The Mara Trail winds through the hills between Mara Mountain and the Tranquille River Valley.   We can extend the trail to include the Mara Outer Loop by hiking over a hill above the Tranquille River on the west side, then loop back over to the shorter Mara Trail (loop).   It is a good choice in early spring because the south-facing open slopes dry quickly.    The whole route is a scenic one, even on a grey-rain-drizzle-day.

We braved rain showers for the first half of the hike, then the skies began to clear.

The final part of the hike wound down the slopes with views over the floodlands. This pond sits at the foot of the Mara Hills and has been dubbed Mara Lago (“lago” means lake in Spanish), but that is probably a pack of lies 🙂

More information on this route (including a map) can be found at this link – Tranquille Hills Hike.

Although I have done this hike many times and have written about it a number of times, on this day some video footage was recorded too.

We plan to continue on up past the Mara Trail to do the Guardsmen and Panorama Point Hike, Wheeler Bluff, and other points in Tranquille Canyon, Mara Mountain, Pruden Pass, and Wheeler Mountain over the coming months.