-mile before trail’s end, you’ll spot the Hole-in-the-Wall spur trail leading off to the left.

Where: East Mojave National Scenic Area. Distance: 8 miles one way with 1,000-foot elevation loss. Terrain: The heart of the East Mojave, a Great Basin-like environment of sagebrush and grand rock formations. Highlights: A new trail leading through a “devil’s garden” of cactus, a pinyon pine and juniper forest. Level of difficulty: Moderate exertion required. However, experienced desert hikers will feel more comfortable than novices on this middle-of-nowhere path. Precautions: This new trail won’t be fully signed until spring. It requires a good eye to stay on the path since it enters and leaves washes. For more information: Call the Needles office of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management at (619) 326-3896. For general information on the East Mojave National Scenic Area, contact the California Desert Information Center at 831 Barstow Road, Barstow, Calif. 92311, (619) 256-8313. To visit the center, take the Central Barstow exit off 1-15.