Gunsight Canyon provides an off-trail scrambling experience that is a little less challenging than Rattlesnake Canyon or The Crawl. The best section of Gunsight is the first 0.5 mile stretch of canyon, though you can continue ahead for a link up with Boyscout Trail, which makes it an 8 mile loop hike. This a great canyon for families to explore -- it can take an hour or an entire afternoon depending how fast you move and how thoroughly you explore.
Get started from the day use parking lot that also serves as the trailhead for Indian Cove Interpretive Trail. Look for an obvious canyon to the southwest and follow a clear social trail straight towards it (1). Continue for 1100 feet to the base of the canyon and drop into a brief but large wash (2). This route requires scrambling with your hands and feet multiple times. The difficulties gradually get harder as you work up canyon. Remember, everything you climb up you also have to climb back down.
Start working you way up the left hand side of the canyon. A series of slabs provide easy access to the first scrambling section. Continue route finding as you crisscross the canyon floor. A very cool slot canyon can be found along the right hand side of the canyon, (3) followed by a series of cascading slabs. Some of the rock is very smooth through this canyon due to flash floods, so move slowly and carefully. About 2400 feet from the trailhead you'll find a fairly impassable area. This the most challenging part of the scramble -- the chimney. A gash in the boulders grants you access to a staircase-like chimney section. About 10 feet of easy climbing allows you to pass through a small hole on the top of the chimney to much easier terrain (4). You can bypass the chimney by traveling on the left side of the canyon, but it's my favorite part!
Continue up canyon for another 150 feet until the canyon starts to level off, this is the end of the scrambling section (5). You can continue ahead to Gunsight Pass and loop back on the Boyscout Trail for a much longer day. For the sake of this hike, we will just retrace our steps for a total of 1 mile round trip and 320 feet of elevation gain. Make sure to remember what the top of the chimney looks like for your trip back down, or you can bypass it on the right hand side. (6).
