Please note, not all trails are available for Night Skiing & Snowboarding. Although our beginner area may be open for Night Skiing, all other trails are intermediate terrain only (marked by Blue Squares). That means if you come for Night Skiing be prepared to navigate intermediate terrain.
As you climb the trail, your route will parallel some of the old Mount Lowe Railway route, the only electric mountain railway ever built in the USA. When it was built in 1893, it was considered a modern marvel and welcomed over 3 million riders during its lifetime.
The Echo’s Trail
The resort and railway weathered some fires and natural disasters over the years, but the great flood of 1938 was the final nail in the coffin, washing much of the railway and resort away. After that, Sam Merrill, who lived with John Muir as a young man and was active in the Sierra Club, restored and maintained the trails to Echo Mountain. When he died in 1948, the Sierra Club named the trail after him.
The hike showcases one of the few populations of Alaska yellow cedars (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis) in the Central Cascades, including the state champion. The trail is often overgrown and is far less visited than the nearby trails leading to Iron Mountain and Cone Peak. The main impediment to access is the last couple of miles of road in to the trailhead. High clearance is recommended.
The trip begins on a former logging road in a small stand of young fir trees along Echo Creek. The fir trees give way to a narrow alley of alders. Along this portion of the trail you will see the large cables left behind from the tree harvest in the late 1980s. After 0.3 miles, you will enter mature forest. Look for the shaggy gray bark of the Alaska cedars. At a half mile, you will reach a small footbridge that starts the loop trail. Take the loop in either direction to travel through the giants.
At around 0.4 mile the trail picks up with a set of wooden stairs. Soon after this, the route becomes so steep that there are metal railings anchored into the mountain to safely assist hikers in this potentially dicey situation.
At 0.7 mile it may look like the trail veers to the right, but you actually want to stay in the middle section and walk up the smooth inclined rock. If you go to the right, it gets you off trail and toward the edge of the mountain which will require you to either backtrack, or make some dangerous maneuvers to climb back up onto the trail.
Today, Echo Bluff State Park is a year-round outdoor destination that allows visitors to create new memories as they experience all the Ozarks have to offer. Visitors of all ages can fill their days with floating, hiking, swimming or fishing. While the park has a spectacular natural setting, the modern amenities enhance the experience and make it welcoming for everyone. An impressive, iconic lodge features guest rooms, indoor and outdoor casual dining and meeting rooms. Nine full-service cabins with 13 units are a great option for families and groups. Camping opportunities range from primitive to full-service campsites. The bluff-top shelter is perfect for special events, and an amphitheater for smaller events offers a dramatic natural backdrop. The park also offers hiking and mountain biking trails.
There is a parking attendant and gate, but parking is free. The large parking area does fill up fast, so make sure you get there early to snag a spot. Park in an available space, make sure you have plenty of water, and continue up to the top of the parking lot to find the trailhead. There are restrooms and water at the trailhead.
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The trail through Echo Canyon was one of the most important of westward expansion. Buffalo, native Americans, and explorers used this natural pathway between the lush grass of Wyoming and the salt deserts to the west. They were later followed by wagon trains, the Mormon pioneers in 1847, the Overland Stage, the Pony Express, gold prospectors and silver miners, the Union Pacific railroad, the 1st transcontinental telegraph line, the Lincoln Highway, and Interstate 80.
In July, 1846, the Harlan-Young party drove their wagons past this site and down the nearly impassable lower Weber River (named after Captain John Weber, a member of the 1823 Ashley Fur expedition). They found a rocky canyon with a raging river in its bottoms. That summer the Donner-Reed party avoided the canyon and blazed a new trail to the west. It took 21 days to travel the 36 miles to the Great Salt Lake. The delay would prove fatal for them in the Sierra Nevada later that autumn.
Brigham Young led his Mormon immigrants over this new trail in 1847 to the Salt Lake Valley. From 1847 to 1867, 80,000 Mormon immigrants traveled this way by wagon, handcart and foot. Pony Express riders took the same cutoff.
