Round Trip Distance: 3 miles
Difficulty: Easy
Elevation: 4567 - 4791 feet
Cellphone: 1-4 bars
Usage: Hiking - Equestrian - Dogs
Time: 2 hrs.
Facilities: Vault Toilet
Trailhead: Devils Canyon
Fee: none
View Devils Canyon D4 in a larger map
The Devils Canyon trail system is located in the McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area located south of Fruita, Colorado. The D4 trail forms a loop as it follows along the base of the Entrada sandstone cliffs. The trail is popular with hikers, runners and dog owners. We spent 2 hours hiking but we had a toddler in tow. Besides a slower pace a good deal of time was spent inspecting ants and lizards.
The trail begins by passing through a green Powder River gate on the service road. There is another kiosk about a quarter mile from the trailhead. A map of the Devils Canyon and Kodels Canyon trail systems are available most of the time. The trails are very well marked but a map is nice to understand how they all interconnect.
After the trail passes the second kiosk it crosses a bridge that spans a wash. We checked under the bridge for trolls but we didn't see anything. Just past the bridge the trail splits. The can take the left for to get to the Devils Canyon D3 Cabin Route or if you want to take the D4 trail in a clockwise direction. We took the right fork that pointed to the D5 Trail.
We only had to follow the D5 trail around a bend in the trail and we were at the fork where the D4 trail begins. The D4 trail crosses over to the base of the cliffs while the D5 trail travels, up above, along the rim.
The trail loops around each point in the cliffs and then turns up each of the canyons. About a mile from the trailhead there is a fork in the trail at the mouth of one of the canyons. If you take the cutoff it will skip that canyon and shorten the hike by a little over half a mile. The upper end of the canyon had more wildflowers than anywhere else on the hike and it was also pretty fun to hike.
There was a cave in the cliff, in the next canyon, that had been closed off at one time. There weren't any windows or holes for a smoke stack so it wasn't evident what it had been used for. It reminded me of an old pill box. We checked it for bats but there weren't any current occupants.
The trail meets up with the D1 trail where it heads back to the trailhead. In the background is a view up Devils Canyon. If you would like to take a longer hike next time the Devils Canyon D3 Cabin Route is a spectacular hike.
We took a picture of a Western Meadowlark the had snagged itself a very big bug. It looked like it was waiting for the bug to give up the struggle so it could chow down without it getting away.
A Collard Lizard caught our grandsons eye. The lizard seemed as curious as our grandson. The lizard would let him almost touch him before he would move off a little bit and they would do it all over again.
Our short little hike ended back at the trailhead after a couple of hours. Speaking of little, our toddling grandson had a good time making friends with a Collard Lizard, stomping some ants, smelling flowers and tossing rocks off the trail.
On the drive out we took some pics of a Western Kingbird. Besides the Meadowlark the Kingbird is another common bird in our area that catches your eye with a flash of yellow. The trails at Devils Canyon are a good place to visit after work or on the weekend. The trails can be hiked most any time of the year. If you would like to see them for yourself then all you have to do is 'Take a hike'.
