Red Rock Canyon (Clark County, Nevada)

In addition to visiting the Valley of Fire on this trip, I decided to take time to visit Red Rock Canyon, just a few minutes West of Las Vegas. I had heard of this spectacular place from several friends, but had never, in all of my trips to Sin City, taken the time to see it with my own two eyes. Today, that would change.  After grabbing a quick lunch at the nearby Red Rock Casino, which takes it’s name from my destination, I headed out to the canyon.

From many miles away, the red cliff sides were already visible. I drove the scenic loop with every intention of doing some hiking. Unfortunately, duty called and I became involved in a minor crisis at my work. It didn’t, however, prevent me from seeing at least some of what this spectacular canyon has to offer.

I climbed around the Calico Hills a bit, while watching rock climbers scaling the flat faces in the distance. While I have never done any serious rock climbing, it really makes me want to put the gear I have to work and see how I would do outside of the indoor rock climbing facility.
Moving on, I head out to Ice Box Canyon, which my friend Amy had suggested as a great hike. While fighting to get a cell phone signal to continuing working the crisis, I decided to at least hike a little ways up into this canyon. It is named Ice Box due to the significant temperature difference between the air in this canyon and the surrounding desert. The angle of the canyon walls drastically limits the amount of direct sunlight that seeps into this little area, and so it remains much cooler than the rest of Red Rock Canyon. After about a mile and of hiking over sandstone boulders and through some fairly lush greenery, I decide to head back to the car. I have a plane to catch after all.

 

I wish I had more time to explore on this trip, but rest assured, I will be making it back to this magnificent canyon soon.