Pine Creek Canyon is the second to the last trailhead parking area on the Red Rock Canyon Scenic Loop Drive. This entire side of Red Rock Canyon is often overlooked by those who spent their time at the more popular Red Rock Canyon Visitor Center, the Calico Hills, Turtlehead Peak, upper viewpoint, Willow Springs and Ice Box Canyon. However, Pine Creek Canyon is definitely worth a day or two. It is more wild, untouched and the plant life more varied and abundant. And the creek with its picnic area in a beautiful Ponderosa Pine grove is a quiet escape from the more crowded areas in Red Rock Canyon. In addition, a trip up the canyon reveals some rare spectacular scenery.
From I-215 take the Charleston Blvd exit (at Red Rock Casino) and head upward through Summerlin toward Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. Take the Red Rock Canyon scenic drive past the high point overlook and past the Willow Spring picnic area turnoff. Continue on the Red Rock Canyon scenic drive past the trailhead for Ice Box Canyon. Pine Creek Canyon Trailhead is the next trailhead on your right, a couple miles beyond the Ice Box Canyon Trailhead.
The Pine Creek Canyon Trailhead is well marked, on the West end of the trailhead parking area. The trail begins with an immediate brief sharp descent from the parking area. Be prepared for a maze of trails. There is the .9-mile Fire Ecology Loop Trail about a half mile in that branches off to the left to a beautiful creek side picnic area in the shade of a Ponderosa Pine grove. The landscape on the Fire Ecology Loop is being restored from earlier fires. Continuing on the main Pine Creek Canyon Trail past the Fire Ecology Loop turnoff reach the Dales Trail turn-off to the right and the Knoll Trail turn- off to the left. These trails are part of the Rainbow Mountains Eastern Baseline Trails network that skirt the Eastern base of the Rainbow Mountains on the West side of Red Rock Canyon. If you took a left onto the Knoll Trail you’d pass Juniper Canyon and Juniper Peak, then reach the Arnight Trail and the Oak Creek Canyon trailhead parking area. If you took a right onto Dales Trail you’d reach Ice Box Canyon in about 2 miles.
In the middle of Pine Creek Canyon stands the impressive pyramid-shaped Mescalito Peak. You can’t miss it. Mescalito Peak divides Pine Creek Canyon. The South (left) branch is the main branch of Pine Creek Canyon. The South branch runs between Mescalito Peak and Juniper Peak. The North (right) branch is Fern Canyon. Fern Canyon runs between Mescalito Peak and Bridge Mountain. In a later adventure I ventured into the opening of Fern Canyon to observe rock climbers scaling the vertical walls of Mescalito Peak.
The main goal on this day was to explore the South (left) branch of Pine Creek Canyon between Juniper Peak and Mescalito Peak and see what there was to discover and how far we could get. A later adventure takes this South branch of Pine Creek Canyon to Terrace Canyon and beyond to Rainbow Wall, then loops downward through Oak Creek Canyon, finally returning to the Pine Creek Canyon Trailhead. View the Rainbow Mt via Pine Creek & Oak Creek Canyons adventure.
Back to this initial exploration of the South (left) branch of Pine Creek Canyon: As you reach Mescalito Peak and take the South (left) branch of Pine Creek Canyon you soon enter a pretty dicey stretch of boulders and brush before descending to Pine Creek. A trail appears and disappears a few times and branches off into a number of rabbit trails. Continue left and upward over to Pine Creek and up the canyon. Eventually, after crossing branches of Pine Creek a couple times you will descend to the main creek channel between Mescalito Peak and Juniper Peak.
The canyon narrows at this point and, in the early Spring, the only way to avoid the abundant brush on either side is to travel up the creek. Prepare to wade through long stretches of flowing water and get your feet wet when the creek is running high from late Fall to late Spring! Realize that you may encounter huge slippery cold wet slanted sandstone surfaces while your shoes are heavy and wet from the creek.
On the way up Pine Creek Canyon, keep a mind to your return trip down Pine Creek Canyon as it’s easy to take a wrong turn and end up struggling through heavy tangly brush! Turn around often on the way up Pine Creek Canyon to see how different the route will look on the return trip.
Though Pine Creek is only ankle or shin-deep and not dangerous (unless perhaps during a downpour) I was not prepared on this day to travel through water and so turned around where the route descended to Pine Creek in the most narrow area between Mescalito Peak and Juniper Peak. I finally reached the Knoll Trail and looped back to the main Pine Creek Trail and its trailhead on the Red Rock Park Scenic Loop Drive.
When you reach Mescalito Peak you can take a right and travel up that side of Pine Creek Canyon for what I understand are additional spectacular scenes.
