In between Lost Creek and Willow Springs inside the Red Rock Canyon loop, there is a mountain call…read moreGoodman Peak. From the bottom, it looks unclimbable. After 30 minutes of hiking and 7 hours of rock scrambling, I was proven wrong and it was very much climbable with effort and team work. Only 4 miles round trip but feels longer with the full body effort required to dodge and climb rocks and boulders to summit. The views were spectacular. Parking and bathroom provided at the trailhead. Please come and create your own adventure.

Make a reservation unless it is in the summer. Other seasons, the timed park entries are very…read morelimited. May the odds be ever in your favor. Easy to visit Red Rock Canyon when the temperature soars to triple digits. Made a stop at the Park Ranger's Station and she recommended this stop. Just did a quick hike due to the summer heat. Make sure to bring plenty of water, sunglasses, sunscreen and a hat. Lots of parking available in the summer. Stamp your park passport. National Park passes are accepted here. Take photos, leave footprints:

Great spot for a hike or a walk along the mountain loop. It would also be amazing to ride horses…read morearound the trail and take in the scenery that way.

Lone mountain is a great place to go for a hike. It's not too extreme but challenging enough at…read moretimes to get the heart pumping into a nice zone 4 or 5. Everyone I passed was friendly, it was a great way to start my Sunday. The view at the top was relaxing and great to see Vegas from centennial to the strip! I was a little worried about the way down but it was so easy. I went around noon on a Sunday and it wasn't very busy. I would love to come back here again. Great option for all experienced and inexperienced hikers.

One of the overlooked hiking areas in the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area is Blue…read moreDiamond Hill on the east side of Charleston Boulevard. There are a number of trails here, many made by mountain bikers who use the area for its challenging terrain. This hike can be made as hard or easy as you want. I make a long one out of it, but you could hike in a mile or so and then return to your car. It depends on your skill and the time you have. To get to the Cave Canyon Trail, drive past the entrance to the Visitor Center and Scenic Drive on Charleston Boulevard. About 1/2 mile beyond the entrance, there's a small parking area on the left side of the road where you go to ride horses with Cowboy Trail Rides. Park in this lot. From the lot, follow the dirt road as it heads toward a corral which usually has a good number of horses. At the corral, the road heads to your right. Keep following the road. You're going up the road that leads to the Cowboy Trail Rides area where they have their meals that come with certain rides. Just before the horse area, the trail goes off to your left and drops into a wash. There are a couple of ways you can get into the wash. It doesn't matter where just as long as you keep heading toward the two canyons in the distance. You will come to a fork in the trail as you look at the two canyons. Take the left fork. This is Cave Canyon. Follow the trail into Cave Canyon and enjoy the stunning limestone. If you stop and look at some of the boulders, you can see the fossilized imprints of clams that once lived on the bottom of the sea that was here. As you hike up this trail, you come to a dry waterfall. There are some boulders piled below to help you get up the 6 feet or so to get past the dry fall. If this looks too challenging, this would be a good place to turn around. For those with hiking skills, going beyond the dry fall begins a journey of following the canyon back and forth as it winds its way up Blue Diamond Hill. Eventually, you'll come to the overlook where below you is beautiful, Lady Las Vegas. It's a great sight to see our city stretched out below. On clear days, you can see Lake Mead but this is becoming rarer as the lake drops more and more. Retrace your steps and enjoy the many cacti, especially barrel cacti, that like the limestone of Blue Diamond Hill. If you go all the way to the overlook, the total distance will be about 6 miles. Here are some photos I took when I did this hike on December 29, 2009. If you have any questions about the hike, send me a message and I'll be glad to answer questions. Happy hiking!

