Our third trip to Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area in Las Vegas, NV: Finally got to do some hiking!

 

View from the visitor center, Red Rock Canyon, Las Vegas 

The first time we (my wife and myself) visited Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area was back in 2005, during our visit from Hawaii where we had lived back then, to Las Vegas.  On that trip, we took a red-eye flight from Honolulu and arrived in Las Vegas early in the morning.

Because our check in time to our hotel wasn’t until 3 p.m., we decided to get breakfast at the then inexpensive buffet at Main Street Station Casino/Resort ($5.99!) in downtown Las Vegas, then head out to Red Rock Canyon afterwards.  Buffet was fantastic at that price point with humongous selection of breakfast staples like eggs, bacon, omelette station, and carving station, but also unexpected items like Miso soup, rice, and kimchi!

We stuffed ourselves loving the food, but especially the price of the buffet!  $5.99 for a breakfast buffet is something we no longer see in Las Vegas these days, and I certainly long for those days when Las Vegas was a destination you can do on the cheap…

After our glorious breakfast, we took off from downtown Las Vegas heading west, passing the beautiful and upscale town of Summerlin.  The drive would take us about 45 minutes from downtown Las Vegas, and we arrived at the visitor center.

Our first impression of the park was of its grandeur, its vivid colors, and its inexplicably clear, impossibly high blue skies.  Seeing it for the first time blew us away, as we didn’t think a scenery reminiscent of Grand Canyon was possible so close to Las Vegas.

We had a fun time driving around the requisite Scenic Drive that loops around the park, passing many points of interest along the way.  Being that we were pretty much city folks back then, we stuck to driving around, wary of getting outside our rental car for even 5 minutes.  We were definitely enjoying the cozy confines of our comfortable, air conditioned car.  

Twelve years later, during our second trip to Red Rock Canyon, we did pretty much the exact same thing.  That is, we stopped at the visitor center, then drove around the Scenic Drive, just like the first time.  We always wondered when we would actually do some hiking at Red Rock Canyon, and on our third visit in January (2023), we made sure that would become a reality, finally!

During January 26-30, we were staying at the excellent Aria Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip.  By then, we had already spent 9 days in Sin City, and we were getting tired of it.  As great as all the glitz, glamour, and non-stop action of the Strip is, it can also wear you out after several days.

We needed some much needed relaxation and exercise (both our body and mind), so we decided to revisit one of our favorite places in all of Las Vegas, Red Rock Canyon.  Located 17 miles west of the Las Vegas Strip, it encompasses over 195,000 acres within the Mojave Desert.  Besides it being one of our favorite places near Las Vegas, it is a must visit place anytime you’re visiting the Sin City, simply due to its majestic scenery and landscape.

On a gorgeous morning of January 29th, we left Aria Hotel heading west towards Red Rock Canyon.  The drive would take around 30 minutes and we arrived at the entrance station.  Even on a January morning, the lines going into the park were busy.  We showed our America the Beautiful park pass and drove in, towards the visitor center.

Excellent visitor center, Red Rock Canyon 

Amphitheater, outside the visitor center 

Many outdoor exhibits at the visitor center 

This time around, we actually took our time perusing the exhibits both inside and outside the visitor center.  It’s always fun to learn about habitat’s unique features and characteristics, and the great views didn’t hurt.

Different views from the visitor center, Red Rock Canyon

The views from that vantage point right outside the visitor center was just fantastic.  Views were absolutely priceless and so worth driving out there for.  The air was cool and crisp, just the way we like it for Las Vegas because in all honesty, who likes over 100 degree days when outdoors???

Seeing Red Rock Canyon again was like visiting an old friend: familiar, comfortable, and very happy to see.  To this day, it’s the kind of place we still miss tremendously, as that kind of view is only possible on the American Southwest…

After reminiscing a bit, we left the visitor center to get on the 13 mile long Scenic Drive again.  We pulled off at Calico Hills trailhead/parking lot, one of the first stops on the Scenic Drive.  

Trail marker for Calico Hills, Red Rock Canyon, NV

We found a parking spot on our first try, and headed towards the overlook.  The overlook was familiar as we had stopped at the same place on our previous two trips to take photos of the impressive red rocks.

This time though, we continued onwards, descending a bit towards the trail.  We stopped dead in our tracks, as the rock colors were simply incredible the closer we got: vibrant reds, browns, beiges, and oranges. It was different seeing from the overlook we had just passed.  Red Rock Canyon’s name was surely justified after seeing them up close and personal. 

We followed the crowd on our left, which descended a bit, before ascending again to a top of a small hill.  We absolutely loved the fresh outdoors, devoid of smoke and sometimes stale air of casinos everywhere.  We took a look around, looking up towards the rocks, appreciating the incredible geology of the place.

We never got tired of looking at the rocks…

As we started the climb up towards the top of the trail, we started to see the valley down below, with majestic snow capped mountains, and panoramic views.  It was a whole new perspective on the park, as we had never ventured out during our previous two trips.  We sure were glad we did, on our third visit…

Looking back towards the valley and the trailhead we had come from 

At the top of the small hill, we took a moment to take in the sights and the sounds: the jubilant group of hikers chatting away, people excitedly taking photos, sound of howling winds, and the ever more impressive rock formations that sometimes reminded us of chocolate swirl or chocolate mousse.  It was exactly the kind of relaxation we needed after several days inside huge bellies of casino hotels, feeling trapped at times…

Feeling happy and relaxed, we headed back towards the parking lot to try our hands at another trail:  Sandstone Quarry.  Sandstone Quarry was used as a quarry from 1905-1912 to extract large pieces of beige & orange sandstones used for buildings in Los Angeles and San Francisco.  

We drove not more than 5 minutes until we saw a mostly packed parking lot for Sandstone Quarry.  Luckily, we found one of less than 5 available spots.  We started hiking!

As we started to hike, we saw the majestic Turtlehead Peak in the distance, all decked out in beige and bit of green.  We saw fellow hikers taking photos, with some of them braving climbing on rocks to our right to get a better vantage point.  Power to them.

Turtlehead Peak, Red Rock Canyon 

Remnants of beige rocks on the left!

We hiked in about half a mile, then turned around, feeling hungry and feeling happy we got to hike something, which is better than nothing.  We didn’t hike all the way to the top of Turtlehead Peak, but we definitely did more than our two previous trips combined.  It was good enough for us that particular day…

We got back in our car to drive the rest of the Scenic Drive which is always a treat.  It sure beat the hell out of staying inside our casino hotel.  As nice as our hotel room was, this was nicer!

We again got treated to awesome scenery with views for miles, like these!

Along the Scenic Drive, Red Rock Canyon, NV

In conclusion:

As nice as driving on the Scenic Drive at Red Rock Canyon is, there is no substitute for actually walking a trail or two to get a good sense of the place up close and personal.  We never would’ve seen the beautiful texture of rocks from an overlook or seen the various cacti dotting the landscape.  It took 3 tries to finally do some hiking to experience the place more intimately, but it was totally worth it!  

We highly recommend everyone visiting Las Vegas area to check out Red Rock Canyon.  It feels like worlds away from the hustling and bustling city that is Las Vegas, yet it is only a 30 minute drive from the Strip.  

Everyone has a limit on how much they can do Las Vegas.  For us, it was 9 days.  We got tired of staying in Sin City, and visiting a place like Red Rock Canyon was just a perfect remedy to sensory overload that is Las Vegas.

Thank you for reading and happy trails!

Jake

Wandering Money Pig 

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