Rabbits Ear Trail | Great Views of McInnis Canyon NCA

Rabbits Ear Trail is a rewarding hike in McInnis Canyon National Conservation Area. The trail is a lollipop loop that climbs a ridge decorated in colorful wildflowers up to Rabbit Ear Mesa. Once atop the mesa, the trail becomes more level and loops around the rim granting vast views overlooking the surrounding area. Though the while hike is enjoyable, the highlight of Rabbits Ear Trail has to be the great views of the Colorado River snaking through the dramatic Ruby Canyon below. This is a great hike for an opportunity to get a birds’ eye view of the expansive McInnis Canyon NCA and sweeping views that include Utah’s La Sal Mountains in the distance. Follow us as we hit the trail!

Quick Info: Rabbits Ear Trail

Distance: 6 mile loop (lollipop style loop)

Difficulty: Moderate

Directions: From Grand Junction, take I-70 W to Exit 2 towards Rabbit Valley. Turn left over the interstate and continue straight into McInnis Canyon Conservation Area. The road crosses a cattle guard and turns to dirt. Take a left at the first intersection and continue about 4.3 miles to the Rabbits Ear Mesa Trailhead.

Also in the area: Trail Through Time | McDonald Creek Canyon Trail

Our Experience Hiking Rabbits Ear Trail

Just a short drive from our camp spot at McInnis Canyon National Conservation Area’s Jouflas Campground, we packed a lunch and hit the trail!

Rabbits Ear Trail is a 6 mile lollipop loop. The trail to the beginning of the actual loop is 1.2 miles. And the loop itself is about 3.6 miles around the rim of Rabbits Ear Mesa which then returns via the 1.2 mile trail back to the parking area.

The trail begins by climbing up the first ridge to a saddle granting already vast views of the Rabbit Valley area. This saddle was quite windy while we were here.

From here the trail continues to gradually climb the hillside through junipers and a surprising number of wildflowers.

As we neared the top of the ridge, the dirt trail suddenly passes through a cool slot canyon in the sandstone leading to the other side of the ridge.

We thought this part was pretty cool so we took some time to climb around a bit.

After a bit more hiking on the wildflower covered hillside, at about 1.3 miles, there is a large pile of rocks, or cairn, indicating that we reached the loop segment of the hike. We decided to go right at the intersection and follow Rabbits Ear Trail counter-clockwise.

The trail continues climbing gradually through pretty purple grasses with great views the entire way. We loved the way the grass sounded blowing in the wind.

Eventually the trail reaches Rabbits Ear Mesa where it levels out and we could now see vast views in a new direction. We followed Rabbits Ear Trail along the mesa rim taking in the views overlooking McInnis Canyon NCA all the way out to the La Sal Mountain in Utah.

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As the trail wrapped around the mesa, we could now see amazing views of the Colorado River winding through the dramatic Ruby Canyon way down below. It was cool to look out over the steep canyon walls along the river.

One thing that I really enjoyed about hiking Rabbits Ear Trail is that the views remained throughout the entire hike but they constantly changed as we reached new sides of the ridges and mesa. And of course, the colorful grass and wildflowers really complimented the already beautiful scenery.

Rabbits Ear Trail is a very exposed hike and the junipers are pretty short. We huddled into a small shaded area under a juniper to eat lunch as we looked out over the Colorado River.

Then we began the descent. This side of the trail descended rather steeply, passed some cool rock formations and showed us new views. We spotted a snake on the trail here as well. We wrapped around the hillside and reached the giant cairn ending the loop segment of the hike. Then we headed back the way we came back to the trailhead.

Hiking Rabbits Ear Trail was a fun little adventure with beautiful vast views. And on the drive back to our camp spot we spotted three pronghorn!

Thanks for Reading!

If you would like to see more gorgeous hiking adventures, check out the articles below:

• Hiking Humphreys Peak via Inner Basin Trail
• Exploring in Nebraska
• Point Trail in West Clear Creek Wilderness
• Rustler Gulch Trail

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