Blue Diamond Hill is an extraordinary place off the beaten path in The Red Rock Canyon National…read moreConservation Area. Its open spaces, western landscape, and beauty has touched my heart. Unfortunately, when I recently hiked in its Cave Canyon Trail it destroyed my heart. Seeing the graffiti epidemic creates a wound that band aids and water can't cure. A precious area of Blue Diamond Hill with so much to give is being wasted away by graffiti. The graffiti is so bad that it is running out of giving. What a difference a couple of years makes. The last time I hiked in Cave Canyon, with the exception of the lower cave, the graffiti was as sparse as a Park Ranger patrolling Blue Diamond Hill. Now it is on the level of a barrier wall in a ghetto along some parts of the canyon. Where is paradise-turning-into the ghetto of Red Rock Canyon? Facing north, it is on the right (east) side of State Route 159 between the exit and entrance of the 13 Mile Scenic Drive. The Cowboy Trails parking lot is the trailhead. This is the same parking lot of the Las Vegas Overlook. The parking lot is small and unpaved. It fills up fast. When I hike up Blue Diamond Hill, I park in the paved Red Rock Canyon Overlook parking lot, then walk approximately 1/2 mile alongside State Route 159 to the trailhead. So, from the unpaved parking lot, you want to continue hiking on a dirt road past two horse corals. Compared to the graffiti ahead, the scenery of horses with Blue Diamond Hill in the background is a 4 star picture spot. The horseriders add to the western landscape. On this note, it amazes me that people complain that the horses are destroying the landscape when criminals are doing severe damage vandalizing it. Anyway, the dirt road stops at the second coral and narrows into foot/ equestrian trails. To aim for Cave Canyon you want to envision a clock. Cave Canyon will be toward the 11 'o' clock position. Now you want to follow the trail into the wash and toward the canyon that will be toward the 12 'o' clock position and not toward the right at the 3 'o' clock position. The trail passes on a covering of desert sprinkled with creosote, Joshua trees, and rocks. Unfortunately in mid-2014, graffiti is the landmark to the canyon portion. "Enoch" in large black letters welcomes the hiker. Whatever it means, "Enoch" would be a common sight along the uphill trail. Into the canyon, the trail ascends a hill to the right. It follows the mountain wall to the right and the view below to the left. Halfway to the right is a small cave. I posted a picture that shows how graffiti destroyed this cave. Bird&hike.com also shows the graffiti infestation. A short distance past the small cave, you will reach a wall of rocks. From this point forward, class three scrambling is required to reach the upper cave. Of course, graffiti is the landmark. The reward for all the graffiti on the way up is the breathtaking views of Red Rock Canyon on the hike down. From this angle, you could see a post card view of Red Rock Canyon. The funny thing about Cave Canyon is that the surrounding trails are still untouched beautiful western landscapes. With Cave Canyon on fire from graffiti, until the National Park Service attempts to control it; I highly recommend reaching the top of Blue Diamond Hill from the Las Vegas Overlook Trail or the Cowboy Trails system. In conclusion I give Cave Canyon 3 stars. The way I see it, somebody has to give something to this unloved place that wants to give some kind of love. Hopefully the National Park Service will give Cave Canyon back to health so that it can in turn give future generations uplifting experiences in the caves of Blue Diamond Hill.

A must for locals and visitors. Amazing mini adventure and view that requires more diligence than…read morethe usual beginner hikes, and requires light climbing/scrambling. DON'T miss your exit from the scenic loop route to get there.... Because it's a 1 way route (3rr exit). The hike takes around 40min-1hour to finish. For those who don't exercise like me, maybe 1-3 breaks would help but expect jelly legs half way there. Below are some instructions for myself that could be helpful to you. I posted photos from beginning of our drive, to the trail to Amazon end hike view. Fee at Entrance: $15 Vehicle. Takes credit card. No wifi reception at entrance gate for rsvp and during parts of scenic drive. Some patches of wifi. Scenic Loop Route to find your stop is one way 25miles-ish/40minutes-ish. So don't miss your in between destination stop. Can't go back. Exit 1: Calico I Exit 2: Calico II Exit 3: Sandstone Quarry (with Calico Tanks trail is the most popular/View of Vegas) Etc with other stops. There's 2 restrooms with toilet paper and maybe some sanitizer. Trail: Calico Trails to Sandstone Quarry. There will be signs or at se point just a bunch of rocks bundled to make a pole stand...follow those. There will be man made steps to areas that is harder to identify as a trail...so just use your best judgement on what works best for you to move forward/up. Sandstone Quarry's Calico Tanks is not for entry level. But it's possible with - breaks, - if you have the ability to climb/down climb - ability and being light foot would help (I'm clumsy). Coming from no exercise/hiking person....it's like a stair master situation, where your thighs will feel like jello. Canyonish hiking - Terrain changes from shards/pebbles to sandy, to boulders. - Rocks looks smooth and slippery but actually has sand paper grip here. - Easy chill beginning, middle stair master to light climbing boulders. Coming down requires more attention to not slip or mis-step. - The shade is very cool in temperature. Basically little to no shade. Secret little box of letters at the end. There is a pen and maybe some paper space. We had a Costco receipt, so just put our couples name and date of the hike. Enjoy!

