Gateway Canyon

How funny that Unilocal has reviews for hikes and canyons! Today was a beautiful, blustery day that seemed to scare off a lot of would-​be hikers. My two friends and I decided to forge ahead and get a nice morning workout in; we had perfect hiking temperatures today without any rain. Our goal was to climb Gray Cap Peak via Gateway Canyon and we did so successfully. Aptly named, Gateway Canyon is the starting point from which you will see wonderful views of spectacular desert scenery; a little further away is Brownstone Canyon, which houses some petroglyphs (prehistoric drawings) dating back 1000+ years. Be careful while playing on the rocks, especially after a rainstorm, for that weakens the sandstone. Check your holds carefully so you don’t inadvertently break off sandstone!
(For those who are interested in the gritty details, our route today started at the Kraft Mtn trailhead — end of Sandstone Drive — and followed the trail up «Hell Hill» to the saddle, which is in between Kraft Mtn (right side) and a gray limestone hill (left side). Follow that same trail down to the wash until you come to the white sandstone; find cairns that lead you up and over the white stone to the red sandstone then to the path that goes up to the top of Gray Cap Peak. While climbing up the white and red sandstone, you should see the peak ahead of you as a beacon.)

I’ve hiked this canyon a couple of times. The scenery is really amazing. Reading the previous reviewers hike I had to laugh as for sometime I called this area Candycane Canyon before I learned what its real name was.
As mentioned this is a strenuous hike and not for a novice or someone out of shape.

I hiked Gateway Canyon today and there have been some changes to the hike as a result of the flash flooding that we had this summer and fall. It is a more difficult hike than it was. There was one area soon after entering the canyon that was an easy walk on the sandstone to get to the lower level. Now it’s a butt slide you must do carefully. There was some sign that some have tried to do a walk around but we didn’t check to see if there was another way.
There’s a second drop off that is problematic. The flooding washed some gravel from the base of the sandstone. We got around this by carefully climbing up some sandstone to bypass the difficult area. One of our group couldn’t do that and she slid down the sandstone and landed on her shoulder. Just a bit sore.
There are also some new places where boulders have been placed below to make the step down easier. I’m not sure I’d take friends from out of town on this hike unless another heavy rain changes things again for the better like it did once before.
If you do this hike, do it carefully!