The easy Hagen Canyon Trail hike takes you through a colorful geographic landscape that was once all underwater. The colorful layers are sediment washed down from the old Sierra Mountains. Over the last 10 million years plate tectonic movement and erosion have formed what you see today. At one point it was a tourist attraction run by the Hagen family, today it’s a state park. The hike is short and shouldn’t take you more than an hour.
Getting To Hagen Canyon Trail
The trailhead address is: Abbott Dr, Cantil, CA, 93519, USA. If you’re driving to the Eastern Sierras and Mt Whitney, or Death Valley, Hagan Canyon is a nice place for a stop.
When you pull off of Rt 14 onto Abbot Drive, the trailhead is immediately to the left.
This is a short hike and you don’t need any special hiking gear. However you’re in the Mojave Desert, it can get hot. It’s a short hike but you should bring water.
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What To Know For the Hike
Keep your eyes open for lizards sunning themselves on the rocks. Photo by Dylan Duvergé.
Hagen Canyon is named after German immigrant Rudolph Hagen, who bought most of this area as mining claims. He eventually turned it into a tourist attraction, complete with diner, bar, camping, and post office. Eventually the Hagen family turned it over to the state in 1969, when it became Red Rock Canyon State Park (California).
All the landscape that you see on the Hagen Canyon trail used to be underwater.
If the area looks familiar, you might have seen it on a TV show or movie. More recent productions shot here are Jurassic Park and Westworld.
You’ll get the standard Mojave Desert wildlife cast of characters here. Lizards, snakes, and desert hares. A ranger told me that desert tortoises are active here too.
I’m a big fan of GPS watches to follow my GPX track (which I also use as a sleep, wellness, and fitness tracker) and my current watch is the Fenix 6 Pro Solar (full review here). I load my GPX tracks onto the watch to make sure I’m in the right place, and if not, the onboard topo maps allow me to navigate on the fly. It’s pricey but it has a great battery, accurate GPS, and tons of functionality. If you want something similar without the maps and big price tag, check out the Garmin Instinct which is a great buy and does a lot of the same things.
The Hagen Canyon Trail is a loop below the colorful cliffs. There small side trails off the loop if you wan to explore.
Hagen Canyon Hike Directions
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There’s a small parking area at the trailhead and plenty of signage and info on the hike.When you start on the trail, it’s well marked with stones on the sides.Throughout the hike there are also small trail post signs, keep your eyes open for them.At the first split, hike to the right.There’s a nice bench here to soak it all in.The bench has nice views of the surrounding geological formations.There are lot of washes that cross the trail and are easily confused with the trail. You’ll see footprints in them where people made the wrong turn. Here cross the wash and continue on the trail.At the next junction, hike to the right.There’s a little turnoff to red cliffs that I recommend. The main trail goes straight, but make the right to check out the red cliffs up close.The trail is marked with rocks as it goes up to the cliff.Explore the rock formations with care, then turn around and head back down the main trail.When you get back to the main trail, make the right to continue.Keep your eyes open and hike across the wash.In areas where the rocks marking the trail are sparse, there’s usually a trail marker.The trail starts to wind around to the left along the cliff base. You’re starting the loop back.The trail is well defined in this sectionCross the large wash to continue on the trail.The main trail bears left, but there’s a little side trail to right. You can take the trail to the right a few hundred feet to check out some rock formations.If you go right, you’ll see some dark volcanic rock. Check out the rocks and head back to the main trail to continue the loop.Keep your eyes open for this formation, which is called camel rock.When you get back to the trail, continue across the wash to find the trail on the other side.The rocks marking the trail can be sparse, in which case look for the little trail markers on the ground.At this point, the scheme changes and you follow the wash. The bigger trail to the right kind of peters out.You’ll see a trail marker in the wash, which confirms you’re on the trail.Shortly after, the trail heads out of the wash to the left.The trail again heads left, and you’ll see the trail marker.Footprints and a trail marker confirm you’re in the right place.As you approach the end of the loop, the trail becomes well marked with stones again.One last big wash to cross.When you come back to the end of the loop, just continue straight back to the parking lot.
Did something change on this hike? If so, please contact me and let me know. I'll update the guide.