Shorter trails connect the picnic areas together, and the access road may be used to return to the campground, completing the loop. The buff-colored rocks of Cathedral Gorge are remnants of a lake bed dating from about one million years ago. Then, much of Meadow Valley was covered by a freshwater lake. Sediments accumulated on the bottom as streams and washes brought eroded material into the lake. As the climate gradually became more arid, the lake dried up and the siltstone and clay of the Panaca formation were eroded into the present shapes.
Erosion proceeds rapidly allowing few plants to grow.
Sand dunes are also hostile environments, but plants such as dune primroses and Indian rice grass may gain a foothold and act to stabilize the sand. In the valley, clay, sand, and gravel have mixed to form a more hospitable soil that supports narrowleaf yucca, junipers, barberry, greasewood, and of course the ubiquitous sage brush. Jack rabbits and cottontail rabbits are common as are coyotes, kit foxes, skunks, packrats, kangaroo rats, mice, and gophers. Deer also are seen around Miller Point. Nonpoisonous lizards and snakes are common, and the Great Basin rattlesnake may be found during warm weather.