taugust said:
Most of the main trail is graded dirt and easy, unless the weather is bad.
<snip>
And from another post on this forum, the common way in is now gated off at the canal.
I was just on the Bradshaw Trail last weekend. I had also heard that the usual access route from Salton Sea to the Coachella Canal on the way to Salt Creek (access to Bradshaw Trail) was closed. I explored some alternate routes near the usual Parkview access and there are 3 or 4 easy ways to get to the access road. I'll post some GPS tracks of the alternate routes.
To my surprise, the Parkview route was still usable. It is true that the gate right at the canal road is closed, but there has always been a graded ramp to the immediate right of the gate. The ramp goes up onto the dike and is the route I usually take anyway. Also, there is a home-made sign about 200 yards before the Parkview access gate that says, in orange paint, "Access to the Canal" with an arrow to the left.
If you take the ramp, there are no signs or postings restricting travel anywhere along the route to the Bradshaw Trail. The road along the dike is separate from the road along the canal. After a few miles, there is a ramp down into the desert and a trail that follows the fenced portion of the canal to the Salt Creek/Bradshaw trailhead. There were quite a few vehicles (including RVs) on the trail when I was there.
As there are a large number of access routes to the canal road, it is hard to figure why the Parkview gate, and several others along the canal north of Parkview, are closed.
The Red Canyon slot canyons are great to explore and the Red Canyon Trail along the ridgeline has some spectacular views. It is too late tonight to figure out how to upload some tracks (uploads are very limited). PM me and I'll email them to you or check back in a few days and I'll have figured out a way to link the file.
