Sister Elsie Trail

Dogs Unknown

This trail begins on Haines Canyon Road. Following the fire road up to the red/white striped gate, do not go past the gate but continue up the canyon. You'll run beneath beautiful oak trees, past a concrete water tank and through a heavily wooded area. follow the old asphalt roadbed toward the ruined town of Azteca.

Stay on the trail to the right side of the canyon. This part of the trail is known to MTB-ers as blue bug. At a hairpin corner, continue straight (small cairn) which will lead you to the left, over a small stream. As of Dec 2020, this trail needs a lot of maintenance but can be followed without too much trouble.

The trail is steep and rises over 6-8 small dams in varying states of decay. The trail stays in the bottom of the canyon or to the right of the canyon almost the entire way. Ensure that you stay right at the fork in the canyon and continue up past a completely intact wire/stone dam. Skirt to the right along a path in a small scree field. This is where the trail gets more difficult. The boulder field is not too hard to navigate, stone Cairns mark the path.

Then, your path is cut off by about 40 downed trees. The trail normally stays in the centre of the canyon and you can still see traces of the switchbacks. At this point you must stay right and climb up the two scree fields. There are some Cairns to mark this path. One field is quite dangerous and loose, maintain a safe distance between runners. The trail returns and you'll continue up the canyon until you see a trail that goes up the hillside on the left. This is VERY washed out and poles are recomended.

Following this will lead to the Haines canyon/stone canyon saddle. Follow the ridge to the right to a small hollow. From here the trail should connect to Stone Canyon Trail #13W07 but this route is overgrown and impassable, continue following the ridge fire break until it connects with Stone Canyon Trail #13W07.

This route is grade 1+ mountaineering. EXTREME maintenance needs to be done on this trail to be passable. One of the more difficult trails in the area even when maintained. Ascent took about three hours.