Hiking Southern Utah: Buckskin Hollow via Winchester Trail

– By Tom Garrison –

Trail: Winchester Trail and Buckskin Hollow
Location: Red Cliffs Desert Reserve
Difficulty: Moderately strenuous due to elevation change and required scrambling
Distance: 4.5 miles
Trailhead Elevation: 3,870 feet
Average Hiking Time: About three hours
Kid-Friendly: Not suitable for young kids, a lot of elevation change on a rocky trail

Everyone loves a surprise. Yes? Of course. Who doesn’t enjoy opening a present, and instead of getting the boring item you knew was there, the gift is a joy, just what you wanted. Or the surprise birthday party where people jump up from behind furniture or, like apparitions, flow from the walls to scare the crap out of you. What could be more fun?

Well, how about a rather mundane hike that once you make a left turn becomes a glorious riot of swoopy, striped red and yellow sandstone in a virtually unknown canyon only a few miles from St. George? If you are up for this surprise, follow my wife Deb and I as we travel Winchester Trail to Buckskin Hollow in the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve.

The Red Cliffs Desert Reserve was established in 1996 to protect a large and diverse habitat capable of sustaining wildlife populations threatened by development and habitat loss. It comprises 62,000 acres and has more than 130 miles of shared-use trails for hiking, horseback riding, and mountain biking. Three ecosystems — the Mojave Desert, the Great Basin Desert, and the Colorado Plateau — merge in southwestern Utah, and the reserve reflects the biological diversity of this unique region.

We began this adventure on a clear early November morning. From St. George, we went north on 3050 E/Green Springs Drive, crossed under Interstate 15 (at exit 10), and turned left (west) onto Red Hills Parkway. We continued on Red Hills Parkway for 1.6 miles and turned right (north) onto Cottonwood Springs Road (aka 1550 E). Staying on the main road, we drove 5.3 miles to the signed Yellow Knolls trailhead and parking area on the right (east). The first three miles of Cottonwood Springs Road is paved, and the remainder is a good dirt road posing no problem for a standard sedan.

The Yellow Knolls trailhead has a large parking area where we parked. The Winchester Trail trailhead is on the west side about 50 yards back down (south) Cottonwood Springs Road. The trailhead is marked by a locked double gate, a step-over, and a small sign.

Since Winchester Trail is in the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve, there are no fees or permits necessary.

Winchester Trail follows an old vehicle track for almost two miles to its terminus at a private property near the community of Winchester Hills. The rocky, lightly used trail has several elevation gains and losses, some fairly steep. It follows a mostly northwestern direction. To the south are views of Arizona mountains; the west features red mountain vistas. Other than stunted trees and large bushes, there is no shade the entire route, so bring a hat if it is sunny.

The track starts on a wide plateau. About a quarter of a mile in, the trail, following a line of power poles, makes a 220-foot rocky descent, crossing a deep ravine at the bottom. Here, Black Gulch Trail, coming in from the north, meets Winchester Trail. Climbing out of the ravine placed us on the base of a long ridge, black with volcanic rock. A bit upslope, the line of power poles continues. The trail is a seldom-used maintenance road for the power lines.

We continued northwest, slowly ascending and following the power lines. About one mile in was another steep ravine — down and back up. We trudged along the trail and at 1.5 miles came to a nondescript shallow gully of mostly white Slickrock. The gully was on our left and goes south. This is the trailhead for Buckskin Hollow. It is not a formal trial and does not have a sign. It is about equidistant between two power poles and directly south of a large hill covered with black volcanic rock.

The shallow streambed of Buckskin Hollow is easy to follow downstream with some easily circumvented small dry falls. The first quarter-mile is mostly white sandstone. After that, the formations are a mix of colors — red, white, and yellow, often in stripes. There are many potholes. At one point, a series of three close together, and two still contained water. It had not rained in almost three weeks. We saw many animal tracks leading to these slowly evaporating pools.

The best striped and strangely eroded sandstone formations are in the cavities and falls along the upper section of the hollow. Don’t overlook them. We climbed the sides of the hollow to examine the many thin bands of bright yellow and red.

After about a quarter-mile, the sides of the hollow get closer and it becomes more of a canyon than a gully. A little less than a mile in, we stopped when confronted with a 30-foot dry fall, steep surrounding walls, and no way around unless we climbed to the top of the canyon walls. This was our turnaround point. The canyon continues about another mile.

The hike took about three hours, and we covered 4.5 miles. It is great if you want some solitude. We saw only one other person on the trail, a friendly guy on a horse. Buckskin Hollow is a surprise and worth the effort, very close to St. George, and a wonderland of stripy color.

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