Cottonwood Marble loop question

[John Morrow]

There is a trail from pavement to Lemoigne that is slightly higher up the bajada, parallels the one that takes off from the Emigrant campground. I prefer it. Also being a bit higher it is less likely to get washed out, and the wash crossings are not bad, but you always have to be attentive to where it will come out on the other side of one.

That trail actually continues north into the canyon immediately north of Lemoigne, then turns upstream before disappearing in the wash. My spider sense tells me this was an old route, the most direct route, from the old toll road to Goldbelt, but I've not seen evidence of it further up that canyon in satellite views. Exploratories like that are really not meant for first time DV backpacking though.

Wow, MG, that trail is super obvious on GE, thanks! I'd like to check it out sometime. It is a great way into the canyon system east of Lemoigne, too, that roughly parallels the S Fk. The upper reaches are mentioned on a map in Digonnet's S Fk Lemoigne pages map.
I've noticed that canyon you mention north of Lemoigne, that roughly parallels the N Fk. It is steep in its head but looks reasonablish....