Last year, we visited Death Valley National Park and got to see the central and western parts of the Mojave Desert. Previously, we had visited Joshua Tree National Park and saw the southern part of the Mojave Desert. This year, the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area is west of Las Vegas and includes part of the eastern side of the Mojave Desert. Unlike the national parks operated by the National Park Service, this is operated by the Bureau of Land Management. We were totally awed by the visitor center - it is as nice or nicer than any we have seen at National Parks.
Part of the center includes exhibits about the flora and fauna found in the NCA. This includes things such as a group of eight desert tortoises as well as dead specimens like this Giant Desert Hairy Scorpion and Tarantula Hawk Wasp. Fortunately, these are dead and enclosed in glass cases.
There were also large sculptures.
We continued on past the Calico Tanks, Sandstone Quarry and stopped at the High Point Overlook - at 4,771 feet elevation, it is the highest point on the Scenic Loop. We were able to look back and down at the the NCA.
At the suggestion of the Park staff and volunteers in the visitor center, we decided to hike out to La Madre Spring. We drove on to the Willow Spring Picnic Area, parked our car and set off on our hike. We soon noticed some people climbing the cliffs. You have to zoom in to see them, but there were two climbers.
We continued on to where the trail split and headed out in the La Madre Mountains Wilderness Area. We met many people hiking on this popular trail.
While the spring did have some water flowing, it was only a trickle - you may be able to hear it in the short video I took.
There apparently are many desert tortoises in the NCA, as we saw these signs in many locations.
We enjoyed our time here and hope to return - one of the hikes is in Ice Box Canyon, so called because of the steep walls that keep it cooler than the rest of the NCA.
Part of the center includes exhibits about the flora and fauna found in the NCA. This includes things such as a group of eight desert tortoises as well as dead specimens like this Giant Desert Hairy Scorpion and Tarantula Hawk Wasp. Fortunately, these are dead and enclosed in glass cases.
There were also large sculptures.
There were great views of the mountains around the NCA. The red rock comes from the iron in those rocks.
The NCA has a very nice 13 mile scenic loop - the paved road is two cars wide but has only one way traffic. There are viewing areas, picnic areas and trail heads along the route. You could visit the park just following this and stopping at all of these sites to see the natural wonders.
We stopped at Calico picnic area to view the Calico Hills.
We continued on past the Calico Tanks, Sandstone Quarry and stopped at the High Point Overlook - at 4,771 feet elevation, it is the highest point on the Scenic Loop. We were able to look back and down at the the NCA.
At the suggestion of the Park staff and volunteers in the visitor center, we decided to hike out to La Madre Spring. We drove on to the Willow Spring Picnic Area, parked our car and set off on our hike. We soon noticed some people climbing the cliffs. You have to zoom in to see them, but there were two climbers.
We continued on to where the trail split and headed out in the La Madre Mountains Wilderness Area. We met many people hiking on this popular trail.
While the spring did have some water flowing, it was only a trickle - you may be able to hear it in the short video I took.
There apparently are many desert tortoises in the NCA, as we saw these signs in many locations.
We enjoyed our time here and hope to return - one of the hikes is in Ice Box Canyon, so called because of the steep walls that keep it cooler than the rest of the NCA.
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