RonnieAdventure #0441 - Owl Canyon, Lake Mead NRA, Clark County, Nevada

 

Owl Canyon is located in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area and reached from a paved road. This is an easy hike, so it is popular with families that have small children. 

The canyon received its name from the white Barn Owls that live in the area. Along the trail there are various spots on the canyon floor that are covered with white bird droppings. The droppings are a combination of both excrement and regurgitated pellets that have been left by the owls. 

Barn Owls like to eat various types of mice and rats that live in the desert and will also eat parts of larger dead animals. When Barn Owls eat their prey, they tear it apart and digest everything - including the fur and bones. The indigestible parts are then regurgitated in the form of pellets that are found along with the excrement. Kind of gross, but interesting.  

The trail through Owl Canyon starts from a paved parking lot and immediately drops off of the mesa down to the canyon floor. 

After building Hoover Dam, waters from Lake Mead covered the canyon entrance; but Lake Mead has receded more than 100 vertical feet over the past few years, so it is now possible to enter the bottom of the canyon without a boat. Located along the historic shoreline are various deposits of seashells. 

After crossing under North Shore Road through either of the two culverts, the canyon opens up; so most people use this for a turnaround point and retraced their route back to the trailhead.  

Unfortunately, at the end of the hike you get to climb the hill back to the parking lot!

BONUS PICTURES BY KOLOHE

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