Eldorado and Keystone Canyons

Keyhole Canyon Granite

We took the dogs to Nelson's Landing, Eldorado Canyon and Keystone Canyon. They went into the water at Nelson's Landing. Harley likes to swim. He chases anything that you throw.So we tricked him by throwing rocks. He would go down to the bottom and try to find the rock that we threw. Hog does nothing more than wade in water up to his knees. He can swim, but he generally swims much like a rock. They enjoyed the water while we enjoyed the coolness of being near the lake.

Next we went into Eldorado Canyon. It has some of my favorite barrel cacti. The roads are broad and well graded. There are a number of side roads that take you into bays on Lake Mohave. We usually take one of them, but today we wanted a short trip, as the dogs wore themselves out swimming, so we took one side trip on our way out of the canyon

That side trip was to Keyhole Canyon. It is a canyon in a granite outcropping in the otherwise sandstone or volcanic region. One reason we like to go there is because it is always cool there when it is 105 degrees (or higher) in the rest of the desert. There are also a lot of wildflowers outside the canyon. This is probalby because the area's soil is both decomposed granite sand and, below that, something more clayey. The water sinks in the sandy soil, but stays there for a while because of the clayey layer before it can drain out of the area.

The dogs enjoyed their swim and running around in the desert. We got out for some strolling, rock scrambling, and wildflower hunting. Everyone got their exercise and was tired for the trip home.