White Reef Trail / Harrisburg

The White Reef Trailhead is located in the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve across and under the freeway from Harrisburg, off Old Highway 91. There are several connecting trails including Prospector Trail that will connect all the way down to Bracken's Loop off Exit 13.

The White Reef trail winds through a draw between the two reefs and the Leeds Reef trail runs along the top of one reef for about a mile before it drops down into a draw as it approaches the White Reef trail junction. The White Reef trail provides good views of the reefs and nearby scenic red-rock mountains while the Leeds Reef trail has excellent views of all the area’s exceptional terrain. The loop lies entirely within the Red Cliffs NCA managed by the Bureau of Land Management and is open to hikers, bikers and equestrians but is closed to motor vehicles.

There is a nice 5+ mile loop that avoids the campground and roads if you travel north from the trailhead on White Reef Trail and connect to the Adit Trail which will climb a small hill where there are some beautiful petroglyphs. You cannot ride your horse all the way to the petroglyphs but you can get pretty close and then walk up to view them closer. The Tipple Trail crosses Leeds Creek and connects to Red Reef East Trail, looping back to Anasazi Trail, Adams Trail and back to the trailhead.

This trail is located in the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve. Please respect the right to ride in this beautiful, protected area. Stay on the trails, and watch for wildlife.

About the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve: At the merging of three great ecosystems, the Mojave Desert, the Great Basin, and the Colorado Plateau, the reserve is biologically rich with an array of animals and plants rarely seen in one place. The reserve contains the most northern populations of the desert tortoise, Gila monster, sidewinder rattlesnake, and chuckwalla - reptiles typically associated with hotter and more southerly deserts, like the Mojave. A significant portion of the shrubs in this area, such as blackbrush, are more commonly associated with the cooler Great Basin Desert. The conditions in the region are such that several endemic species, those which occur no where else in the world, are found here.