Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area

By Joe Berk

Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area is an interesting spot located just west of Las Vegas.  During our recent visit to Death Valley, we rode to the Red Rock Canyon area after stopping for lunch at Mom’s (a great restaurant) in Pahrump.

The Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area has a good plan for managing visitors.  You have to make an online reservation that slots you into 15-minute arrival intervals.   There’s $16 entrance fee (I guess it’s per vehicle), but when we arrived the park ranger didn’t even look at my senior citizen lifetime pass.  He just waived us in.  That’s happened to me a few times at National Parks.  Maybe I just look old.

We took Highway 160 east from Pahrump and it was a pleasant ride.  As we approached Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, the Spring Mountains on our left (north of Highway 160) had brilliant burgundy horizontal rock layers.  The red is caused by iron oxide.  We weren’t even in the Park yet, and the views were already stunning.  It really is something to see.

Once we entered Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, we explored the Visitor Center and four interpretive exhibits accessible via a walkway outside.  After that, we started the 13-mile one-way ride through the park.  There are many stops offering different views of the mountains and rock formations.   Motorcycles are fine on this road, and we also saw people riding bicycles.  I’d like to do the ride on a bicycle someday.  It looked like fun.

Desert tortoises live here and there are exhibits that provide information about them.   The tortoises live near Visitor Center paths, but we didn’t see them while we were there.  That’s okay; I’ve seen desert tortoises out and about on previous treks.  As an aside, if you happen to see one, don’t pick it up.  Doing so will frighten the tortoise and literally scare the pee out of it, which can induce dehydration and kill the tortoise.  The desert tortoise is a protected species, so leave them alone.

You can hike and camp in Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.  When I read that I immediately thought of Mike Huber, who is wheeling and camping his way around New Zealand as I write this.

Although I’ve been to Las Vegas many times, I had never visited Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.  It’s about as different from Las Vegas as a place can be, and in my opinion that’s a good thing.  If you’re ever in this part of the world, Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area is worth a stop.

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