Short Canyon

The best spot to relax in to watch the snow packed peaks in winter or Super Bloom near April. It's only a 10-15 min drive from the main road, just east of Highway 395 for access road next to Brady's Market aka Mobil Gas Station. Right turn off 395 South, left over divided Highway from 395 North...look for the giant billboard. Accessible in my common Nissan Rogue and PT Cruiser during light rain, but I parked at pipeline crossroads due to softer sand on the dirt path to the peaks. Amazing View with some R&R time.

Very beautiful hike especially in the super bloom. Lots of flowers and the view is incredible. Camped one time with a group overnight and it is extremely windy, be careful.

A relatively easy hike for the area with great views. Apparently during certain times of the year, there's a waterfall, which the trail is supposed to lead you to. Even after some recent rains and walking the entire length of the creek, there wasn't a waterfall that we could find today. Still, it made for a nice, moderate walk with some boulder-hopping as the trail becomes minimally maintained after approaching the creek. With so much grass hanging over what becomes more of a deer path, watch out for ticks if you go during the hotter months. To get to Short Canyon, you take a dirt road that starts near the Brady's Mini Mart and Mobil Station off the 395 (just north of where the 14 merges into it). Take Short Canyon Rd 'til it ends in an unpaved parking lot and just walk up the trail that starts there. Once you get over the ridge, you get gorgeous views of mountains to the west and the valley below to the east. It's 360 degrees of majesty.All over the place there were shot gun shells, bullet casings (mostly for larger rifles), and broken clay pigeons. You'll be driving along on the dirt road and suddenly there's hundreds of the things just laying about.

One of the best times of the year to visit Short Canyon is in late March and early April. So many wildflowers are in bloom around this time, including the California poppy, Indian paint brush, and Grape soda lupine. Oh, and the view of Owens Peak and Five fingers is pretty good also.