Several more accessible cliffs dwellings may be seen nearer the start of the path, along unmarked side trails. Another reason for not leaving the path is to protect many ancient sites found higher up the canyon walls, relics of the Sinaguan civilization.

The steepest cliffs are to the south and west at the edge of Bear Mountain, the top of which may be reached by a 2.4 mile trail starting along a side track off the road to Boynton Canyon. A notice cautions against exploring further, though the sheer rock walls all around would make this difficult. The trail follows close to the stony streambed (usually dry), on the south side, climbing only gently until near the end, where it becomes quite steep, ascending to the final viewpoint on open rockface above the trees. In early summer many wildflowers grow in clearings in the forest and along the path, part of a very different environment to the desert-like surroundings encountered earlier. Shapely red and orange rocks rise above the greenery in all directions along the first part of the trail but the views become much more restricted for the second half, which is through a narrower canyon, well shielded from the sun and hence cooler, moister and filled with tall ponderosa pine trees. The surroundings are similar for nearly a mile, until the canyon swings round to the west. Shortly after this the route curves round a ravine at the edge of the cliffs then drops down to the canyon floor, and so becomes a little shadier and straighter, passing through mixed vegetation of oaks, manzanita, Arizona cypress, yucca and opuntia cacti. None of the hikes were very long, but in all we covered about 10 miles in one day. A connecting path from the resort joins from the left, strictly for guest use only. We hiked out in the dark, watching the stars start to pop in the sky. This represents the very opposite of wilderness, and the path affords frequent glimpses of manicured lawns, tennis courts, private swimming pools, shady verandas and other luxuries. The trail crosses red, sandy ground covered with a low forest of oak and pine, and stays a little way above the canyon floor on the east side, skirting the edge of Enchantment Resort.

The wide, dusty path along Boynton Canyon starts off with a succession of regulatory notices, including one marking the boundary of the Red Rock Secret Mountain Wilderness Area, beyond which all mechanized transport is prohibited.

Boynton canyon vortex