Length: 2.4 miles round-tripDifficulty: StrenuousElevation: 1,476 to 2,704 feetTrailhead GPS: N 3331.287', W 11158.417'Directions: From Central Phoenix, go north on 44th Street to its intersection with Tatum Boulevard and McDonald Drive. Turn right onto McDonald Drive, continue one block to the roundabout and turn right into the parking lot. The lot is open from sunrise to sunset, and parking is extremely limited.Vehicle Requirements: NoneDogs Allowed: Yes (on a leash), but not when the temperature exceeds 100 degrees.Horses Allowed: NoUSGS Map: Paradise ValleyInformation: Phoenix Parks and Recreation Department, 602-495-5458 or phoenix.gov/parks/trails
Aaron Johnson has been hiking in Colorado for over 20 years. The owner and editor of Dayhikes Near Denver, Aaron writes every trail profile as a local guide who has hiked hundreds of miles of trails along the Front Range and deep in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.
Echo Trail runs for about 1.2 miles between Echo Trailhead and Cathedral Rock Trailhead. The west half of the trail mostly runs on old roads, with some steep bits, and the east half runs on a regular trail. The entire trail runs through a forest of ponderosa pine and white fir beneath Cathedral Rock.
The trail provides some nice views to the north across Kyle Canyon, and it runs across the bottom of an avalanche chute strewn with the remains of a forest that once was higher up the hillside. This trail also provides access to the Little Falls Trail.
Other than the standard warnings about hiking in the desert, ...this trail seems more strenuous than it should be, so take it easy at this elevation if you've just come up from the desert (the air is thin up here at nearly 8,000-ft elevation). Other than that, the trail is safe and easy to follow, but keep an eye out for trail junctions.
From the Echo Trailhead (Table 1, Waypoint 01), the trail starts running northwest as if to go up Kyle Canyon, but shortly the trail bends to the left, crosses Kyle Creek, and climbs the far hillside heading up and to the southeast on an old road going down Kyle Canyon. The old road, cutting up and across the hillside, can be seen from the trailhead.
The trail runs up into a forest where ponderosa pine and white fir trees provide intermittent shade. A forest of these two conifer species indicate that this area is in the Canadian (Pine-Fir Forest) Life Zone.
The trail climbs the hillside, then levels out some with open areas providing views towards the Coxcomb and other limestone cliffs to the north across the canyon. Here, the trail runs on an old road. At about 0.28 miles out, the old road forks (Wpt. 02). A small sign and some rocks indicate the turn, but it would be easy to miss.
The trail turns right on an old road that climbs the hillside at a stiff grade. When the trail begins to level out, the old road forks again (Wpt. 03). The trail turns downhill to the left, beginning the descent into Little Falls Canyon. It is obvious at the fork that many people turn to right and continue hiking up the old road. That road ends at a flat area, but a use-trail continues very steeply up the hillside, eventually climbing above the cliffs and into the high country.
Staying on Echo Trail (Wpt. 03), the old road descends the hillside to a point (Wpt. 04) where the trail turns right and heads into the woods (now a "real" trail). The trail winds around and eventually crosses the bottom of an avalanche chute strewn with the remains of a forest that once was higher up the hillside but has been carried by snow to this point. This is a good example of the power of moving snow.
The trail crosses avalanche chute and Little Falls Creek, and then climbs the far bank to a junction (Wpt. 05) with Little Falls Trail. The Echo Trail turns left to run downhill, but hikers can turn right and hike uphill about 0.3 miles to Little Falls.
Staying left on Echo Trail, the trail runs gently downhill to a point below the towering north face of Cathedral Rock. In the old days, this was a trailhead, but now the trail continues southeast, wrapping around Cathedral Rock.
The trail climbs along the hillside, now with dense trees and lots of shade, to a highpoint beneath the east face of Cathedral Rock. The trail turns downhill, winds through a couple of switchback along the edge of the Mazie Canyon avalanche chute, then arrives at a trail junction (Wpt. 06) with the Cathedral Rock Trail.
The Cathedral Rock Trail turns right to run uphill, while the Echo Trail stays left (straight) continuing downhill. Shortly, the trail arrives at another trail junction (Wpt. 07). Here, the South Loop Trail turns right and runs up into the high country, while the Echo Trail turns left on the level.
Exhibits at the park include a covered wagon display, interpretive panels with historic information on the trail and town history, Oregon Trails signs, antique fire equipment and RV Park and campground. 2ff7e9595c
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