Weather: 77º, sunny
About this Hike: After spending the night at Mt. Charleston Resort, it was time for another day of exploring the abundance of trails in the area. Cathedral Rock (not to be confused with the Sedona landmark I’ve hiked multiple times) is a striking granite escarpment in the Spring Mountains near Charleston Peak.
We parked at a large, paved lot and picked up the well-signed trail from there. Before reaching Cathedral Rock a side excursion to Little Falls proved to be another waterfall bonus. These falls were flowing at a trickle with ice-cold water from above. Climbing up to one of the falls revealed a hand/foot hold with a perfect fossil shell entombed in the granite.
Getting higher toward Cathedral Rock the trail splits off. A signpost indicates the junction, but the actual sign is missing. At this point rooftops of the town below dot the landscape. Cell reception is strong, and these trails are plotted on Google Maps. We chose the left fork which led to some awesome views of the town. Eventually it dead-ended and Google Maps said we were at Little Falls, which made no sense as we had visited the falls a ways back while we were still climbing. There is a deep, narrow canyon wash below and a large sewer cap at the end of this trail.
We doubled back to the junction and went right. A little more hill climbing and we were atop Cathedral Rock. Majestic views of the surrounding Spring Mountains and the town below greeted us.
While time only permitted two good hikes in Mt. Charleston, we plan to head back. There are so many more trails to explore in this desert oasis.
About this Hike: After spending the night at Mt. Charleston Resort, it was time for another day of exploring the abundance of trails in the area. Cathedral Rock (not to be confused with the Sedona landmark I’ve hiked multiple times) is a striking granite escarpment in the Spring Mountains near Charleston Peak.
We parked at a large, paved lot and picked up the well-signed trail from there. Before reaching Cathedral Rock a side excursion to Little Falls proved to be another waterfall bonus. These falls were flowing at a trickle with ice-cold water from above. Climbing up to one of the falls revealed a hand/foot hold with a perfect fossil shell entombed in the granite.
Getting higher toward Cathedral Rock the trail splits off. A signpost indicates the junction, but the actual sign is missing. At this point rooftops of the town below dot the landscape. Cell reception is strong, and these trails are plotted on Google Maps. We chose the left fork which led to some awesome views of the town. Eventually it dead-ended and Google Maps said we were at Little Falls, which made no sense as we had visited the falls a ways back while we were still climbing. There is a deep, narrow canyon wash below and a large sewer cap at the end of this trail.
We doubled back to the junction and went right. A little more hill climbing and we were atop Cathedral Rock. Majestic views of the surrounding Spring Mountains and the town below greeted us.
While time only permitted two good hikes in Mt. Charleston, we plan to head back. There are so many more trails to explore in this desert oasis.
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| Cathedral Rock |
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| Shell fossil |
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