White Owl Canyon

Boulder City, NV

While this area offers many great long and challenging hikes, it also has several shorter ones that are very interesting.  Earlier this week we decided to try one that is right up a former teacher’s alley.   We drove a few miles along Lake Mead to visit White Owl Canyon which travels up an interesting narrow slot.

Hiking up a wash to the canyon

Entering the Canyon

The name of the canyon tells you that there might be owls nesting in the area.  So as we hiked we kept our eyes to the walls of the canyon for evidence of their presence.

It doesn’t take long to see evidence that owls hang around here.  Their “droppings” paint the sides of the canyon in numerous areas.

As part of the science program in her school, the nimble hiker presented owl pellets to her third graders for analysis.  So she was eager to check out the pellets found on the floor of the canyon.

Checking out a owl pellet

 

Now some of you may not be familiar with owl pellets.  A little info will be sufficient for you to understand.  It seems that owls swallow their prey whole, bones and all.  Their digestive system then separates the good from the bad, and the owl later regurgitates the unused portion of the prey.  That’s an owl pellet.   OK, so we were checking out what comes out of both ends of a bird!  Might be TMI  ? ? ?

Up close with an owl pellet

 

At the end of the narrow canyon the trail goes through two sets of drainage tunnels under roads.  The tunnels are large, and interesting to hike through.

Entering the first set of tunnels

 

The nimble hiker in the second tunnel

Returning to the Jeep parked near the picnic covers on the mesa

 

On the return drive we stopped at Sunset Point to watch the sun paint the mountains to the east as it went down.

While not long or challenging, the hike through White Owl Canyon is very interesting.  The chance to see what comes out of both ends of a bird should not be missed ! ! !