The trail follows Kane Creek along the bottom of its canyon (officially named Kane Springs Canyon on the maps) between its mouth at the Colorado River and Highway 191. It runs in and out of the creek - more than 50 crossings - but in one area, climbs high on the canyon wall. The climb has developed some ledges that stress the 3+ rating, but we intend to make repairs to hold the rating. The creek bottom parts, however, are a real puzzle to rate for difficulty in advance. When the creek is wet, as it is likely to be in springtime, there is mud and quicksand. After a storm, which is possible, it can be impassably deep. Wet or dry, plenty of brush grows in from the sides of the road.

Approximate mileages: total 38, off highway 20.

Scenery:
The lower portion of the canyon is narrow, tortuous, and one of our most beautiful. Fartherupstream, it becomes wider, straighter, and deeper (1000 feet), but it changes character again above the junction with Hatch Wash. There, the water is clear, the bottom is gravelly rather than sandy, and the canyon is more intimate.

Road Surface:
The lower canyon road has a 2WD gravel surface as far as the first creek ford, at which point an amphibian is sometimes needed. The next few miles upstream are on a silt bench with many "gotcha" gullies eroded across the trail. When it reaches the section that crisscrosses the creek, the bottom is sandy - sometimes with quicksand - and brush grows into the sides of the trail. The upper part of the trail has rocky creek bottom and rocky steps on the narrow shelf road above the creek.

Obstacles:
Other than the possibility of mud and quicksand, the major obstacle is the eroded, rocky portion along a shelf above the creek. A major rock ledge at Muleshoe Canyon once required a rock pile to ascend, but it has been altered enough to be merely a tough "3 1/2." Another ledge above that has been dug out so badly that a bypass has been developed.

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