Juniper Draw Loop

The Juniper Draw Trail, along with the Miller Point Trail, make up the best trails in Cathedral Gorge State Park in terms of exploring the diversity and landscape of the park.

This 3.6-mile loop has passes through the park campground and the caves area parking lot, and it also offers access to the short Nature Trail and the Miller Point Trail.

The Juniper Draw Trail is relatively flat, though it crosses through several sandy washes. Aside from paths that diverge from the trail and into the rock spire cliffs, there is no shade along this trail, so hikers should be of moderate hiking ability and carry plenty of water.

The loop path swerves from traveling along the base of the unique rock cliffs to heading into the wide juniper-dotted basin. Yucca and sage also line the basin bottom. This trail gives the best perspective in the park for imagining  how a freshwater lake once covered this region. Today this sun-baked basin will dry your throat, though several benches sit along the trail in shady (depending upon the time of day) alcoves at the cliff bottoms.

The loop then crosses the valley floor and returns back toward the campground and parking areas tracing the opposite line of cliffs. Timing your hike for morning or evening will make for more dramatic lighting and shadows across the rock formations. Peach gold spires rising up to a blue sky in such an isolated corner of Nevada can be extremely photogenic, and if you're lucky enough to catch it on a cloudy day, the experience can be borderline spiritual.

Make sure to take the time to look in all directions, as the scenery here changes and offers much more than its desert pace would let on. 

Fill up with water at the campground or at the visitor center before beginning your hike, as there is no water located at the caves area trailhead or along the hike.