Hiking Adventures Near Las Vegas

Last year, in late winter/early spring, we traveled to Nevada. We spent a few days in Las Vegas, but we also explored outlying areas--hiking, sightseeing, and adventuring.

Our first hiking trip was to Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.



It was a beautiful and fascinating park, with great signage.



True to the name, some rock formations are red because of iron oxide: The minerals in the rocks oxidized, or rusted, over time when exposed to the atmosphere, giving the rocks their red color.



The white layers in the rock are mostly volcanic ash. The many swathes and shapes of rock were created by wind and water over millions of years. Visit this link to learn more about the geology.

For scale, do you see the people in the photo above? Scroll down to the next photo to see the arrow pointing to the people.



See how tiny the people are in relation to the hills of rock?



The rocks, vegetation, bright blue skies, and scope of the place were all stunning.



The desert plants were beautiful, too, including the Yuccas and the Sagebrushes (Artemisia). I must admit, the red rocks weren't as plentiful in this park as I'd expected, but the other areas and elements of the landscape were intriguing for other reasons.

Later, we had an equally fabulous hike at Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area:



One of the niftiest things about this park was the view of Las Vegas in the distance. I zoomed in a bit here, but the city was definitely visible, particularly as the altitude increased during the hike.



And the snow-capped mountain view was wonderful, too. I think this is the Spring Mountains Range, including Mt. Charleston, in the distance. 



The signage, as in the other park, was helpful and informational.

An interesting view of a jet rising up out of the desert.



I'm always fascinated with plants that grow out of rock crevices, like the Barrel Cactus (Ferocactus cylindraceus) and grasses shown here.

This was not an easy hike, although parts of it were level and navigable. We didn't make it to the petroglyph area, because it required significant rock climbing and we didn't want to injure ourselves the day before our flight back home. But the trails we explored were great.

Our Nevada trip also included a visit to Valley of Fire State Park:

I'm only including one photo from that day's adventures for now: showing the delightful Elephant Rock. I'd intended to include that day's highlights in this post, too, but I had way too many photos from Valley of Fire! I'll save that coverage for my next post: Stay tuned!