Eagle Pass 2.0

A simple, but bone jarring, trail through a canyon in the Sacramento Mountains near Needles, California.

We did this trail starting at Exit 148 south of Needles, but it can be done either way.

Eagle Pass seems to be a bit misleading.  The "pass" is really a canyon through the Sacramento Mountains; however, the USGS map labels it as Eagle Pass.

There is a GPS - gpx track file at the bottom of the page.

Eagle Pass

This is far from being our favorite trail!  The canyon itself is kind of nice, but there are 4 or 5 miles of soft, sandy wash on the southeast part of the trail that is "hell on wheels" if you are in a Jeep.  It would be better to go in from the Needles end and return the same way.

Minor washboarding

Approaching the pass

Eagle Peak rises 1300' above the wash.

A member of the pea family (Fabaceae), the smoke tree derives its name from its plume-like growth and golden color, which give the tree the appearance of smoke. The smoke tree is a spiny, intricately branched shrub or tree that grows to a height of 20 feet. It has a small, crooked trunk with scaly, gray-brown bark. It has a compact crown of smoky gray branches and twigs with dense, pressed hairs and many small gland-dots.

The smoke tree's tiny, stalkless leaves are 1/8 by 1/2 inches and appear for only a few weeks each spring before the tree flowers. The leaves are gray, very hairy and have gland-dots and wavy edges. Since the leaves appear for only a few weeks each year, the smoky gray twigs must produce most of the plant's food by conducting photosynthesis themselves.  DesertUSA

Eagle Peak

Smoketree

Page updated 2017.

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eagle_pass_2.0.gpx
File Size:	208 kb
File Type:	gpx

Download File

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