Levee Loop

Dogs Unknown

Trails around the Franklin Mountains are often rocky and technical, so users unfamiliar with rough terrain should use caution. Trail shoes with rock plates are strongly recommended.

El Paso is in the desert, so plan around the climate. Summers are regularly in the 90's or above; winters will drop to the 30's and 40's. Lightning storms are frequent in the late afternoons during the warmer months. Check the weather before you go, and let someone know where you will be.

Levee Loop circles a neighborhood water detention basin for about a mile. A barbed wire fence circles most of the basin, but the gates are unlocked as they are meant to control access for Bowen Ranch cattle, not people. Run almost entirely along an unimproved, degraded dirt road without much in terms of scenery or challenge; there's little to recommend it over other area trails.

Starting from the southwest corner near a gate and moving clockwise, Levee Loop continues on the former dirt road of Fence Line. The trail is mostly in the same condition as it was to the south; that is, gritty, some hard-packed sand, and a large amount of rocks in places. After passing a shortcut to Lazy Cow to the west, the trail crosses a large washout, deep for the area. A smaller one follows soon after.

The trail turns to the east, with another shortcut to Lazy Cow branching off west. A second closed gate can be found at the intersection with Pipeline Road, with a trail on the other side leading along the levee itself. As the Levee Loop wraps around to the east side of the retention pond, it crosses yet another washout.

Meeting the rock wall of the North Hills neighborhood at the southeast corner, the path makes a steep climb to the top of the levee; the aforementioned trail from the gate connects here. Levee Loop finishes by following the pond's south side before connecting back to the southwestern gate, passing North Hills Dam Trail along the way.