Sandstone Quarry is one of the most popular stopping spots by tourists and locals. There is a…read morehistory to the area. There are several multi-ton blocks of sandstone abandoned when the third try at quarrying sandstone declared bankruptcy in 1912 and the quarry closed. The Bureau of Land Management contracted to have several parking areas and the Scenic Drive re-done at the Red Rock Canyon NCA. Sandstone Quarry was one of them. There are extra parking spaces that were added when the lot was enlarged. This is the starting point for 3 hikes or just a casual explore. You can hike the Grand Circle, Calico Tanks, or Turtlehead Peak from the lot. Unless you're doing the Grand Circle in sections, starting here is not a good idea. I have been to this area countless times to document Indian rock art and artifacts, to hike, or to just enjoy the explorations that can be done from here. The sandstone cliffs beckon and there's much to see. There is a pit toilet at the parking area.

I hiked Gateway Canyon today and there have been some changes to the hike as a result of the flash…read moreflooding that we had this summer and fall. It is a more difficult hike than it was. There was one area soon after entering the canyon that was an easy walk on the sandstone to get to the lower level. Now it's a butt slide you must do carefully. There was some sign that some have tried to do a walk around but we didn't check to see if there was another way. There's a second drop off that is problematic. The flooding washed some gravel from the base of the sandstone. We got around this by carefully climbing up some sandstone to bypass the difficult area. One of our group couldn't do that and she slid down the sandstone and landed on her shoulder. Just a bit sore. There are also some new places where boulders have been placed below to make the step down easier. I'm not sure I'd take friends from out of town on this hike unless another heavy rain changes things again for the better like it did once before. If you do this hike, do it carefully!

A group of us hiked here today but was more of an exploratory…read more This canyon is located in the Calico Basin side of The Red Rock. It is a moderately strenuous 4-6 mile hike. The 3-mile Kraft Mountain Loop, also called Gateway Canyon Loop, circumnavigates Kraft Mountain, that borders the north side of Calico Basin. The route starts heading northwest across desert flats on a use-trail. Following Gateway Wash, the route passes a few spots of easy rock scrambling and seasonal pools of water. Most of our exploratory was on the east of Turtle Head Peak in Upper Gateway Canyon Trail. This is not on the scenic route. Temperature: Same as Las Vegas Distance: 4-6 mile loop Elevation change: 600 feet Hiking time: 3-4 hours Elevation Trailhead: 3,700 feet Elevation Saddle: 4,300 feet

I LOVED HOW BEAUTIFUL AND CALM IT WAS... so many pretty birds and rabbits …read more Go on this walk if you need to clear your head or work something out.

Hoorah! Come and share a few minutes with me…read more Lean in! Here's a secret, we have nature here in Las Vegas . Do you like to go off the "regular path." Come out to the wetlands and see parts of "Vegas," one could only imagine. There are no casinos . It's park of a walking paved trail system, but you are able to detour and walk off into the mountain area. So much to explore here . Be mindful that no bathrooms exist. This is not part of the park system. You can walk off and get lost . The wetlands area is huge and has lots to offer . Be prepared ahead of time. No casinos here . We are going out to the wilderness . It's water and food type stuff you need. It's truly a blast. Remember where you parked. You're going to get those steps in today. Let's see where the day goes. Not only are these walking trails but bike trails too. Be careful and remember those around you. Your in nature and wild animals exist. You can sit on a cactus or something. Have fun and enjoy yourself and those among you.

First few miles are easy in a stock Jeep with larger tires. Great views and some wonderful off the…read morebeaten path trail heads.

Rocky Gap Road (aka potato ridge) runs from the Willow Springs Picnic Area in Red Rock Canyon to…read moreLovell Canyon Rd in the Spring Mountains. RGR is 8.6 miles. While some people may attempt this road by car, I strongly suggest making your way though with a high-clearance 4WD vehicle unless you want to get stuck or just end up turning around because you realize you can't make it. The road is rocky and rough (living up to the name of the road) in most areas where it's been washed out. This road also provides access to different hikes, so always be aware and keep your eyes open especially during those nicer months when the area is more crowded with hikers. As long as you have the proper vehicle, gear and essentials this is a beautiful and scenic area to check out.

I have hiked this trail a couple times now. It really is a great workout with some quick elevation…read moregain. I had no idea this peak actually has a name. I believe it's approximately 4.5 miles although my watch said less upon completion. Lots of uphill and for those that need them, bring your poles for the steeper downhill. There is really no shade on this trail so it's best to hike it in the fall, winter or spring. Views at the top are beautiful on a clear day and one can really see how much our city has grown. There is a cute little alcove in the mountain where it looks like a mini living room. It used to have a chair and wind chimes but they were gone when I last hiked this trail in November. This is the only area with some shade in the morning. A great way to get outside and enjoy some fresh air. Remember to #leavenotrace

Beautiful views! Get off the strip and get in shape baby!! Definitely worth the drive.read more