Ocotillo Loop

Dogs Unknown

Ocotillo Loop is a short diversionary trail, mostly useful for adding mileage onto an A Mountain loop. If hiking counterclockwise, Ocotillo breaks off from Tortugas Trail about a quarter mile after the latter crosses Observatory Road. The first half of the trail is a gently winding, semi-rocky path across several sandy washout areas.

At the halfway point, the trail makes a U-turn and joins an old, sandy dirt road. The path here is mostly straight, cutting through an area with a large number of ocotillos that bloom in the spring and early summer. After about a third of a mile, the loop merges back into Tortugas Trail.

Desert plantlife is best seen in the spring and early summer, when there's more precipitation but the heat hasn't dried everything out yet. Animal life includes roadrunners, jackrabbits, lizards, hawks, and of course, snakes.